Larnaca pleads for cash to upgrade town

THE LARNACA Mayor yesterday called on the government to provide the necessary funds in order to develop the town.

A meeting was held between the Municipality and various members of the private and public sectors where different ideas and ways of co-ordination were discussed
Mayor Andreas Moyseos told the Mail that, “at least £20 million is needed for various projects that we estimate will take eight years to complete.”

When pressed on what exactly these projects are, Moyseos said these include the development of the town’s port and marina, three main squares and various roads, including the main Larnaca-Dhekelia area.

“Some work is due to begin this October with more scheduled for next year,” he said.
Even though it’s the first port of call for most of our tourists, Larnaca is still in serious trouble.

Tourism in the town has been down for some time and it is not featured in many brochures of the big tour operators.

Moyseos has previously said that Larnaca was rather unlucky from the beginning when it came to tourism because the town was cut into three pieces, making it impossible to formulate any cohesive development plan.

“One of the major problems has always been the existence of the refinery which divides the town in two on one side. On the south side we have the airport, which also divides the town. These are the major reasons why tourism has failed to flourish in Larnaca.”

On top of that, he said there really were not enough tourist beds to tempt the big operators to put Larnaca on their brochures.

According to a 2006 Cyprus Tourism Organisation report, 8.15 per cent of all tourists who come to the island stay in Larnaca, which has nearly ten per cent of all beds on the island.

According to the report, most people that seek out Larnaca are the over 65s, families with children under 12 and couples seeking a quiet holiday.

It also pinpointed infrastructure as being a major problem within the town. A little outside, the refinery was still a problem until its removal, slated for completion by 2010.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.