CYPRUS has its first MOT test centre, in Nicosia’s Pallouriotissa suburb. KMPM Autovision (Cyprus) Ltd has spent in excess of £150,000 setting up the state-of-the-art facility, in partnership with one of France’s leading roadworthiness test companies, Autovision.
Working to French test procedures, which are in accordance with EU requirements, each vehicle presented for inspection undergoes 134 checks, from critical systems like the brakes to more minor problems of which the owner should be aware, even though they may not cause the car to ‘fail’ its MOT. The whole process takes about twenty minutes.
The cost of Autovision’s test has not yet been set, even though the government, in readiness for when MOT tests become law, has determined that each test should cost £25.
“We will be charging less than that,” says Antonis Michaelides of KMPM, “we want motorists to check their cars on a voluntary basis, until it becomes a legal requirement — it’s for their own benefit.”
The company has reached an agreement with the General Insurance Company of Cyprus, which will offer its customers free car checks.
The planned legislation to bring Cyprus into line with Europe, which must be in place by 2003, will be introduced in two phases. Until the EU cut-off date, centres which receive a licence to operate will also be allowed to undertake the necessary repairs of vehicles, something forbidden under EU regulations, and the certificate will be issued by a government department, which will take £5 of the cost.
Once Cyprus is fully harmonised, as of January 1, 2003, test centres will not be allowed to offer any service to customers, and motorists won’t be required to call at a government department before and after the procedure for the relevant documentation.
Autovision has plans to open test centres in other towns, and may even bring a mobile unit to the island, depending on the passing of the requisite legislation.
The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.
