Tenders have been launched to revamp Liopetri fishing shelter and incorporate the shelter and Liopetri river into a national park.
The announcement was made by Agriculture Minister Costas Kadis and Liopetri community leader Kyriakos Trisokas on Friday evening.
The €8.5 m project, one of the biggest involving a fishing shelter in Cyprus, includes the construction of a bridge over the Liopetri river, 100 berths for pleasure boats and another 35 for professional fishermen. In addition, there will also be a training centre for canoes, coastal paths and cycling paths, parking, facilities for fishermen, a café and restaurant, a nature observatory and recreation spots among other.
Construction will take 30 months. Completion will not only put Liopetri firmly on the tourist map but will create a 25 kilometre long organised coastal front for the free Famagusta area stretching from Liopetri to Ayia Thekla, Sotira, Ayia Napa marina, the Ayia Napa beaches, Cape Greco and Protaras, Kadis and Trisokas said.
Co-financed by the European Marine and Fisheries Fund (75%) and national funds (25%), the project is expected to be ready in 2022 and should contribute significantly to sustainable fishing in the free Famagusta area, Kadis said.
Trisokas noted that the project will boost not only professional fishermen and tourism and protect the environment, serving as an attraction to visitors.
The project has been on the cards for some years and was first intended to be launched in 2013 but was postponed because of the economic crisis that year.
