Filenews 5 February 2021 - by Vasos Vassiliou
In two camps, the municipal councillors in the Municipality of Nicosia were divided on the attitude to be taken towards the Archbishop, which also led to the postponement of the debate for tomorrow Saturday at 4 p.m.
A section of municipal councillors, from various parties, with the main body of the municipal group of ACPL, wish to take strict measures including the withdrawal of the Planning Permission of the church, which Archbishop is urgent to complete, in an effort to exert maximum pressure, in order to implement the reconstruction of the (finally) three listed houses that he demolished. At the same time, this group of consultants also favours the imposition of an administrative fine and the monitoring of the reconstruction of the preserved. They also argued that there is a way to promote reconstruction without allowing work to continue to complete the cathedral.
Municipal councillors also indicated that the Archbishop did not proceed with the reconstruction of other buildings which he also demolished in the old town of Nicosia. However, according to an update provided by the municipal councillors, the engineer of the Archdiocese denies that the demolition instructions were given by him.
On the other hand, there is the other group of municipal councillors who wish to facilitate the Archbishop so that, in addition to the reconstruction of the listed buildings, he can continue the work of completing the cathedral which His Excellency wished to inaugurate in the summer. And the members of this group, which includes the mayor of Nicosia Konstantinos Giorgis, consider the reconstruction of the listed buildings to be unnecessary. They argue, however, that if the municipality takes a hard line, it could be involved in court proceedings that could go a long way. However, as has been said, the Attorney General informed the municipality that he would also consider committing criminal offences. The municipality sent a letter to the Attorney General informing him of the events as they unfolded, of the relevant legislation on which it is based and also asked Mr Savvides to indicate any other measures that the municipality may take.
During last night's session, the Technical Service advocated a more mild handling of the case so that it could be better managed, given Archbishop Chrysostomou's readiness to cooperate. It has been shown that timetables can be set for the implementation of the various phases of reconstruction and if they are not implemented, then strict measures can now be taken.
However, on the other hand it was shown that the Archbishop in the past, in such cases, did not comply and even some made reference to the deliberate demolition of the buildings.
As "F" informs, yesterday, throughout the day a strong background was developed in order to convince municipal councillors (who in this case intended to act autonomously in case the Archbishop attempted to cover up) to put water in their wine.
