An apartment building in Larnaca, in which about 500 people live, was considered at first sight to be evacuated due to danger, which causes a major social problem in the sense that a place to live for them must be found, which is not an easy task.
In order for the process to proceed, a report from a private designer is expected, who will proceed in greater depth with the research into the static adequacy of the building.
In Larnaca there are 2-3 other high-risk buildings in terms of risk, while similar problems exist in buildings in Limassol and instructions have already been given for one building to initiate eviction proceedings, although things from a legal point of view are not considered simple.
More specifically, starting with the case of the building in Larnaca, the first inspection has been completed and now the report of an external designer is expected. People who rent with Airbnb live in the apartment building, while foreigners and Cypriots live in other apartments.
The president of EOA Larnaca, Mr. Angelos Hadjicharalambous, with whom we contacted, stated that if the report shows that the building is in danger, there is no question of not initiating the legal evacuation procedures. This also applies to any building that endangers residents, he added. On the other hand, because social issues are also raised, it is not considered right to evacuate buildings only from the prima facie assessment. It is a matter of a few 24 hours to have the report to make the appropriate decisions, said Mr. Hadjicharalambous.
As he explained, the same applies to another 3-4 cases of apartment buildings for the handling of which decisions must be made in a short period of time.
As he noted, there are also dangerous houses which, however, are not inhabited, so the measures that should be taken mainly concern passers-by.
In general, the situation is considered difficult in the sense that in Larnaca data have been provided for 565 buildings, which were classified as dangerous, but without being accompanied by a report on their exact static condition and without there being a file for each building to have a complete picture.
This may mean that the really dangerous buildings are probably 50 out of a total of 565, but, as we have been told, whatever is said may be just speculation. The exact picture will emerge from an examination of each case separately.
Until the incident with the apartment building that collapsed in Limassol, 100 buildings had been inspected in Larnaca, but after the incident, the president of the EOA Larnaca gave instructions to speed up the process of checking dangerous buildings.
As far as Limassol is concerned, a case of an apartment complex that needs to be evacuated has been assigned to a law firm in order to initiate eviction proceedings against the residents.
The president of EOA Limassol, Mr. Yiannis Tsouloftas, told philenews that the residents had been given a deadline of three months but did not evacuate it. Then another three days were given and because there was no response, an eviction procedure was finally initiated, although it is estimated that it is not an easy task. 20-30 families live in this complex.
According to Mr. Tsouloftas, in Limassol there are 2-3 other cases of dangerous apartment buildings that need to be addressed.
