A bulldozer from the forest department in Turkish Cyprus has uprooted and badly damaged vegetation in the protected area of Afentrika in Karpasia.
According to Yeni Dzen, a newspaper published in Turkish Cyprus, several locals witnessed the mishap and were angry at the fact that many juniper and olive trees were irreparably damaged.
Ercan Poyraz, the director of the Forestry Department of Turkish Cyprus did confirm that the vehicle was government-issued but did not take any responsibility. According to Poyraz, the vehicle was on loan to the municipality of Yialousa-Rizokarpaso to conduct road works on the latter?s request, which makes the responsibility all theirs.
He further explained that after the municipality had taken the bulldozer, they had it fueled and then gave it to some private subcontractors, who then used it without any supervision.
Hasan Sarpten, who formerly served as the president of the Association of Biologists in the protected areas, called the whole situation as leaving the lamb in charge of a wolf.
Sarpten does not believe that the ?forest department? imposed any fines on any of the responsible parties. He further accused everyone involved, including the forest and environment departments, and the municipality itself of shrugging off blame and not caring about the damage they?ve done.
