NICOSIA is likely to resemble a bomb site for the next decade, as roads are dug up and traffic diverted for months on end. The reason behind the bedlam – which promises endless frustration for commuters – is Nicosia Sewerage Board’s plans to carry out long-term works in the greater Nicosia district.
The £150 million project, which will link districts around the city centre with the existing central sewerage system, and covers a total of 900 kilometres of pipes, should be finished within eight to 10 years, Nicosia Sewerage Board technical manager Evgenios Nicolaou told the Cyprus Mail. The costs include wastewater treatment plants and sewage pumping stations, he added.
During the project’s first stages, works will be carried out in Engomi, a large part of Strovolos, Aglandja, Lakatamia, Latsia and Geri. Further down the line the project plans to include other areas and communities in the system, such as Paliometocho, Deftera, Ayious Trimithias, Kokkinotrimithia, Anayia, Tseri, Psimolofou and possibly Ergates.
“Nicosia, Ayios Dhometios and parts of Strovolos have already been connected to the main sewerage line. This was done gradually during the years 1971-1995 and cost £18 million,” said Nicolaou.
Construction began on this latest large-scale project in January. So far a large portion of Engomi including Prodromou and Metochiou streets have been completed, he said.
Meanwhile works are currently being carried out in Strovolos, covering an area of 16 kilometres in the vicinity of Armenias Street, Acropolis Park and Acropolis Avenue.
The Sewerage Board is also digging up parts of Engomi near the Makarios stadium and a six kilometre area around 28 October Street and Lefkotheou Avenue. These works will be completed in April next year, said Nicolaou.
In Lakatamia, works are being carried out in the Anthoupolis area, including the main Ayios Georgios road. Meanwhile, in Latsia, the Sewerage Board is co-operating with the Public Works department to improve the old Nicosia-Limassol road.
“We’re linking up the area with the main system and the public works department is carrying out its own construction. It will depend on them on how long we take to finish working on that specific three to four kilometre strip,” he said.
Nicolaou added: “So far, we are in the process of developing 80 kilometres of road. We haven’t even completed one tenth of the project. However, we will constantly be starting up new parts of the project, and construction will be ongoing.”
In November, work on a large 25-kilometre area in Latsia, east of the old road, will begin, as well as 25 kilometres in Archangelos in Strovolos. These were very large parts of the project and would take one and a half years to complete, whereas work due to being in Lakatamia, just south of Morphou Street and west of the Nicosia-Palechori road would take only a year to finish, he said.
