THE GOVERNMENT is looking into a transport system to take passengers to and from the island’s airports, with initial forecasts saying the plan could be in effect as early as next year.
The plan is at its final stage, with the European Commission on its way to approving the initiation of research into the viability of the project based on the EU budget for Cyprus for the years 2007 to 2013.
The plan was given a welcome hearing during a meeting last week between the Municipalities Union and the Government Planning Department, especially from the representative of the Commission who has the final say in the approval of the budget.
“This is not the first time we have put forward this proposal, this time we have received a positive reaction from the EU and the Planning Department so we can receive the money from the Union budget to begin the research,” the General Secretary of the Union Municipality Athos Germanos said yesterday.
“This is designed to raise the quality of service to both Cypriots going and returning from abroad as well as tourists. We feel that it is a duty of a state to provide such a service to the public. It will be an additional service to the taxis,” he told the Mail.
General Manager of the Government Planning Department, Andreas Moleskis, said that this can only be seen as a good thing as an alternative has to be provided to the taxi service currently available.
“It is not possible for someone coming to Cyprus from Greece or other neighbouring countries for £50 and then needing the same amount of money to arrive at his destination which is located elsewhere on the island,” he said.
In view of possible opposition to the plan by taxi services at both airports, Moleskis said that nothing would stop the preliminary research taking place given that it was given the final green light.
“No reaction to the plan can obstruct us from carrying out this research, we will definitely be doing so once we receive the economic boost,” he added.
Over the possible time scale before this transport service would finally be put into action, Germanos said that he hoped that everything would be in place by 2008.
“An exact date cannot be set at the moment; there are still a lot of things that need to be done. As soon as the subsidy is released for us to use, the research will begin and should be completed by the end of the year. Then based on the results, which are fully expected to point to the creation of such a service, it could even start from the next year,” he said.
