The process of titling the homes of deceased people living in government-run refugee self-housing areas within the British Bases is expected to be completed in two months, the chairman of the Parliamentary Refugee Committee, Nikos Kettiros, said Tuesday.
Speaking after the meeting, Kettiros first expressed the Refugee Committee's sadness at the death of Labour Minister Zeta Emilianidou, with whom he said the Committee had worked with on several issues concerning the refugee world, particularly the suffering, prisoners, the wounded of 1974 and issues relating to benefits. He said that on benefits, on which there has been a lot of discussion, they have come to a conclusion, with the contribution of Zeta Emilienidou, "and it is really with much sadness and much anguish that we have heard the bad news today."
The Commission continued its ex officio examination of the matter of "victimization of refugees due to the refusal of the Base Commander to proceed with the process of issuing property titles".
In his remarks, Kettiros said the discussion concerned the non-titling of the plots of land of some of the deceased to residences in the homesteads at Dasaki in Achna and Trachoni in Limassol, which are on British Bases territory.
He said the new Commander of the Bases had put some obstacles, which were not previously in place for these titrations.
"As a Committee we had made strong representations, we had expressed our very strong protest against the attitude of the new Commander of the British Bases," said Mr. He said that they were informed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs that the Bases have made a commitment that in two months the process will be completed and the homes will be titled, titles will be issued in the names of the deceased so that transfers can be made to the heirs.
DIKO MP Christos Seneca said that this procedure, "namely the prior authorization by the commander of the British Bases for the titling of state land, is an abusive display of sovereignty, which inconveniences and victimizes hundreds of families and as such should be dealt with at the highest level."
He also said that they were also informed that on the part of the British Bases there is reliance on the different legislative framework relating to titling to deceased beneficiaries, despite the commitment under an agreed regime for British Bases territories to apply to Cypriot citizens - legislation harmonised with that of the Republic of Cyprus.
"According to the information we have received, there is an ongoing process of adapting the legislation to allow the titling to proceed," he added.
Senekis said they had asked the Foreign Office spokeswoman to convey to the British High Commissioner the Commission's disappointment that the political commander of the Bases, while invited to attend, did not appear "in contempt of a leading institution of the Republic of Cyprus". He said that this particular behaviour of the commander is recurrent.
Unused and unused plots
The Commission continued its discussion on the process of disposing of the returned plots in self-housing settlements, with Mr. Kettereros expressing their disappointment at the written response from the Minister of Home Affairs, Nick Nouri, to their decision last February to submit within three months information as to why 500 beneficiaries who have been allocated a self-housing plot have not yet begun construction of their dwelling. Nouris said in his letter that in view of the time required to carry out this work as well as the understaffing of the Provincial Administrations, this work will be scheduled "in due course".
A representative of the Nicosia District Administration told MPs during the session that a large amount of work is required for this process and after attempts to contact some beneficiaries, a problem that arose is that they were not easy to locate as some changed their contact details.
It was also said that the contract for the allocation of such plots states that the house must be erected in a "reasonable period of time."
Kettiros said in a statement that he was "very disappointed" to see the response from the Minister of Interior, saying that "Mr. Nouris tells us that he does not have time to deal with this issue, which concerns the housing of the refugee world."
"Perhaps Mr. Nouris should reflect on whether he should change his priorities and lift refugee policy from the bottom of his priorities," he added.
He also said that "it is not possible to announce pre-election housing policies that they themselves have abolished. They should, in practice, do things, and not in words."
On the same issue, Senekis said that as DIKO, "we find it unthinkable, at a time when the cost of acquiring housing has become an unattainable dream for young couples, that there is no political will to make these plots of land available."
Meeting with the President and Members of the Famagusta Chamber of Commerce and Industry
The Committee also had a meeting with the President and Vice President of the Famagusta Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
The President of the Chamber, Augustine Papathoma, told MPs that there should be a review of the equal burden of sharing the cost of the invasion. He referred to the inequalities in the disposal of Turkish Cypriot properties and said that the Chamber's recommendation is to appoint a committee of technocrats to receive the list of Turkish Cypriot properties, assess their value and redistribute them.
He said that Famagusta, Kyrenia and Morphou were quite developed areas before the invasion and that refugees have been hit hard. He also said that the property of non-refugees has increased greatly in recent years, while refugees "have nothing to leave to their children" and expressed concern that a two- and three-tier society should not be created in Cyprus.
Source: CNA
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