Pafos Live 20 December 2023
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| Photograph - Paphos Life |
The systematic violation of the terms of the contract for the construction of the Pafos – Polis Chrysochous Motorway is attributed to the Ministry of Transport, Communications and Works of Cyprus, by the construction company Intrakat, which warns the termination of the contract if the Cypriot State does not resolve serious problems related to the project.
This is a major road project, worth €86.8 million, which was undertaken by Intrakat in May 2021, facing almost from the beginning of its construction very serious problems, which have brought the construction company to a dead end, without, as everything seems to bear, responsibility.
According to a letter to the Ministry signed by Intrakat's General Manager, Mr. Anastasios Arranitis, serious issues have arisen in the implementation of the project, including – among others – the non-granting of an extension due to the pandemic, the suitability of materials for the construction of the project's embankments, as well as the licensing of the storage chambers provided for in the contract and the delay in the expropriations. Also important is the lack of aggregates from the quarries of the Paphos District, the delay in moving the high voltage network of the Electricity Authority of Cyprus (EAC) and the excessive increase in construction costs due to inflation triggered by the war in Ukraine and other international events.
These issues are known to the Ministry of Transport, Communications and Works, as it has been informed about them by the company. In its letter, Intrakat complains that the Ministry has consistently failed to exercise its contractual obligations, as well as its permanently negative, intransigent and non-negotiable stance, as well as unjustified and excessive delay in resolving its problems.
It also accuses the Ministry of adopting interpretations that contradict best international environmental protection practices. For example, it dismisses excavation products as 'unsuitable', with the result that very few backfills have been made, when they are suitable for this purpose and meet the technical specifications of the contract, thus causing an unjustified environmental burden.
It is indicative that, while, based on the road construction study, Intrakat was expected to construct embankments of €2.5 million. However, due to this negative attitude, it has manufactured very little, in the absence of other suitable – according to the Ministry – materials.
Intrakat points out that the immediate consequence of this stance is that the smooth implementation of the project is hindered, dragging down its timetable and budget, thus making its continuation and viability precarious and the contracting incurring multi-million euro losses, which will have to be borne by the Cypriot taxpayer. "The project is bleeding every day," the letter said.
For this reason, the administration seeks the immediate resolution of the problems in order to continue the important work smoothly.
It is recalled that the project is 15 km long, with two 950 m long tunnels and five 1,500 m long high bridges. Intrakat uses new, innovative technologies that are environmentally and employee-friendly and have received very positive feedback from the media.
