in-cyprus 15 July 2019 - Edited by Bouli Hadjioannou
Work got underway on Monday to create the biggest urban park in Paphos and one of the biggest in Cyprus.
Paphos municipality workers started clearing the ‘Pembes Wood’ which stretches from the back of the central Papantoniou supermarket to Char. Trikoupi street to transform it into a 21,000 square metre park.
Tons of rubbish, arbitrarily erected sheds and other material is being removed as the area has been abandoned for some 50 years.
Forestry Department officials were on site as the work got underway.
Cyprus Mail 15 July 2019 - article by Bejay Browne
The first step towards creating a large new park in Paphos got underway early Monday morning, as a large amount of rubbish, undergrowth and illegal structures were cleared away from a rundown area in the town centre, according to a spokesman for the municipality.
“The park will be one of the largest not just in Paphos but also Cyprus and will be a splendid area for families to spend time,” the spokesman told the Cyprus Mail.
The area of the new park covers 21,000 sqm and is found behind Papantoniou’s supermarket in the centre of town.
During the cleaning, tons of rubbish, illegal structures made of corrugated metal and other materials were dismantled and removed and a number of tables and chairs, bottles, weeds and overgrowth, and all sorts of rubbish were also taken away. The clearing process is expected to be completed by the end of the week, said the spokesman.
He added that the area has been abandoned and left to rack and ruin for at least the last 50 years, and posed a serious risk to public health and a possible fire hazard in the heart of the town.
Once cleaned, the area will be used to create a modern and functional park with all the necessary amenities and specifications, he said. No time frame has yet been given to the project as the correct procedures must be followed.
“At presents, plans are being finalised and then the project will go to public tender. It will take some time, but this is the first and necessary step towards creating the park.”
Work got underway in the presence of forestry officers in order to avoid any possible reactions from those that knowingly created illegal interventions for decades in the public open space, he added.
