Limassol Coastline Is Industrial Mess - Opinion

Taking a drive along the highway from Limassol to Nicosia is becoming more and more of a worry to anyone who is environmentally conscious on any level.

Where there used to be views of softly rolling hills and unobstructed sea vistas there are now ugly industrial towers steaming clouds of pollution into the air. It is hard to imagine that similar clouds of pollution are not spreading into the Mediterranean Sea alongside these industrial complexes.

One simply must wonder why the powers that be have allowed one plant after the other to be built along the Limassol coastline. Is it common sense to ruin such beautiful areas for the sake of making money?

There is a reason that greed leads to misfortune, and the reason is that chasing the golden ring without regard to consequences always ends in a bigger cost. In this case, it is the cost of cleaning up. Are the government and industrial plant companies preparing for pollution contingencies?

As it is, entire areas of Limassol's coastline are now out of bounds, because they are fenced off by these plants, which produce electricity, cement and soon...Vitol's oil processing hub.

Of course, the politicians tell us it's all good for the economy; until we start counting the cost of paying for excess emissions and air pollution, plus the cost to the environment in terms of losing nature's beauty. Not to mention the possible costs of cleaning up major spills that may happen in the future.

It's time to put the brakes on the continuous industrial development along the Limassol/Larnaca coastline, and it is also time for people to wake up to the gradual erosion of their heritage of natural beauty.

At the end of the day, it's the beauty of life we remember, so let's leave some for future generations.