A sharp controversy erupted on Tuesday at the House Agriculture Committee after the Water Development Department revealed that, until June 2025, golf courses supplied by state water projects were charged significantly lower environmental and resource fees than households.
According to information presented by the department, the two golf courses receiving water from government reservoirs were paying just €0.02 per cubic metre in environmental and resource charges. During the same period, households were charged €0.05 per cubic metre.
“This is the ministry’s philosophy. To play golf,” said AKEL MP Andreas Pasiourtides, reacting angrily to the disparity.
Higher charges after June 2025
The Water Development Department said that following the implementation of the green tax reform in June 2025, the fees were revised. Environmental and resource charges rose to €0.08 per cubic metre for golf courses and to €0.06 per cubic metre for households.
Despite the increase, the issue continued to draw criticism during the committee discussion.
“We are doing very well if grass is paying two cents in environmental fees,” said Agriculture Committee chair and AKEL MP Giannakis Gavriel.
Gavriel linked the issue to broader water management priorities, noting that the state is imposing severe water cuts on agriculture, with reductions of 33 percent planned for 2026, while golf courses are not facing comparable restrictions. “At this rate, we will be eating grass,” he said.
He also asked whether the Water Development Department had sent collection notices to golf courses, as it has done in the case of farmers.
Data to be sent to parliament
The discussion took place in the context of environmental and resource fees that the department is seeking to collect retroactively from farmers for the period 2017 to 2024.
Following a request by Pasiourtides, the department’s director general, Iliana Tofa, committed to submitting detailed data to the House of Representatives. The information will include outstanding environmental and resource fees and applicable charges for the following categories:
– golf courses
– hotels
– farmers
– other businesses
The data is expected to allow MPs to assess whether water pricing and environmental charges are being applied equitably across different sectors.