Battle over Mitsero asphalt plant continues at Supreme Court

Elected representatives and residents of the Nicosia district village of Mitsero and seven other nearby villages on Friday held a demonstration outside the Supreme Court on Thursday against plans to build an asphalt plant in the village, while inside the court, deliberations continued over the villagers’ legal attempts to halt its construction. The court was discussing an appeal which aims to order a temporary stoppage of all work at the site pending an appeal against the plant’s planning permission, which has been filed at the court of appeal. At the end of the day’s proceedings, the court reserved its decision regarding the villagers’ attempts to secure a temporary injunction against the work being undertaken, while it also said that the appeal against the planning permission will be heard on October 5. Earlier, the villagers’ lawyer Natasa Iacovou had said that the basis for their position is “the constitution, European Union law, and the case law of the European Court of Justice”, arguing that temporary injunctions against all work are “necessary” in appeals against planning permission in “cases concerning the environment”. “Not only is the legal process pending, but the implementation of the project which is being challenged has already begun, which is impacting life and the right to a healthy environment,” she said She also said that the environmental impact study produced for the project “refers to the leakage of hazardous substances, noise, vibrations, and odours”, and warned that if construction continues while proceedings are continuing in court, “the judicial process will become irrelevant”. State’s lawyer says villagers’ case has ‘no legal basis’ The state’s lawyer, Theodora Piperi Christodoulou, said that in the government’s opinion, “this application has no procedural or legal basis” for work to be stopped. “The applicants never requested a suspension of the court’s decision, as the institutions provide, meaning that they had a wide range of procedural options and instead chose to drag us all into an extra-procedural framework. For us, this position is unacceptable,” she said. She added that it is “incomprehensible” for the villagers’ lawyers to be “dwelling on future steps which you intend to take at the European Court of Justice”. Additionally, she said that work in Mitsero is “being carried out legally, based on the planning permit which has been issued”. (Photo: Christos theodorides) Outside court, meanwhile, demonstrations continued, attended by residents of all eight villages – Agrokipia, Arediou, Ayios Ioannis, Kato Moni, Malounta, Meniko, Mitsero, and Orounta. Agrokipia community leader Sotiris Kyriacou said that “after the latest developments, when we saw the contractors begin work on the site, our people became enraged and reiterated their determination to continue the fight”. “We will not accept, for any reason … that this factory be installed,” he said. He went on to say that people in the region are “breathing air of reduced quality” and that “we can no longer accept that they are playing with the health of our residents”. Meniko community leader Andreas Kalogyrou, meanwhile, said that “if asphalt comes to our region, it will be the region’s gravestone”.