Irregularities, in the Province of Famagusta, in terms of farmers are identified in its annual report by the Audit Office for the Department of Forests. Specifically, the users of forest land used for agricultural purposes in the province of Famagusta are divided into two categories.
The first concerns users to whom the Department granted forest land for agricultural purposes and the second concerns displaced persons who after the invasion of 1974 settled in the Famagusta area and since then use forest land for agricultural purposes.
A large percentage of the above, use the forest land for agricultural purposes without a permit and / or have carried out illegal constructions, drilling, etc. in it. The Department imposes out-of-court fines on those above, which are equal to the price they would have to pay for the land they use, if they had obtained the necessary permit.
However, as noted in the report, the Department of Forests does not seem to have taken all the necessary actions to collect the unpaid out-of-court fines, resulting in their accumulation of € 494.042, until 30.9.2016.
Following the suggestion of the Audit Service, the Department of Forests sent a notice to all its debtors out of court that, if they do not pay their obligations by 31.3.2017 at the latest, a lawsuit will be filed against them in the Court.
The actions of the Department led to the payment of several out-of-court settlements, resulting in the reduction of uncollected amounts to € 59.818 on 30.9.2017, which concerned 458 uncollected out-of-court settlements.
Issued out of court - Violations are not corrected
The Department of Forests issues repeated out-of-court fines to the same users, but without any correction of the violation.
As a result, it appears that out-of-court settlements are not enough to prevent and redress violations.
Unauthorized users of state forest land will have to apply for a land use permit, where permitted, otherwise a lawsuit will be filed against them in Court.
The Director of the Department stated that the extrajudicial fines issued to persons who use forest land for agricultural purposes without a permit and / or have carried out illegal constructions on it, are 25% -35% higher than the normal forest land rent fees.
Source: Cyprus Times