Filenews 13 November 2021 - by Michalis Hadjivasilis
The owners of legal premises for the conduct of events are upset, as many operate without licenses with a risk to visitors in the event of an accident. Places where weddings or baptisms or other mass gatherings were suddenly "sprouted" in the middle of nowhere, or in unsuitable areas, and operate without permission, with all that this entails. Many premises operate without a license, do not have an approved fire safety and in the event of an accident, no one knows who will compensate the patrons.
The problem was communicated to the Chief of Police, the Ministry of Interior, the Prefect of Nicosia and the Town Planning Department, but it was not possible to close them or force them to secure the necessary permits.
As stated in "F" the representative of organized venues that operate legally in Nicosia, Konstantinos Mosaicos, there are premises that operate in places where they will never be given permission to operate due to urban planning zones. There are such sites in forest areas, in industrial zones and elsewhere that will not be licensed, and yet they are there and they operate. He wondered how insurance companies insure them, while some set up awnings in a place and say they are marriage venues. The owners of legal premises had contacts with the prefect of Nicosia who has sent letters to those who operate without a license, without anything being done. Those affected threaten to sue for lost profits against those responsible for the illegal operation of venues.
Mr. Mosaic mentioned that now due to the demand that exists for these spaces, because for a long time they were closed due to the pandemic, those who want to perform marriage or baptism are contacting the legal businesses and when they do not find space they proceed with an illegal business.
Meanwhile, the organized owners of legal venues in Nicosia, in a letter to the Chief of Police, after expressing their concern and anxiety "about some very serious issues that concern our profession", report that in recent years the scourge of non-licensed premises that illegally hold receptions (e.g. weddings, christenings and generally events) has reached fever pitch. According to them, these companies operate undisturbed, offering services as venues for wedding receptions and christenings without fulfilling the necessary requirements and permits by law to be subject to full operation (e.g. planning permission and building permit as banquet venues, CTO permit, health certificate, drink and music permit).
According to the letter, this is unfortunately in the knowledge of the police authorities in the area, who have already denounced several of them but with insignificant fines that are not enough to stop this unaccountability. "As is a natural consequence, this comes at the expense of our companies that paid and invested millions of euros to be able to legally provide their services and to be at a disadvantage (less competitive) because of our huge investment," they say. In addition, they report that the worst of all is that these places are completely uninsured in terms of civil liability since no insurance will cover them without having the necessary licenses. The owners of legal premises for the celebration of events, sound the alarm to the Chief of Police, stressing that these spaces accept thousands of people and it is only a matter of time before there is an incident as there are no appropriate infrastructure as defined by law. The letter names several such banquet venues. Finally, the affected persons call on the Chief to proceed to the immediate termination of the operation of the illegal premises.
"F" turned to the Fire Brigade on the matter, a representative of which told us that those who do not have an operating license are not inspected. We were also told that premises operating outdoors are not a problem. The problem is with those that are located either within a residential area or where there are other premises nearby. In fact, for a premises outside Nicosia, a meeting of all the services involved had been held, because it was taking weddings without the necessary permits, and it was decided to take steps to close it, but this area continues to operate.
