Frustration at delays in Limassol port improvement

LIMASSOL’S Chamber of Commerce (EBEL) has expressed concern over the delays in the creation of a new passenger room at Limassol Port, while unconfirmed sources talk of ‘Nicosia circles’ pushing for the new passenger room to be placed in Larnaca instead of Limassol Port.

“There are fears that the scheduled project may be cancelled,” said Nikos Solomonides, President of EBEL. “However, I cannot confirm any rumour of Nicosia circles pushing against it. All we can see is that work is not moving forward,” he added.

During a recent visit to Limassol, President Tassos Papadopoulos had assured EBEL that work on the new passenger room would start in 2008. However, EBEL recently received information indicating that the Port Authority was still reviewing the preliminary study on the project and that a decision on where to place it had not been reached yet.

EBEL has been in contact with the Minister of Transport and Works Maria Malaktou-Bambali, as well as with President Papadopoulos to discuss the issue. “During a telephone conversation with the Minister of Transport and Works we discussed our concern and agreed to set up a meeting with the Minister. We are currently expecting for the date to be set,” Solomonides said.

According to Solomonides President Papadopoulos expressed concern at the delays and assured EBEL that he had forwarded the matter to the Minister of Transport and the Port Authority, asking them to achieve progress.

The delay in initiating the project implementation is also affecting the project’s cost, which significantly affects the quality and size of the proposed new passenger room. “Initially the project cost was estimated at £10 million. Because of the delays, the cost is now estimated at £14 million. However, our budget is still £10 million, which means we will have a smaller room,” Solomonides explained.

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