Filenews 22 June 2000 - by Dora Christodoulou
The study of the data of the feasibility report presented by the Deputy Ministry of Tourism and the researchers for the Pafos marina and the formation of common positions if possible, was the subject of the recent meeting of the Coordinating Committee of Parties and Organizations of Pafos.
During this session, the Pafos Chamber of Commerce and Industry codified its positions with the participation of the President of the Association of Great Developments, Andreas Dimitriadis and the President of the Pafos Etap, Kyriakos Drousiotis. The President of the Chamber, George May, made it clear to the attendees that in case there would be no outcome in commonly accepted positions, then the Pafos Chamber of Commerce and Industry would send its own views to the Deputy Ministry of Tourism, as it did.
"The Pafos Chamber of Commerce and Industry", he stressed, "despite the fact that the study was not made available to it, examined the data it had before it on the basis of the presentation of the final feasibility report prepared by the consortium Deloitte Cyprus and Triton Consulting Engineers on behalf of the Deputy Ministry of Tourism and concluded, as far as the planning is concerned, that it does not seem to include development within the sea area, as is the case with the rest of the Marinas of Cyprus. This should be included and clarified in the terms of reference to the person who will prepare the tender forms."
As demonstrated in the study, George May pointed out, it is necessary to increase the building coefficient to 60,000 m2 to 65,000 m2 in order for the project to be attractive to investors and investors should be allowed if they choose to erect tall buildings, as has been done in other Marinas of Cyprus. In this way, he observed, the adaptation with the market trends will be achieved and the possibility of creating open spaces such as mini Golf, sports courts, square areas and others will be given the opportunity to create open spaces, which will add value to the development.
"The obligation for a letter of guarantee or other collateral for the financing should concern only the cost of the port works and not the rest of the deployments, which was the most important obstacle for investors in the previous tender," he said. "The construction of a hotel unit, we believe, should be left to the discretion of the investor. Investors should not be restricted or forced to create a hotel unit in the classical sense of the term, but should be able to choose between hotel, condo Hotel, luxury apartments with 4- or 5-star hotel facilities, etc."
The issue of the creation of cruise ship reception facilities, with the remarks mentioned in the presentation about the lack of interest by potential investors, could also be left to the investor's discretion, as to the use, argues the Pafos Chamber of Commerce and Industry. That is, to be able to use these facilities for the reception of large yachts, such as super yachts, or cruise ships or only for one of the two or for neither of the two.
At the same time, the President of the Pafos Chamber of Commerce and Industry also stressed, provision should be included so that the construction of the infrastructure, in case there will be as an option by the investors, will receive a subsidy from the state and that additional incentives are granted to investors for their construction, e.g. an additional building coefficient of 5000 m2.
"The burden on investors for the lease of land should include a fixed cost per year as specified in the study and a variable cost of between 5% and 8% on the sales of residential units," he suggested.
Regardless of the above observations, the Pafos Chamber of Commerce believes that a clear framework should be given within which potential investors can move. The framework and conditions should safeguard the public interest while creating the conditions necessary to attract investors.
According to Mr. May, the particular economic conditions and the uncertainty that prevails, due to geopolitical developments, should not be overlooked. It should be, he noted, that clear conditions and very clear evaluation criteria should be set that will facilitate the process of evaluating the tenders and not complicate it and give the right to lodge objections and appeals that may cause a blockage in the implementation of this important infrastructure project for the Pafos district.
