Cyprus Mail 5 October 2020 - by Annette Chrysostomou
The dirt road leading from the Baths of Aphrodite to Fontana Amorosa needs to be closed to private vehicles before more accidents happen, conservation group Friends of Akamas demanded on Monday.
After an accident which left two people badly injured when their quad bike fell down a cliff from the road last Tuesday local community leader Andreas Christodoulides said it needs to be widened, but the environmentalists argue it should not be open to traffic at all.
“Decades before the first accident on the path that starts from the Baths of Aphrodite and immediately after enters the state forest, now national forest park, which was formed into a dirt road for official use by special vehicles for the needs of forest management / maintenance by the department of forests, we sounded the alarm bell regarding the dangers posed by the tolerance of the forestry department regarding the use of the dirt road by private cars and four-wheel drives,” the group said.
According to their announcement, at some point, the department erected a barrier which stopped the cars from entering, but this was lifted or broken, as the forestry department said itself.
“We reiterated the finding of this truth at every opportunity, that this dirt road is designated only for official use, without any competent authority to impose effectively the observance of the law, with tragic results unfortunately. The competent authorities instead of moving to take the necessary measures to close the entrance to this path / dirt road to avoid further accidents, left it free to traffic for all vehicles resulting in another accident now.”
The trail has recently been designated for official use only for the protection of the forest and the Natura 2000 protected area and has been included in the sustainable development plan of the park to be used only by vehicles belonging to the park which are properly equipped, Friends of Akamas noted.
“We call once again on the competent services to proceed to the immediate prohibition of this passage by private vehicles.”
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