Dozens of abandoned cars to be towed in Strovolos

STROVOLOS Municipality has been strictly enforcing the law on abandoned cars and has recently announced that dozens of abandoned vehicles will be removed by the local authority, unless owners respond to the call to move them.
This stricter approach, afforded by a recent amendment to the law has brought about remarkable results in terms of the speed and effectiveness with which abandoned cars are removed.
“The amendment to the relevant law has speeded up the process and citizens are no longer forced to tolerate abandoned cars in their neighbourhoods,” Giorgos Tsiakkas, Strovolos Municipality officer told the Cyprus Mail.
“In 2009 alone, 740 abandoned cars were successfully removed either by their owners or by the municipality,” Tsiakkas added.
The relevant law is section 92A of the Law on Local Authorities as amended in 2007. Previously, the process of removing abandoned cars was painfully slow, but the new law has established a clear timeframe for the process of removing abandoned cars.
“Once a car is reported as abandoned, the authority must ensure that it has been in the same spot for three weeks. A sticker is then placed on the car, identifying it as abandoned and the owner is alerted through a letter calling him to remove the car within four weeks,” Tsiakkas explained.
In cases where the owner complies, the problem is solved, but where owners fail to respond, the municipality tows the abandoned car and sends it to a licensed centre ‘ for cars at the end of their life cycle’. Once there, cars are kept and then sold at public auctions.

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