2024-04-26 00:10:29
Residents and businessmen of Papigos are asking for an end to the “targeting”, with a petition-protest addressed to the Ministry of the Environment, OFYPEKA, the North Pindos National Park Management Unit, the Region of Epirus, the Municipality of Zagori, the president of the Community and the environmental “Kallisto” organization, essentially questioning the protection regime in force in the National Park area and the competence of OFYPEKA.
The targeting, according to the 22 signatories of the petition, consists in the continuous complaints on behalf of environmental organizations, resulting in our continuous “”harassment”” by various competent and non-competent services with continuous checks, in an attempt to discover allegedly illegal construction, professional, agricultural and our other activities, in the name of the alleged protection of the North Pindos National Park, which is obviously not limited to the Vikos-Aoos area, but occupies the greater part of the Pindos mountain range, with which, however, no one deals with the activities in the other areas . Obviously no coincidence”, as they note.
The signatories, who state among other things, people of labor who choose to live in Papigo and want the village to be preserved as a living cell and not as a museum, in a multi-page legal analysis, find that until the issuance of the Presidential Decree on the designation of the Park of Northern Pindos, the 2005 MLA becomes inactive (characterization of a land area of mountainous volumes of North Pindos as a National Park, definition of protection zones and uses, building conditions and restrictions) so there is no legal prohibition and OFYPEKA does not have the responsibility for safeguarding and supervision of the National Park area.
“Consequently OFYPEKA, which in any case is charged with excess of authority, cannot invoke the aforementioned KYA against us to establish prohibitions, without providing us with the context of man-made activities and the administration, which will determine them, so that to be able to exist and live and be active in our village, in harmony with the environment”, emphasize the signatories and, with reservation for all their rights and “defending the natural and built environment of the village”, they request the immediate issuance of of the relevant Presidential Decree for the implementation of no. 23069/2005 KYA and until its issuance, refraining from any action that disrupts our social and economic activity and life.