Guard post knocked down in Pyrgos

GOVERNMENT authorities yesterday demolished a National Guard post at Kato Pyrgos, north-west of Paphos, with a view to open a new crossing point in the area.

Demolition work began at around 9.30am by a Public Works Department team using an excavator that knocked down the post. National Guard officials and UN personnel were on site monitoring the job, while a UN helicopter was flying over the area.

Residents in the area, present during the demolition of the military post which was constructed after the 1974 Turkish invasion on the island, expressed satisfaction and called on the Turkish Cypriot side to follow suit so that a new crossing point could open, linking the area of Kato Pyrgos, located in the government controlled areas, with the occupied village of Limnitis.

They also demanded the concurrent opening of a crossing point at Ledra Street in Nicosia.

The Head of Kato Pyrgos Community Council, Costas Michaelides, expressed hope that all infrastructure work in the area would conclude in less than a month, adding that if the Turkish Cypriots follow suit, the crossing point would open.

The president of the committee for the opening of the Limnitis crossing point Andreas Caros called it “an historic day”.

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