SEVEN months after the Bali nightclub in Nicosia burned down in a fire, the gutted building on the walls of the old city has become a safety hazard, with nothing done to clear out the charred remains and secure the structure.
The building is open to the elements, and to whoever wants to walk in, making it an ideal place for squatters, a hazard for children and a breeding ground for vermin.
Club owner Savvas Mouzakis claimed the reason that the building had not been sealed was because the insurance company was deliberately causing delays, but the claims department director at Laiki Insurance, Argyris Argyrou, said this was not the case.
“I am not at liberty to comment on the issue at this time,” Argyrou said.
“But I can assure you that it is not our fault that the premises have not been sealed.”
Residents living around the area told the Cyprus Mail yesterday the place had become a health hazard, as it was now a haven for vermin and cockroaches.
“They keep sprouting out from everywhere,” one man said.
“It’s about time somebody did something to have the placed cleaned up.”
But Mouzakis claimed the cost of cleaning up the wreckage was estimated to be in the region of £4,000.
“It’s not enough that my place burned down, now we have to pay all that money to have it cleaned? Why did I have it insured in the first place?” Mouzakis wondered.
“Our company repaired our offices that were also affected by the fire at our own cost, but so far we have been thwarted by the insurance company.”
The head of the Health and Safety department of the Municipality was unavailable to comment on the issue.
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.
