Within July, the reconstruction of the first apartment buildings under the “ktiZO” Plan begins, as stated by the Minister of Interior, Constantinos Ioannou, speaking during the session of the Parliamentary Committee on Refugees.
In his remarks, Ioannou referred to the actions taken over the past year, from the announcement date of the Plan until now, as well as the response of the beneficiaries residing in the 43 apartment buildings falling under the first phase.
Specifically, the Minister mentioned that 77.6% of the beneficiaries (287 beneficiaries) have expressed interest in participating in the Plan, while 6.5% of the beneficiaries (24 beneficiaries) have expressed their desire not to participate.
At the same time, rent is subsidised for 165 beneficiaries, while storage space for their personal belongings is provided for 25 apartments.
The Minister of Interior informed the President and members of the relevant Parliamentary Committee about the progress of the evacuation and demolition process of the 20 apartment buildings deemed immediately dangerous.
As he stated, five apartment buildings located in the Latsia Municipality have been evacuated and demolished, and the demolition of the remaining apartment buildings will proceed in the coming period.
According to Ioannou, in cases where apartment buildings were not fully evacuated, and based on the Road and Building Regulation Law, the competent Authority for issuing an evacuation decree for unsuitable and dangerous buildings is the competent Local Authority/Municipality.
Therefore, it is up to the Municipalities to activate the provisions of the legislation for issuing the Decree.
He further highlighted that in cases where delays in completing the reconstruction occur due to the State’s fault, the Ministry of Interior will continue to provide rent subsidies to the beneficiaries until the completion of the project.
However, if the delay is caused by the beneficiaries themselves (e.g., refusing to evacuate the apartments, disagreeing on procedural matters such as the choice of Coordinator, apartment allocation, etc.), then the rent subsidy will be discontinued after the predetermined period.
Furthermore, speaking to the media representatives after the session, the Minister of Interior called on the responsible Municipalities, within whose boundaries apartment buildings that have not been fully evacuated are located, to proceed with the issuance of Decrees, so that the apartment buildings can be demolished and the implementation of the Plan can continue with reconstruction.
Regarding the reconstruction process, Ioannou mentioned that the tender has been awarded to a contractor for the construction of an apartment building in the Apostolos Andreas settlement in the Latsia Municipality, and reconstruction is expected to commence by July.
For the second apartment building in the Kokkines settlement in Strovolos, the final date for offers from contractors is April 19, and the expected start date for works has been set for late July. Tender documents are being prepared to receive offers from contractors for the apartment buildings in Agios Eleftherios in Latsia and Platy in Aglantzia, with the expected start of works around late August. Procedures are also progressing for cases in Chrysospiliotissa and an apartment building in Strovolos G’.
Finally, the Minister of Interior noted that the process for the second phase of the Plan, which concerns 70 apartment buildings, will soon begin.
Beneficiaries will be granted subsidies for hiring a Civil Engineer to prepare the necessary studies, which will determine whether the apartment buildings should be reconstructed or repaired.
Continuing, Ioannou explained that, in cases where some of these apartment buildings are deemed unsafe and require reconstruction, the reconstruction of the apartment buildings will take place in the same location and will follow the same process as in the first phase, namely apartment evacuation, rent subsidy provision, Coordinator appointment, state grant to beneficiaries, beneficiary contribution, etc.
In conclusion, the Minister thanked the members of the Parliamentary Committee on Refugees for their continuous support, noting that there are some specific issues that are being resolved in cooperation with the suggestions of the Committee members.
However, he expressed confidence that there will be no serious deviation from the set schedules, so that a comprehensive solution can finally be provided to this chronic problem affecting our refugee compatriots.
