The state is sinking off Limassol – 12 years of pollution and still no answers

Opinion environmentLimassolpollution The state is sinking off Limassol – 12 years of pollution and still no answers Lemesos Thalassa Ripansi Relevant News The state is sinking off Limassol – 12 years of pollution and still no answers 31 August 2026 GSI works expected to resume before end of 2026, Gerapetritis says 31 August 2026 We once feared we would forget. Now we risk getting used to it… 31 August 2026 Giorgos Kallinikou 31 August 2026 FacebookXWhatsAppEmailPrintViber There are moments when a state’s incompetence becomes the ultimate provocation. Each new case that comes to light turns into a festering wound. The case of the pollution in the Limassol sea area is one such glaring example. For more than 12 years they have been discussing the problem. And they are still looking for the causes. Pollution incidents keep recurring. Citizens complain. Images from the beaches spark outrage. Yet the state machine, instead of having identified the sources years ago and taken effective action, is still convening meetings to record the possible causes. The other day in Limassol, we heard again about drainage pipes, sewage treatment plants, ships and pleasure boats, anchorages, fish farms and rainwater. Were all these unknown until now? Were 12 years not enough to check them? This case is no longer merely environmental. It is a matter of political responsibility. What really makes the blood boil, however, is what the mayor of Amathus, Kyriacos Xydias, said. Some 17 or 18 state services are involved in the case. Yes, you read that correctly. And this whole army still needs to carry out a “full mapping exercise” to clarify who checks what. This is the Cypriot public sector problem in its purest form. Everyone is competent, yet in the end no one feels truly responsible enough to shoulder the burden and solve the problem. But the sea does not understand administrative boundaries and state responsibilities. The case of the pipe at Akti Olympion is typical. The Deputy Ministry of Shipping says it is a licensed discharge. But who checks whether the terms of that licence are being observed? How many similar pipes are there? What are they discharging? In what quantities? How often are they checked? Who ensures that the discharge is not damaging water quality? Saying “it is licensed” is not enough. The real issue is who checks the licensed activity. Former MP and former environment commissioner Charalambos Theopemptou put his finger right on the wound. He pointed out that similar incidents have been recorded for 12 years. Not 12 weeks. Not 12 months. Twelve years. He noted that significant sums have been spent on clean-ups, but no emphasis was placed on identifying the cause. In plain terms, we clean up the result and leave the cause free to keep creating the problem. That is first-rate stupidity and staggering irresponsibility. Where is the political responsibility? That is the central question. Civil servants have duties. But above them there are political superiors. There are ministers and deputy ministers whose job is to demand results from the state machinery. The famous “best of the best” are not appointed to discover that the bureaucracy struggles to coordinate itself. They are appointed to solve problems. When a problem remains unsolved for more than a decade, the political leadership cannot pretend to be a spectator. This is not only about Limassol. It is about Cyprus. The case is not only about the environment. It is about tourism, the economy, Cyprus’s image and citizens’ quality of life. We cannot advertise our beaches and our sea as one of this country’s greatest assets while allowing a pollution problem to keep resurfacing every so often for 12 years. That is criminal. Enough with the meetings. Cyprus does not need another vague roadmap. It needs specific checks. Specific dates. Specific people in charge. Specific results. The pipes, the facilities, the ships, the boats, the anchorages and the fish farms must be checked immediately. Technology must be used at once. Independent analyses must be carried out without delay. The results must be made public. Wherever violations are found, the prescribed penalties must be imposed immediately. Chronic inaction in the face of a recurring problem is not simply an administrative weakness. It is political failure. After 12 years, there is no excuse left. We need to know who is polluting. How they are polluting. Who is responsible for stopping them. No more tolerance. No more inertia. No more “we will look into it”. The whole affair is profoundly infuriating. In the sea off Limassol, it is not only environmental protection that is sinking. The credibility of the state is sinking too. 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