A LIMASSOL man who has been battling bureaucracy for over a month since road contractors appeared out of nowhere on his property, has discovered the state forgot to tell him that the land had been acquisitioned.
Marios Varnakas, who co-owns around 800 square metres of land between Ypsonas and Limassol, said the problems began a month ago when he saw workers from the Chapo construction company appear on his property to construct a new access road without the permission of the co-owners.
“They started working a month ago, but they have not given me any compensation,” he said.
After trying to get to the bottom of what was going on, and taking legal steps that proved fruitless, Varnakas went to the site on Wednesday to stage a one-man protest.
He said once he was there, the construction workers told him that if he touched anything (on the land) he would face “big problems”, arrest and court action.
“As I was removing the fence the company that is doing the road called the police, and all together they were actually threatening me. They were on my land without any legal right and I was supposed to be afraid of them?”
Varnakas said he had tried the legal route himself without success. “I have already been to court, but the judge postponed the case for a month. I also spoke to the chief of the Polemedia police station.”
In the meantime, the contractors continue to build.
“They took my land by force” he said, likening his situation to that of the illegal Turkish occupation of the north. “They are on my land without any legal right, exactly how the Greek Cypriots who stayed in the north after the Turkish invasion.”
Asked about the road works, Public Works Department (PWD) chief executive engineer for the project Stella Malloupa admitted the PWD was at fault for not informing Varnakas, but added that as part of the acquisition process, Varnakas was entitled to appeal against the work.
Malloupa said: “There was a mistake, but we are now proceeding with the legal procedure for the acquisition of the land. This will be completed very soon. Mr Varnakas will be informed officially about the acquisition and will have a month to object.”
If he is unsuccessful in his appeal, the land survey department will value the land and the government will then compensate him in full, plus interest accrued on that sum from the moment the works began.
If he wins his appeal, Malloupa said, the PWD will restore the land to its original condition, although she acknowledged that this was a rare occurrence.
Asked how the PWD could have made the blunder, PWD road designer Demetris Papaioannou said: “Why do mistakes happen? If we knew why then we wouldn’t have made the mistake.”
Nevertheless, he insisted that the work was necessary. “The work has to be done; it is just a question of money.”
The choice of a return to normal or a cash sum – potentially up to €200,000 – is unlikely to console Varnakas who believes his fundamental rights have been disrespected.
“Today I realise in what a dangerous place I live, where your basic rights are not respected and (if you are not obedient to) those in authority, they will find a hundred ways to punish you” he said.
