Minister calls time on colonial-era ministry building

The interior ministry’s personnel need to be relocated from their current main building which is in need of repair, too small and energy-intensive, Interior Minister Constantinos Petrides said on Wednesday.

The construction of the building dates back to 1882 cannot function as a modern office building, he said.

The old colonial building is energy-intensive with a space of 32 square metres per office, while modern buildings have 22 square metres.

Working conditions are poor, he added, with toilets outside the building, while the arrangement of offices means poor public access.

Structural problems include corrosion of the foundations and cracks in the western wing and problems with flooding. The building also has an asbestos roof.

Even if the building is renovated, he explained, it would not meet the needs of the interior ministry since it will not be able to accommodate more than 125 officials, while the ministry needs rooms for more than 200. At present, the various services are located in seven different buildings.

Petrides said that bidding procedures for renting suitable premises will start soon while the existing building when restored would be a historical gem for Nicosia and could serve, for example, as a gallery.

Plans will be announced soon, he said.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.