THE Zodhia checkpoint, the first in the west of the island, would be operational as of today, it was confirmed yesterday after much speculation.
Earlier this month the government seemed caught off its stride by the breakaway regime’s announcement of the opening of the checkpoint today.
Nevertheless, the move jolted the administration into action, and over the past few days finishing touches were put to outposts, while telephone and electricity cables were laid.
That the checkpoint would open today was confirmed by police chief Tasos Panayiotou following an inspection of the site. He was accompanied by National Guard chief and Foreign Ministry officials.
“At 7.30 in the morning the checkpoint will be ready. It will operate on a 24-hour basis,” said Panayiotou.
He was understood to be alluding to a proposal for limited, one-way traffic, with Greek Cypriots travellers alternating with Turkish Cypriots every 15 minutes. The reason behind this idea was that the road inside the buffer zone was single-lane.
UNFICYP engineers were yesterday busy clearing foliage in the buffer zone, in anticipation of an agreement between the north and south. UN spokesman Brian Kelly told the Cyprus Mail that the 1.8km stretch of road in the buffer zone was tarmacked and ready to be used if needed.
The proposal for Zodhia was first made by the government in June 2004, when it suggested opening eight new crossings in the Green Line. Turkish Cypriot authorities rejected the offer saying they preferred to see crossings open one at a time, mainly, they said, because of high policing costs and lack of personnel to man outposts.
Since then, the two sides have sporadically blamed each other for delays. But the Zodhia issue resurfaced out of the blue last week when Turkish Cypriot ‘Prime Minister’ Ferdi Sabit Soyer invited Greek Cypriots to use the checkpoint on their way to attending Orthodox celebrations at Morphou’s Ayios Mamas church on September 1.
The government initially said infrastructure works would take months to complete, saying its standing arrangement with the EU meant infrastructure works would be ready no earlier than 2006. Works include widening and resurfacing the road, fencing and lighting. The project is being bankrolled to the tune of one million euros by the European Commission, which has since delegated management of the funding to the UNDP (United Nations Development Programme).
But until noon yesterday, it was far still from clear whether the Republic would be opening up the checkpoint on its side in time for the Ayios Mamas pilgrimage. Quizzed about this, Government Spokesman Kypros Chrysostomides merely offered that, as far as infrastructure works went, “our side is ready”.
“Our intention has always been for the opening of crossing points along the ceasefire line,” he added.
