Bailiff action against Paphos municipality approved

The Paphos Municipality faces having movable property worth €500,000 confiscated by bailiffs on Wednesday for unsettled debts with a construction company.

According to state broadcaster CyBC, Iacovou Brothers secured a court order against the municipality to settle the outstanding debt, which has been pending since 2003.

In 2003 the company completed a €2.5m project for the redevelopment of Ayios Antonios street and the surrounding area, but the municipal council refused to pay the remaining half million arguing that a number of additional works were not part of the initial plan.

The company then took the municipality to court and the authority was ordered to pay €506,000.

Paphos Mayor Phedonas Phedonos said he will have to investigate the project before he is convinced that the company’s deal with the municipality was done by the book since he said, it all happened during “the sinful period”, referring to the period for which the previous mayor Savvas Vergas and municipal councillors were convicted of receiving kickbacks from contractors to give them contracts for municipal projects.