Mayor of Limassol Andreas Chrstou, spoke exclusively to Entrepreneurial Limassol regarding the changes to be made in the city centre, infrastructure projects and future plans including the casino, the new football stadium and the conference centre. More specifically, he refers to the strategic plan adopted by the ministries concerning the improvement of the less well-off areas.
Limassol has developed rapidly in recent years. How do you envision its future development?
Limassol has to continue to efficiently use its advantages – its ‘dowry’, as the late Mayor Ploutis Servas used to say – and to create the best possible conditions to grow as a European and international financial and shipping centre. It is also necessary to strengthen the town’s tourist infrastructure and product, to create new conditions for the development of higher education (colleges and universities), to enhance the port infrastructure and take advantage of the exploitation of hydrocarbons in the Eastern Mediterranean.
As regards the town’s infrastructure, there are plans for several developing areas, particularly those located in the west. An extensive urban study on the area between the Marina and the old port has been submitted to the Town Planning Council, proposing ways of making the most of the area below Franklin Roosevelt Avenue. This is the old industrial area, which offers great potential for tourist, hotel, residential and commercial development, with an original design, large green spaces and a good road network. The same applies to the area located west of the road, which also has enormous potential. Its proximity to the Salt Lake, the forest and Lady’s Mile Beach offers unprecedented prospects.
What are your plans regarding the town centre?
The town centre is well-structured and it has been offering residential, office, entertainment and commercial uses after its reconstruction. It also largely covers the needs of the Cyprus University of Technology. We wish to maintain this co-existence in the best possible way by further reducing traffic, with the gradual pedestrianisation of certain streets and increasing the number of pedestrians and cyclists.
It is a long-term perspective that can be implemented once we have the sustainable mobility plan in our hands, which will hopefully be launched this year once the specifications for the tender are at an advanced stage.
In addition, the town centre plan is currently under review and we believe that it will lead to new moderate growth through infrastructural improvements. At the same time, we are interested in maintaining the comfort of residents without allowing excessive height and density factors which will make people leave the centre.
What other plans are currently under way?
The implementation of the two urban projects is expected to begin in 2016. The projects involve the connection of the coastal avenue with Frankllin Roosevelt Avenue, from Commandaria Street to Agios Antonios church and Agias Fylaxeos street (from the roundabout) up to Spyros Kyprianou Avenue.
Unfortunately, despite our efforts, the reconstruction of the historic centre of Agia Fyla has again not been included in the state budget. Reconstruction of the road parallel to the port and its extension to the north have been delayed because of the complications with tender issues.
The Sewerage Board of Limassol – Amathus (SBLA) continues to implement its ambitious project of covering most of Limassol with waste water and storm drain works. Four contracts, totaling €45 million, are currently under way while another €22 million project is being evaluated. The Tenders Review Authority is expected to come to a decision regarding another project with a €6 million budget.
We will continue our efforts to ensure the government’s share of major storm water drainage projects costing €28 million. The SBLA already has €13 million of the required amount.
Intensive consultations with the relevant Ministries are currently in progress and we hope that they will soon be concluded for the projects to get on track and provide some relief to those areas which are constantly affected by floods. This will also provide jobs for a significant number of unemployed people in the construction industry.
Restoration work on the old Papadakis Warehouse is almost complete and a Municipal Arts Centre will be created there at a cost of €1.3 million. Some 60% of the project will be funded by the Ministry of Education & Culture and it is expected to be completed by mid-year. The first major exhibition has been scheduled for October – November 2016.
Construction work has begun on a €250,000 aquarium at the zoo – following its sponsorship by three Limassol-based companies.
Last but not least, is the recent decision of the relevant Ministries and services to adopt a strategic plan for integrated sustainable urban development in deprived neighbourhoods, west of the town centre. The plan was proposed by the Municipality and the approved funding amounts to €22 million.
The proposed projects are:
Rehabilitation of municipal buildings on Misiaouli & Kavazoglou Street and their use for cultural, social and educational purposes.
Creation of a centre for innovation and entrepreneurship on the Municipality’s property on Franklin Roosevelt Avenue.
A nature trail at religious, historical and architectural sites.
Restoration of the cisterns in the Vati area
Rehabilitation of the Turkish-Cypriot cinema and its transformation into a multi-cultural space.
Restructuring of Syntagma, Philellinon, Anagennisis and Nicos Roussos Squares)
Planning of Irini Square
Improvements to facades (houses and shops)
Rehabilitation of Misiaouli & Kavazoglou Street
Rehabilitation of the road network beside the Garillis River from Makarios Avenue to the sea
Access to the seafront
Creation of a Pensioners Club
Creation of a daily shelter for the homeless
What is Limassol doing regarding the casino project?
Limassol and other municipalities have expressed their views on this to the President of the Republic and his Ministers. We believe that our town has all the advantages to host the casino. It has an extensive and excellent hotel infrastructure, thousands of citizens and particularly foreigners with considerable financial clout. It is accessible, hospitable and cosmopolitan and can offer various facilities to guests of the casino. It also has several plots of land suitable for creating such an infrastructure. The decision will be made by the Cabinet on the basis of the proposals to be submitted soon and hopefully Limassol will win this bet.
At what stage is the football stadium issue?
We do not have a detailed update because the stadium is not within the municipal boundaries of any of the existing municipalities. We believe that removing the stadium from the wider Limassol area will create problems that have not been taken into account to the extent required. However, the decision was taken by the Government and it seems to satisfy the football clubs.
The creation of a conference centre has been under discussion for years. Why have plans not gone ahead?
We have not gone ahead with the conference centre due to the fact that there have been no timely or appropriate government decisions – and we are not referring to a specific government. The lack of a conference and exhibition centre continues to keep outside the market for important conferences and exhibitions. Cyprus appears to be a poor country in relation even to small islands and small towns in the region and it does not look like there is a political will to proceed with this issue.
We should make it clear that neither the Municipality itself nor any other organisation can proceed with this. We need the appropriate land – which was perfectly available five or six years ago – and a push from the relevant governmental authorities. We shall not stop putting this issue forward and demanding the establishment of the appropriate conditions in order to proceed with its creation.
