Paphos marina project to continue smothering Cyprus in concrete

The Deloitte Triton Paphos Marina Consortium has signed an agreement to provide consultancy services for the competitive tenders’ procedure for the Paphos marina project. The consortium will put together all the specifications for tenders for the development of the project along the lines of Design, Build, Finance, Operate, Transfer (DBFOT).

The marina will be situated in the Potima area in Kissonerga, said an announcement by the deputy ministry of tourism which signed the agreement with the consultants and will supervise the project. According to an announcement by the deputy ministry, the marina would have berthing capacity for 1,000 vessels and also include residential and commercial development of the area. An alternative option would be to combine the marina with facilities for the docking of cruise ships.

Predictably, the project was praised by the deputy minister Kostas Koumis who claimed it was expected to provide a “new dynamic to the development prospects of the whole district”. He was speaking as if the Paphos district was some underdeveloped backwater, in desperate need of more holiday homes to sell to foreigners. Has the district not already been covered in enough concrete, for the authorities to put a halt on such big projects?

And how many marinas can a small island like Cyprus, which is not even in a part of the Mediterranean with high yacht traffic, sustain? So far, there is one in Ayia Napa (berthing capacity 600), another scheduled to open in Protaras (350), one in Larnaca (450) that is looking for investors for its expansion and upgrading, one at Saint Raphael Hotel outside Limassol (237), and one in Limassol (650). With total berthing capacity for over 2,000 yachts, is it economically viable to add another 1000? Is Cyprus facing such great demand for marina berths it wants another 1,000, not to mention the planned expansion of Larnaca marina.

There is no such demand, which is why potential investors are given the incentive of residential developments, marinas becoming an excuse for the construction of more apartments and villas that can be sold or rented at premium prices. In the end, all areas on the coast will be covered in concrete because construction is the only development model pursued in Cyprus, with the authorities oblivious to the harm they are causing to the countryside and the environment in general. This mindless policy on marinas is perfectly consistent with the policy of attracting more tourists every year.

Where does this end? When will the authorities realise that this development without limits will completely destroy Cyprus? The situation is bad enough now, but the signs are ominous given the government’s thinking, which was explained by Koumis as he waxed lyrical about the Paphos marina. “Undoubtedly, projects of this scale and dynamic, upgrade the offered tourist product of our country, and determine the development course of tourism for the next decades,” he said.

If covering the island in even more concrete is seen as an upgrade of the tourist product by the deputy minister of tourism there is no hope Cyprus.