Two more dangerous houses are being demolished in Larnaca, Angelos Hadjicharalambous, President of the Larnaca District Self-Government Organization, said on Friday, adding that the Larnaca District Court has also formally secured an eviction order for the apartment building in the Faneromeni area and the Organization will proceed with its fencing.
The President of EOA Larnaca also referred to the social aspect of the issue concerning the relocation of tenants, saying that for the relocation of the 40 people in total who lived in the 24 apartments of the apartment building in Faneromeni, there was assistance from the Ministry of Interior, Civil Defense and the Municipality of Larnaca but not from the Deputy Ministry of Social Welfare. At the same time, he spoke about the need to amend the current legislation so that the Authorities can move in a timely manner.
In his statements, Mr. Hadjicharalambous stated that "yesterday, Thursday, June 11 and today, Friday, the 12th of the month, two more dangerous houses located on Stavrodriou Street in Larnaca were scheduled for demolition".
According to him, at the end of May, the demolition of the house in the Sotiros area in Larnaca where three women lived took place, while last week the demolition of a second one, whose roof collapsed in mid-May, was completed.
Mr. Hadjicharalambous also stated that "there are 35 other buildings whose management must be managed within the next few days". That is, as he explained, "to send letters to the owners to take the necessary measures to remove their danger".
"In the event that the necessary measures are not taken within a predetermined period of time, then we will proceed with the evacuation of the buildings, a procedure that is followed for such cases," he noted.
When asked where these dangerous buildings are located, Mr. Hadjicharalambous said that "the 35 buildings are small and large apartment buildings and houses located in the Municipality of Dromolaxia - Meneou and in other Communities, but most of them are located in Larnaca".
As he explained, "the procedure followed in these cases is time-consuming and there is a long delay until all the actions that need to be followed are taken."
"There is also the social problem because the state does not help to find a solution to the issue of housing the people who live in the specific dangerous buildings," he said.
Asked about the apartment building in the Faneromeni area which was evacuated by its tenants, Mr. Hadjicharalambous said that "this week we formally secured a decree from the Larnaca District Court for the evacuation of the building, something we have already done with the notification from the Director of Licensing, by which the specific building was declared dangerous".
"Procedurally, we also wanted to have the Court's decree to serve it to the owners of the apartment building," he said.
He also noted that "the EOA Larnaca will immediately proceed with the fencing of the apartment building and additional signage will be made so that passers-by are aware of its danger, always with the aim of protecting and ensuring the safety of the public circulating in the area".
As Mr. Hatzicharalambous said, "with the evacuation of the apartment building in the Faneromeni area, many problems arose, both with the relocation of the 40 people in total who lived in the 24 apartments, as well as where the furniture and other household equipment they had would be placed."
He also stated that "the Ministry of the Interior, the Civil Defense, but also the Municipality of Larnaca helped in this case, however the Deputy Ministry of Social Welfare was absent".
"We expect more involvement of this Deputy Ministry in the management of similar cases because these issues must finally be regulated in the right way," he noted.
Asked to state whether the help and assistance of the Ministry of the Interior was requested in order for the procedures that the Organization must take to be carried out faster, Mr. Hadjicharalambous said that "we are waiting for the amendment of the legislation so that we can handle such cases immediately, without wasting time and being able to close these cases as soon as possible".
"We want to be more practical and immediately solve any problems that exist, for such cases, which are not easily solved due to the existing legislation," he concluded.
