Filenews 20 September 2023 - by Dora Christodoulou
Development projects worth millions of euros are being carried out on an annual basis in the Pafos district, with the aim of improving infrastructure, the quality of life of residents and stopping urbanization, Pafos District Officer Mary Lambrou told "F". An amount of up to €15 million is allocated annually for this purpose, he stressed, which 65% concerns development and beautification projects and the remaining 35% to basic infrastructure projects.
Beautification works, construction of new buildings, as well as infrastructure projects, such as road improvements, flood protection works, the creation of retaining walls and others, aim to improve the lives of rural residents and curb urbanization, the Pafos District Officer said. For landscaping projects, the tender procedure is followed, after conducting studies and obtaining permits, he said, while credits are drawn for mature and approved projects from the State Budget concerning the Pafos District Administration or from European programs if all legal procedures are followed, with the corresponding contribution of the respective Community Councils.
This policy, according to Mary Lambrou, creates conditions for new jobs and an increase in traffic to rural areas. A new, positive framework is also being created for small businesses, while expatriates are also interested in maintaining their ancestral homes.
For this year, the Pafos District Officer said, many projects of main importance for communities and areas of the Paphos countryside have already been completed.
Such actions that have been completed, she analyzed, are the
- renovation of the surrounding area of the Church of Panagia Chrysomatousis Chlorakas with an expenditure of more than €500,000
- the first phase of the regeneration of the core of the community of Giolos for €400,000
- the first phase of the regeneration of the core of Konia with a corresponding expenditure of about €420,000
- the construction of the Regional Information Center for Birds and Terrestrial Flora of Akamas in Kathikas for €300,000
- the second phase of the renovation of the core of Panagia at a cost of €380,000
- the equipment of the Turtle Educational and Exhibition Center in Ineia for about €320,000
- the promotion of the traditional core and the embellishment of the Fountain in Argaka with an expenditure of more than €600,000
-the creation of a playground in Agios Dimitrianos for €53,000
- the maintenance and restoration of the old Fountain in Agia Varvara with an amount of €110,000
According to Lambrou, important projects are in the implementation stage, with the involvement of some of them and the Recovery and Resilience Plan. One such project is the thematic route Aphrodite in Ineia, worth €1.8 million.
She also promoted the creation of walking and cycling routes with an astropark in Arodes with a contract worth €512,000, the beautification and renovation of a park in Statos-Agios Fotios at an expense of €632,000, the separation of plots in Acheleia at a cost of €1.2 million and the creation of a park and event space in Kritou Marottou at a cost of €380,000.
The District Administration, Mary Lambrou also said, is at an advanced stage of evaluating the tenders requested for the redevelopment of the core of the Marathounta community, the third phase of the redevelopment of the core of Mesa Chorio and the improvement of the Cultural Center and Natural History Museum in Pomos.
At the same time, agreements are soon to be signed for the redevelopment of the core of Koili, which will be financed by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development, for the renovation of the surrounding area of the medieval Fountain in Choulou and the second phase of the square in the Community of Lemba.
All these planned projects, the Pafos District Officer concluded, will begin to be implemented within 2023.
