Transport Minister Alexis Vafeades on Tuesday said the ongoing dispute between boat owners and the Larnaca marina’s management must stop immediately to protect Cyprus’ international reputation and keep the former functional.
Speaking to the media, the minister attempted to hold a fine line, saying strike action was an undisputed right, but it was not acceptable for a private dispute to be paid for by the public.
Stating that there was plenty of room for negotiation, Vafeades adopted a wait-and-see stance and said he hoped the parties would find their way.
Claims by the marina’s management company Kition Ocean Holdings that dock works are underway at the marina were dismissed by the president of the commercial boat owners union Marcos Alexandrou.
His words came in the midst of an ongoing blockade of the port by boat owners since Monday, in protest against the closure of a dock and rising berthing fees.
Speaking on CyBC radio, Alexandrou said the union was not at all satisfied with an email sent by Kition Ocean Holdings, purportedly putting in writing concessions made by the company towards the boat owners.
“Kition needs to stop making unsubstantiated claims and putting out misleading information,” Alexandrou said.
The union head disparaged the fact that the dock works, initially slated for completion within two months as of December, had not yet materialised.
“There is not one machine, not one tool, at the site, it is lies and misinformation,” he said, while accusing the company of ‘exhaustion tactics’ to evict the boat owners.
For his part, Kition Ocean Holdings CEO Panos Alexandrou rubbished the union’s accusations saying that improvement works had been agreed on and surveyors have visited the dock in preparation for imminent construction works.
Alexandrou implied that an olive branch had been extended to the boat owners in the form of rent-free space adjacent to the marina for advertising and ticket booths.
“Additionally, the company had painted blue guidelines, at its own expense, directing visitors towards embarkation points and another area within the marina from which they could conduct their business had been proposed,” the CEO said.
“The seven or eight commercial boat owners are big clients and claims that the company wants to see them gone are patently untrue.”
The closure of the dock is set to drag on when another major phase of the improvement works, specifically the construction of wave breakers, will begin.
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