The sand left and the rocks emerged on the shoreline. This sad picture is presented at the beginning of the summer season by the famous beach "Fig Tree Bay", which is anything but reminiscent of a beach that is voted every year among the 10 best beaches in Europe by TripAdvisor and which is an attraction for thousands of tourists, foreigners and locals.
Residents of the area, according to the newspaper "Phileleftheros" complain that the serious problem of erosion of the beach has been observed for the last ten years and specifically after the Municipality without permission, according to the newspaper, proceeded to place rocks on the east side of the bay. Fig Tree Bay »in order to stop the erosion phenomenon. This intervention brought, as they complain, the opposite results, as now the problem is created with the retreat of the sand on the west side of the bay. The newspaper continues that "the issue of illegal marine projects on the beach" Fig Tree Bay "had caused a storm of reactions then and had reached the Parliament with the citizens shouting for alteration of the natural environment with the interventions of the Municipality".
Officially, the serious erosion problem that the famous beach presents, like several others in Protaras, is attributed to the morphology of the soil and to the anomalies and damages that the beach has suffered from the weather conditions and the sea turbulence during the winter, resulting in the sea to absorb all the sand from the beach and only the rocks are left outside.
The solution to the problem, as we were told by the Famagusta District Administration, is the transfer of sand to the area that has been stripped and for this purpose a study is already being carried out by the co-competent services in cooperation with the District Administration, in order to see from which point it is appropriate to carry out sand transport.
Speaking to the newspaper "Phileleftheros", the Prefect of Famagusta, George Chrysafinis stated that the unofficial position of the experts, as has been conveyed orally, is that the sand should be pumped from the bay of "Fig Tree" and not elsewhere, in order there should be no alteration of the natural environment.
Asked when the sand transfer will take place, given that the summer season is approaching, Mr. Chrysafinis said that the permits are given following requests from the Municipality and explained that the Municipality of Paralimni addressed the District Administration of Famagusta just a week ago. However, he expressed the hope that within the next few days there will be a response from the relevant departments and the green light will be given for sand transport.
Mr. Chrysafinis pointed out, however, that this time the study will include dredging, but also all the expertise and science needed in order for the sand to be taken from a specific point indicated by experts to be transported to the area that has been stripped.
It is worth mentioning that the practice followed in previous years was to drop bulldozers on the beaches, but also a pipeline to pump sand from the sea in order to shape the beach. This method, through a suction tube, which transports sand from some depth of the sea to the beaches of Protaras was done arbitrarily without prior studies by experts.
It is noted that at the moment the beach of "Fig Tree Bay" resembles the shallow beaches of Larnaca, as bathers approach the island on foot instead of swimming.
According to the newspaper, bathers who choose this beach for swimming, residents of the area, but also owners of holiday homes in the area, are worried about the image of the beach and are waiting for the actions of the Municipality of Paralimni, but also the District Famagusta Administration.
Source: Liberal