The regeneration of the Ledra – Onasagorou pedestrian streets in such a way that they can survive themselves, is favoured by the shopkeepers, who set up a "Representative Committee of Shopkeepers, Residents and Owners of Small Businesses and Properties of the Pedestrian Area of the Historic Centre of Nicosia".
An inviolable condition, according to them, is the existence of a proper budget, which will ensure the protection of their businesses and the quality of their lives, both during construction projects and after their completion.
In a statement, they express their strong opposition "to the fact that the Municipality of Nicosia is proceeding with studies and plans in (their) absence, without any consultation at all".
They note that the retrospective presentation of integrated plans does not constitute consultation.
It is, they continue, an arbitrary attitude which in the past has led hundreds of families to financial misery.
"We will not tolerate, it is added, any decision that will bring about the destruction of the only Historic Center of the Capital," they add.
They further argue that what is proposed is not a real redevelopment, but for a rudimentary reconstruction of the paving and a change in the underground networks. It is unacceptable, they continue, for the only Historic Shopping Center of the Capital to be subject to rough plans made exclusively internally by officials of the Municipality. According to them, no project can move forward unless vital issues are first resolved that the Municipality ostentatiously ignores, such as accessibility, the daily supply of businesses and the rational management of garbage and recycling.
In their demands, they also record the following:
-Specialized Scholars: The project must be designed by specialized professionals with proven experience in similar projects, during which the robustness of the local economy has been ensured.
-Transparency in consultation: There must be exhaustive and transparent consultation on all issues before and during planning. Those who say big words after pre-arrangement because, supposedly, they "love our city", while they do not actually represent social groups and contribute to obscurantism and misinformation, with their many hats from which they choose which one to wear depending on the case, are excluded.
-Tenfold the budget: The budget must be increased sharply to correspond to the real size and historicity of the region. A reasonable budget can and should be one of the safeguards to protect local residents, as well as small business owners, from the visible possibility of endless construction projects.
-Financial guarantees: We demand binding guarantees of protection and, for the first time, the advance compensation and institutionalized financial support of shopkeepers. Given that no public project in Nicosia is completed on schedule, we will not accept any start of work without pre-agreed financial support for every small business.
-Urban greenery: It is necessary to significantly enhance urban greenery by planting hundreds of real trees, instead of the makeshift constructions with climbing plants proposed by the Municipality.
-Tight Timelines: The project cannot be started at an unknown time and executed in an indefinite amount of time. We do not accept the extension of the period of uncertainty that repels business interest and makes it difficult to live in the area.
Furthermore, the shopkeepers categorically reject the design presented by the Technical Service of the Municipality and emphasize that it is not a basis for discussion. We are not talking about a dirt road in the suburbs. We are in the only Historic Center of the Capital, which should be a realistically quality choice for living, recreation, walking and shopping. We love it very much, this is where we live, this is where we work and we will fight by any means to keep it alive, as we have been doing with pride for so many years.
-Transparency in consultation: There must be exhaustive and transparent consultation on all issues before and during planning. Those who say big words after pre-arrangement because, supposedly, they "love our city", while they do not actually represent social groups and contribute to obscurantism and misinformation, with their many hats from which they choose which one to wear depending on the case, are excluded.
-Tenfold the budget: The budget must be increased sharply to correspond to the real size and historicity of the region. A reasonable budget can and should be one of the safeguards to protect local residents, as well as small business owners, from the visible possibility of endless construction projects.
-Financial guarantees: We demand binding guarantees of protection and, for the first time, the advance compensation and institutionalized financial support of shopkeepers. Given that no public project in Nicosia is completed on schedule, we will not accept any start of work without pre-agreed financial support for every small business.
-Urban greenery: It is necessary to significantly enhance urban greenery by planting hundreds of real trees, instead of the makeshift constructions with climbing plants proposed by the Municipality.
-Tight Timelines: The project cannot be started at an unknown time and executed in an indefinite amount of time. We do not accept the extension of the period of uncertainty that repels business interest and makes it difficult to live in the area.
Furthermore, the shopkeepers categorically reject the design presented by the Technical Service of the Municipality and emphasize that it is not a basis for discussion. We are not talking about a dirt road in the suburbs. We are in the only Historic Center of the Capital, which should be a realistically quality choice for living, recreation, walking and shopping. We love it very much, this is where we live, this is where we work and we will fight by any means to keep it alive, as we have been doing with pride for so many years.
