Land Registry office completes major move

LOCAL authorities in the Nicosia municipality of Engomi are hoping the Land Registry Department’s move near residences will not cause major problems as traffic descends to the area.

The controversial move was completed over the weekend and the Nicosia District Land Registry Department has been up and running in its new rented offices since Monday.

The move has certainly satisfied employees of the department who previously had to work in overcrowded and often chaotic conditions due to the lack of space and facilities.

But it has brought considerable traffic to the suburb of Engomi whose residents had objected to the move as it would affect their quality of life.

Cars have now filled adjacent plots of land, which are used as parking lots, though private security personnel are on site keeping people from parking on the pavements and in front of the villas sitting on the thin boundary that divides the commercial from the residential areas.

The plots have been reportedly rented out to be used as parking lots but that could not be confirmed yesterday.

Engomi Mayor Nicos Pavlides said there have not been any substantial problems in the two days of the department’s operation though he has asked the police to paint – no parking – yellow lines to prevent people from parking anywhere.

Having the yellow lines would allow municipal traffic wardens to fine violators.

The municipality is also considering issuing residents with stickers so they will not be fined.

Pavlides also hopes the state strikes a deal with a nearby nightclub so that land registry employees use its parking lot and help alleviate the situation.

“If this is done I believe it will be enough,” Pavlides said.

The municipality has been told that the department will be housed there for a maximum five years, until its new premises are constructed at the state fair grounds not very far.

The director of the department Andreas Christodoulou was not immediately available for comment yesterday.

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