01.08.2022
The work required by the Ministry of Agriculture, Rural Development and Environment and in particular the Department of Environment for the Akamas Local Plan is expected to be completed over the next few days, said Minister of Agriculture, Rural Development and Environment Costas Cadiz .
In a speech in Salamiou following the unveiling of the monument to the hero Dimitris N. Panagi, Cadiz said that it is estimated that on August 8 the report from the Department of the Environment will be sent to the Planning Board under the Ministry of the Interior. .
In my estimation, he said, “within the next month the work required by the Planning Board can be completed so that by the end of August or the beginning of September the Akamas local plan can be published.”
He also indicated that, on behalf of the President of the Republic, both the Ministry of the Interior and his own Ministry are working on a number of possible measures that can be implemented to compensate owners who previously had development rights and are currently losing them with the Local Plan or even for owners of fenced areas in the National Forest Park without any development rights.
Cadiz also said that projects are expected to be developed in the National Forest Park for the convenience of visitors, as the consideration of tenders for improving the road network is already at an advanced stage, and tenders for visitor service kiosks are expected to be announced very soon.
In addition, the Minister of Agriculture, Rural Development and the Environment said that he was very pleased to see that after the agreement reached by all stakeholders, large cheese factories have begun the process of joining the protected designation of origin for the production of halloumi. He also estimated that in the coming days they will start producing halloumi based on PDO procedures and specifications and will be certified by the international organization Bureau Veritas. In any case, Cadiz said, from September there will be no products bearing the name halloumi without the PDO stamp in Cypriot markets.
He also noted that any changes included in the agreement are not of great importance for sending a special file to the European Commission, but are minor changes that can be made with the approval of the Ministry of Agriculture of Cyprus and do not change the halloumi characteristics.
He added that in the next few days, he expects interested parties to submit proposals for these minor changes, and if proper documentation is provided, they will be published in the official government gazette, hopefully in August.
