A GOVERNMENT request for £1.7 million to convert the old Nicosia General hospital for the use of various ministries was questioned by the House Finance Committee yesterday.
The £1.7 million was submitted to the committee as part of a supplementary budget for 2007, but several deputies questioned whether it was worth spending that kind of money for arrangements that would likely prove to be temporary in nature.
It was one of 13 amendments submitted to the committee regarding the 2007 budget.
Presented as a supplementary budget for improvements to government buildings, the request for the £1.7 million was defended by Finance Ministry official Stavros Michael.
Michael said the renovation of parts of the old hospital would mean the Interior Ministry could use it temporarily to house the population registries.
Its possible use by the Communications and Works Ministry for the museum was also raised.
However, several deputies said it would be a waste of money since provisions were already being made for the Interior Ministry and for a new museum.
They also pointed to the failure to present a timetable and the apparent lack of co-ordination between the two ministries over who would use the old hospital.
“We are asking for more details because it seems the two ministries want to use the hospital building,” said committee chairwoman Antigone Papadopoulou of DIKO. “We want to see proper planning so that the sum of £1.7 million will not be wasted needlessly for temporary accommodation for certain services.” Deputies from all of the political parties agreed.
Another amendment to the 2007 budget submitted related to the creation of a compensation fund in case of any violation of the agreements between the government and the strategic investor in the island’s two airports.
The committee said it would first like to see the agreement between the state and the investor Hermes.
Another issue that arose during yesterday’s committee was the discussion of a supplementary budget for the Cyprus Ports Authority (CPA), which wanted to discuss the possibility of legislating to pass on certain expenses to passengers using the ports.
The CPA asked for another £710,000, of which £350,000 would go on overtime. Over half of the overtime expenses went on the crisis during the summer when some 65,000 Lebanese evacuees arrived in Cyprus.
Papadopoulou said the committee had not immediately approved the supplementary amount because it did not see why the Cyprus government should shoulder the entire burden of the extra costs of the Lebanese evacuation.
Committee members asked how much could be recouped from the EU, which had promised to help Cyprus cope with the crisis.
Opposition DISY deputy Averoff Neophytou said it was not fair to ask the CPA to pay the money itself.
