Larnaca, Cyprus. Transport Minister Alexis Vafeades on Monday said he was confused by Larnaca mayor Andreas Vyras’ plans to stage a protest over perceived delays in redevelopment of the town’s port and marina. Vafeades said the government would continue along an agreed implementation path and push ahead with work that is not in dispute.
Dispute over process and timelines
Vafeades said he had already agreed with Vyras that the matter would follow a specific implementation path and that results of a study concerning land development would be presented at the end of the month. He said Vyras had “decided on a different course,” but added that the government would “continue to work in this direction, upon which we had agreed.”
Vafeades said what had been agreed “continues to apply” and that the government would “continue to produce results” to proceed with implementation of the project. He added that while Vyras appeared to disagree, the government should not wait for all studies to be finished before starting projects that are not in dispute.
Marina development to move forward
Vafeades said “no one doubts that the marina project can proceed today,” asking why to wait additional months rather than start immediately. He said the ports authority had already been given the green light to begin consultations to implement the marina’s development.
He said the government’s intention is to move the project forward and acknowledged responsibility for any delay in the study, apologising to Larnaca. He added that this did not justify delaying the work any longer and said that moving ahead with the marina redevelopment would demonstrate progress and avoid delays that could set the project back by two or three months.
Do you think the marina redevelopment should begin immediately even if some studies are still ongoing?