By George Psyllides
POLICE yesterday arrested Paphos mayor Savvas Vergas for the third time in two months, only this time two others were also held in connection with alleged mismanagement at the town’s sewerage board.
Along with Vergas, 49, police arrested the board’s manager Eftihios Malekides, 58, currently suspended, and former DISY municipal councillor Giorgos Michaelides, 58.
Police have also issued an arrest warrant for Christos Drakopoulos, a Greek national who owns the company involved in the construction of a waste treatment plant in the district.
Drakopoulos was nowhere to be found in Cyprus and it is understood procedures were underway to issue a European arrest warrant.
A probe by Auditor General Odysseas Michaelides into the workings of the sewerage board – chaired by Vergas – revealed several suspected cases of mismanagement of public funds.
Reports said initial estimates for the construction were €15m, but it cost €17m.
The contractor claimed an additional €9.0m but eventually settled for €1.5m.
The whole sewerage project was meant to cost €78m but taxpayers have so far paid €109m with contractors claiming around €25m more.
Despite the high cost, the project is riddled with problems and a lot of roads have been left in ruins.
Reports suggested more arrests were on the way, as authorities were looking into suspicious contributions made to various outfits, including political parties.
It is the third time police arrest the Paphos mayor who refuses to resign despite being connected to several cases of alleged corruption.
Vergas has already been charged in connection with threatening text messages sent to two witnesses in a suspicious land zoning case involving prominent developer Theodoros Aristodemou.
He was also arrested in connection with alleged irregularities in the organisation of a music concert held in August. The judge however, refused a police request to remand him in custody due to insufficient evidence.
Together with Vergas, police have charged his close associate Maria Solomonidou in connection with the threatening text messages.
She was also implicated in the concert case since the company that organised the event is registered to her husband.
Solomondou was sacked on Tuesday, ostensibly because her services at the municipality’s cultural department were no longer required.
However, she was back in the spotlight yesterday after reports claimed she was questioned by police in connection with a bomb explosion near the town hall on Tuesday evening.
The low intensity device had been placed in the public garden and police were investigating the possibility of the incident being linked to Solomonidou’s dismissal.
