PAPHOS Mayor, Savvas Vergas faced a barrage of criticism from all sides yesterday following an apparent lone decision to demolish a wall in the Town Hall garden on Wednesday morning.
The wall, which had been erected as part of the proposed revamping of the garden, was completely pulled down.
Local deputy and former Mayor, Fidias Sarikas decisions were being taken without them even being discussed.
He said as far as he knew the municipal council was unaware of Mayor’s decision.
Sarikas said the Mayor had given the impression there was a ‘secret’ agreement between him and the Church, which is the legal owner of the park.
Vergas said he had not secured the agreement from the Bishop of Paphos, Giorgos, prior to the demolition of the wall. He said when the Bishop returned from abroad he would meet him to discuss it.
The wall had previously been erected as part of the proposed revamping of the garden. The work ground to a halt after Vergas voiced his dislike of a number of the new elements, and simultaneously, a row erupted over the use of the garden.
The Church, which had rented the land to the municipality in the past, owns it. But when the contract ran out, the Paphos Bishop expressed his desire to build a cathedral on a large segment of the garden, re-renting the remainder of land to the municipality.
This move faced great opposition and the situation remains as yet unsolved, despite the fact that the Bishop has unveiled his proposed plans for the new Cathedral.
Yesterday Vergas said the presence of the wall had caused many problems.
“This wall was the last part of a failed plan, which is a well known problem,” he said.
“Those people who were unaware of what was happening in the park, especially over the past few months must be blind.”
He said the park should be as a ‘lung of green’ and the wall had done nothing except shield illegal activities such as prostitution and drug dealing.
Other officials including Yiannis Lambros of ETEK agreed with Sarikas and criticised Vergas.
“Demolishing the wall was not a sensible action. This is because it was part of the improvement work that had been carried out after careful planning and at a cost of over a million euros,” he said.
But the general feeling amongst the local population seemed to support of the Mayor with residents saying the wall was unsightly and was being used as a structure for drug dealers and prostitutes to hide behind.
“We need to have our park back what is happening here is disgusting and sad,” said 70-year-old Stella Antoniades. “I think the Mayor just had enough and tore it down. Perhaps he didn’t go about it the right way, but I’m glad the wall has gone.”
Church sources said the Mayor’s action was illegal, and would not be tolerated on their land.
