Air traffic control venue to be decided by year end

THE VENUE for the construction of the new Nicosia area (air traffic) control centre (ACC) will be decided before the end of the year, Communications Minister Kikis Kazamias said yesterday.

The centre will be housing the new state-of-the-art air traffic management equipment known as LEFCO, which is due to arrive on the island in around two years.

“(The issue) is very urgent because we have secured loans and grants from EU funds for the construction of the building”, which will cost several million pounds, the minister said.
He said the government was looking into two sites for the building but either way it would be in the Nicosia district.

Kazamias refused to say whether Latsia, on the outskirts of Nicosia, was one of the sites.
The construction of the building has been a bone of contention between the state and air traffic controllers who claimed the Latsia option would pose a threat to their health.

The government had decide to build the ACC in the area but was forced to rethink their decision after controllers’ reaction – which include a strike in October 2002.

The controllers claimed the government was planning to construct the ACC near high-powered electricity pylons.

The minister said the funds would not be lost but they would not be given to Cyprus until a decision was made on the venue.

“The building must be ready within two to two-and-a-half years because the order for the equipment has been already placed,” the minister said.

He added that his ministry wanted the building to be ready to house the equipment the moment it arrived.

The new facilities were deemed necessary to contribute to the smooth and efficient operation of the island’s 175,000-square-kilometre flight Information Region.

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