PAPHOS deputies from all the political parties yesterday demanded that the construction of the Paphos-Polis highway went ahead and threatened to take ‘dynamic measures’ if the government continued to stall. A DISY deputy, who described the project as being ‘of vital importance’ to the area, said that if the government did not make a decision next month ‘dynamic measures’, which he did not specify, would be taken.
The patience of the people of Paphos had been exhausted, warned a DIKO deputy, accusing the government of using excuses relating to bureaucracy and an appeal against the procedure, in order not to give the go-ahead to the project. There may be an element of truth in this accusation. While there are administrative obstacles – one of the companies tendering for the project filing an appeal at the Tenders Review Authority and also securing an interim court order, until the former reached a decision – these seem to suit the government, which had been in no hurry for the project to start.
These are very difficult times for public finances and any delay to the commencement of a project estimated to cost in excess of €700 million is perfectly understandable. The government is currently looking for €150 million so that its budget deficit for 2011 is within the limit set by the European Commission and does not want to be looking for another €30 million plus which would be first year’s payment for this costly project. The taxpayer would be paying this amount annually for the next 25 years to settle the bill for the highway, assuming no extra costs arise during construction.
But even if we did not have a recession, there are no rational arguments to justify the construction of such a highway. First, a cost-benefit analysis cannot justify such a huge investment as the highway would serve a very small number of people. What justification is there in spending such a huge amount of money to serve such a small number of people? Second, the highway would destroy an area of great natural beauty, without significantly improving the quality of life of the area’s residents. The current road could be made safer with improvement work and widening in certain areas at a fraction of the cost required for the highway, while the environment is protected. Third, and most important, the state cannot afford such an expense.
Unfortunately, this unnecessary highway has become a cause célèbre for Paphos deputies, all of whom have united to put pressure on the government. They know that with parliamentary elections, just eight months away, the government would be unable to resist the pressure, which would be grossly irresponsible on its part. We do not need a Paphos-Polis highway, which by the time the government pays it off, would cost close to a billion euro. This is lunacy.
