The government and institutions of Larnaca found it, which, after a critical meeting at the Presidential Palace under Nikos Christodoulidis, announced important decisions on the developments in the two infrastructures.
The meeting was attended by the mayor of Larnaca, the president of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the president of EOAL, who expressed their satisfaction, stressing that this time the schedules must be met. The announcements were made by the Minister of Transport, Alexis Vafeadis, who stated that it was agreed that the project will be undertaken in its entirety by the Cyprus Ports Authority (CPA).
"Therefore, the Government is immediately proceeding with the transfer of the port, the marina and the land area of the port to the ALK," he noted. As for the port, the decision, as he said, "concerns its upgrade to a tourist and compatible cargo trade, as is the requirement of the city". The immediate priority, he added, is the upgrade of equipment in relation to nuisance loads "to protect the health of citizens".
As far as the marina is concerned, the decision is to upgrade and expand it for about 200 boats. Regarding the land area, which was also a point of friction in the previous days, the Minister of Transport noted that it will be about 50.000 sq.m. "for urban uses and according to the wishes of the city". The decision to unify the entire coastal front of Larnaca is also important, which was a request of the city. According to the Minister of Transport, by June 30, ALK will present to the Larnaca Development Committee a specific roadmap for the implementation of the aforementioned upgrades and developments. "It is clarified that in consultation with the ALK there are the available spaces for the implementation of the agreements. The whole project will be done in full coordination of the ALK with the competent bodies of the city, while at the same time a Monitoring Committee will be set up with the participation of the State, the ALK and the city's bodies", he said. He noted that "the whole project will contribute decisively to the upgrading and development of the city and province of Larnaca, but also of the place in general and will create a significant number of new jobs".
In his statements, the mayor of Larnaca spoke of an important meeting with the President of the Republic and the Minister of Transport during which "several issues have been clarified for which we have publicly expressed our questions and doubts". It is important, he said, "that the land space that will be granted for urban developments, which is a constant request of the city, has been clarified. It has also clarified that the project will include another standing request for the unification of the coastal front of Larnaca, but also who will implement the project. They have told us that they have the financial ability to implement and from then on it is important to meet the schedules and the citizen of Larnaca to start seeing projects and not just promises", he noted. "It was a very important step to put things in their right dimension and in the right direction and from then on it is up to us to implement what we have agreed and this is what we will monitor as a city," he said in conclusion.
For his part, the president of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Nakis Antoniou, thanked the President of the Republic and the Minister of Transport for today's meeting, which was, as he said, constructive. "Decisions have been made and finally a project that the city has been waiting for for many decades is heading towards implementation. It is a day of joy for us and we are waiting to see our project implemented," he noted.
The president of EOAL, Angelos Hadjicharalambous, spoke of a landmark project for Larnaca, and also expressed thanks to the President of the Republic and the Minister of Transport. "Today we took an important step and we hope that with the new data we will soon see the project on track for implementation and the citizens of Larnaca to benefit. It is now important for us to meet the schedules in order to achieve the implementation of the project quickly", he noted.
