The communities of Katalionta (Analyonda), Mathiati and Lythrodonda express their strong reaction to the installation of a 180MW photovoltaic park in their area, on the occasion of the recent publication of the relevant Environmental Impact Assessment Study.
In a statement from the Council of the Machira Complex, to which the above communities belong, it is stated that they have sent letters on 06.04.2021 and 26.09.2023 to the relevant Ministries and Services and expressed their strong reaction and refusal to the proposed development, detailing the reasons.
Specifically, as they state, the development will cover an area of four square kilometers and within it will be placed 264.712 photovoltaic panels. Most of the area is state land with wild vegetation and pine forest. As they say, the major intervention in the environment will be disastrous, as habitats of endemic game are negatively affected, thousands of trees are destroyed, the reflection of the sun from such a large photovoltaic park will increase the average temperature of the area and additionally the cleaning of the frames with chemicals, mainly , inside it will contaminate the streams and watercourses of the area that end up in the Gialia River, whose water is used for irrigation/water supply in the Communities of Agia Varvara, Nissou and Pera Chorio and in the Municipality of Idali.
In addition, the communities state that the state land they intend to use is one of the few remaining land reserves, "after the State's wasteful policy on the matter from 1960 until today". "This land belonged to our great-grandfathers who gave it to the conquerors in order not to pay taxes and thus came into the possession of the State after independence. Today, in order to fight the population deforestation of our areas, an area in which the State has unfortunately failed, we the Communities of the area want it for public purposes, such as the construction of a Regional High School / High School, Sports Center and/or Industrial Area", they say.
It is also noted that the interested investors can secure against purchase the necessary lands in areas offered for this purpose so that the State does not commit such a large area of state land for more than 50 years, so that it cannot be used for benefit of local residents.
Finally, the announcement states that the Council of the Machira Complex fully adopts the reasons for refusal mentioned above and will fully support the actions of its three Communities, in terms of preventing the implementation of the development in question.
Source: KYPE