The Plenum of Parliament passed three laws in an effort to support refugees and secure Greek Cypriot properties in the occupied territories, after a long and heated debate in which the majority of MPs took sides.
MPs noted, among other things, the need to further support the refugee world, formulate a comprehensive refugee policy, find resources to support refugees and secure Greek Cypriot properties in the occupied territories for the purpose of resolving the Cyprus problem.
A bill was unanimously passed to amend the Central Equal Burden Sharing Body Law to allow the CFICB to provide financial sponsorship or other financial support to a legally entitled person for purposes of loss of use and seizure of property as a result of the Turkish invasion.
The relevant law proposal was submitted by MPs Christos Seneca from DIKO, Kyriakos Hatzigiannis, George Karoullas, Nikos Georgiou and Rita Theodorou Superman on behalf of the Democratic Rally parliamentary group, Nikos Kettiros, Christos Christofides, Christos Christofias on behalf of the AKEL-Left-New Powers parliamentary group, Michalis Yiakoumis, MP of the Democratic Party of Cyprus and Kostis Efstathiou, MP of the Hellenic People's Party.
DIKO MP Christos Seneckis said that "we are granting the Central Body for the Equal Distribution of Burdens an additional tool to fulfil its mission: The possibility of annual compensation for the displaced persons of the Turkish invasion and ongoing occupation for the loss of use and occupation of their occupied properties." This, he said, was a mature, fair measure, since any compensation would be proportional and calculated on the basis of the value of the occupied property of each of the displaced persons.
AKEL MP Nikos Ketteros said that the proposed law is an attempt by the Parliament to force the government to be consistent with the commitments made in 2018 by then Interior Minister Konstantinos Petrides that a specific plan will be operated and owners in the occupied territories will be compensated. However, as he said, this did not materialise. He also said that if the 0.4 percent on the sales of real estate in the free areas had been collected, as passed by the Parliament, then 15.4 million euros should have been collected for the needs of the refugees.
The difficulty of the project for all governments has always been the resources, said DISY MP Kyriakos Hatzigiannis who also said that DISY is fully committed to the issue of loss of use. He suggested through planning amnesty to create the resources for the benefit of the refugee world
And DPA MP Alekos Tryfonidis called on the parties to collectively find ways so that the refugee world can be supported.
ELAM MP Sotiris Ioannou expressed his indignation that there are no resources for Greek Cypriot refugees when there is money for illegal immigrants and "false refugees".
EPP MP Kostis Efstathiou said that it is an obligation to support the people who lost their property and that it is necessary to fund FIKB. He expressed satisfaction that after strong representations from the Refugee Committee, the Ministry of Finance will submit bills to collect the money owed from the sale of properties in the free areas.
A bill was also unanimously passed to allow the Custodian of Turkish Cypriot Properties to grant the right to extend the use of T/C property, which had been granted for the purpose of self-housing and for the purpose of business accommodation. The specific law proposal was tabled by DIKO MP Panicos Leonidou
Leonidou said that the proposal attempts to enable displaced owners of Turkish Cypriot properties to use part of the property given to them for self-housing purposes, to create small commercial housing units provided that they secure all the necessary planning permits beforehand.
It is a fact, he added, that a number of refugees who own Turkish Cypriot properties have found themselves in need, for their survival, to proceed with the creation of small commercial units, with the result that there is a gap in the current legislation. The result of this, he said, is that in many cases, the maintenance of the unit becomes at the mercy of the decisions and tolerance of state officials.
AKEL MP Nikos Ketteros said that people are being unfairly treated because some refugees have leasing certificates and others do not, because the state delayed. He also suggested that as a way of safeguarding refugees who have made minor urban planning changes and cannot be issued with a title or tenancy certificate, a note should be put on interventions in the tenancy as it is put on the property title.
DPA MP Michalis Yiakoumi said that he is happy with this legislative regulation as it will benefit the 3rd and 4th generation of refugees who can use refugee property as business accommodation.
DISY MP George Georgiou said that this particular legislative proposal grants rights and rectifies injustices and distortions. Most importantly, he said, it brings about equality both among refugees who received title to property and among others who did not.
New procedure for declaring real property in the occupied areas
In addition, a law was passed to regulate the possibility of starting a new procedure for declaring real property in the occupied areas of Famagusta and Kyrenia provinces, which has not been declared so far, by the owner concerned, before the director of the Department of Cadastre and Land Surveying.
The proposed regulation is expected to help reduce the number of undeclared properties, since a percentage of around 20% of all properties in the occupied areas remains undeclared to date.
With this law, as the Chairman of the Refugee Committee Nikos Ketteros said, those who did not have time to declare their properties in the occupied territories when the relevant list was opened and closed in the 1980s can do so now. Those who have already done so need not do anything, he said. The declaration concerns the Famagusta and Kyrenia districts whose records have been destroyed.
DIKO MP Zacharias Koulias said anyone can declare their property without a deadline or restriction.
MP of the Citizens' Ecological Movement Alexandra Attalidou pointed out the risk of losing property belonging to companies that have not been active since 1974 and are written off.
The specific law proposal had been tabled by MPs Nikos Kettiros, Christos Christofides, Christos Christofias on behalf of the AKEL parliamentary group, Zacharias Koulias, and Christos Seneca of DIKO, Kostis Efstathiou of EDEK and Charalambos Theopeptou on behalf of the Ecologists-Civic Co-operation Movement.
Source: CNA
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