Limassol mayor Andreas Christou was forced to make public a letter from the auditor-general to avoid suggestions he was concealing potentially embarrassing information, his rival for the post in upcoming elections Nicos Nicolaides charged on Tuesday.
“The conflict of interest cited concerns Andreas Christou and him alone,” said Nicolaou. “We can only hope that yesterday’s [Monday’s] revelations are not just the tip of the iceberg.”
Christou under pressure on Monday released a letter sent to his municipality by the auditor-general in which the latter tangentially alludes to a possible conflict of interest or impropriety involving the mayor.
In his letter to the Limassol municipality, dated November 15, auditor-general Odysseas Michaelides referred among others to two instances where an architectural firm with close ties to mayor Andreas Christou landed two contracts to conduct surveys for projects within city limits.
The architectural firm is understood to belong to the mayor’s spouse.
In the first instance cited in the auditor-general’s letter, in July 2007 Limassol municipality granted a request for a building relaxation for a building block that was under construction.
The building was initially to consist of six units. On July 16, 2007 the architectural firm in question asked for the addition of two floors. Their request was approved by the municipality’s town planning committee eight days later.
The second case related to a survey conducted by the same company relating to the restoration of warehouses at the Limassol marina.
The auditor-general gave the municipality until November 23 to respond so that he could include their remarks in his final report.
The municipality answered by that deadline. Concerning the building block, it informed the auditor-general that the relaxations granted were in line with Limassol master plan guidelines.
In his statement on Tuesday, Nicolaides said that had it not been for the auditor-general’s actions, Christou would not have released the correspondence until after the municipal elections.
He went on to accuse Christou of “hiding behind” his municipal council.
In his letter, and regardless whether any rules were breached, the auditor-general made the following recommendation: that the provision to the public of services, of which the approval depends on the municipality, by persons with close family ties to the mayor or the council, should be avoided “at least within municipal limits.”
Responding, the municipality suggested that the auditor-general’s recommendation, which will appear in his final report, be rephrased as follows:
“The provision to the public of services – of which the approval/promotion depends on the municipality – by persons who are elected officials, or have close family ties with the mayor or members of the municipal council or senior local government functionaries, should be conducted with transparency and with strict adherence to the laws and regulations.”
In a statement circulated to his municipal council on November 28 – the same day he released the auditor-general’s letter – Christou flatly rejected any wrongdoing.
“Mistakes are made, and omissions and failures are observed. Among the numerous decisions that we take each day, it would be arrogant to say that all of them were correct. In many instances, had we the opportunity to take another look, perhaps we might have decided otherwise.
“But mistakes are one thing, and bribery, embezzlement and abuse of power are another. And on this point we have nothing to fear from audits and in fact we welcome them.”
The auditor-general’s letter, dated November 15, formed part of the official’s intermediary correspondence with municipalities ahead of the release of the Audit Office’s report on local government.
The auditor-general’s office has announced that the annual report, traditionally presented to the president at the end of November, this year would not be submitted until the week commencing December 19.
But the municipal elections are to take place a day earlier, on December 18. It was therefore decided that the section regarding local authorities would be released ahead of time, on December 2 so that voters would be able to read the report about each municipality.
That decision followed an increasingly public row between Christou, backed by Akel, Diko, and Edek, and challenger Nicolaides – a prominent member of Edek gone rogue – backed by Disy.
