The Minister of Interior Mr. Constantinos Ioannou today chaired a meeting on the issue of the structural adequacy of houses in the Housing Settlements for Displaced Persons at the Ministry of Interior, in the presence of the President of the Union of Cyprus Municipalities, Mr. Mr. Andreas Vyra, the President of the Refugee Committee of the House of Representatives, Mr. Nikos Kettirou, the President of the Pancyprian Refugee Union, Mr. George Lysandridis, and the President of the ETEK, Mr. Constantinos Constantis. Also present were the Director General of the Ministry of Interior Dr. Kostas Constantinou and the Director of Urban Planning and Zoning Mr. Kyriakos Koundouros.
After his initial statement, the Minister of Interior answered questions from journalists.
Asked whether the project has been costed, the Minister replied in the affirmative. "Yes there is costing, of course," and clarified that because some submissions are still awaited, the final cost has not been worked out. However, he said that "there is an indication", explaining that in order for this proposal to move forward, costing necessarily had to be done. "It is beyond the 100 million euros that it will cost. But it will be over a period of some years."
Asked whether the existing plans for grants to refugees to repair their homes would be abolished, Ioannou replied that "nothing changes in the existing plans." He noted that if this plan goes ahead, the existing plans will, over time, be abolished, as there will be no need for these plans.
To another clarifying question, whether the 43 apartment buildings will be repaired in one year, the Minister said that they will be given immediate priority and will be the first to be included in this plan. "When and if this proposal is approved, all 43 will be included in this plan immediately," he said.
He added in this regard that the owners of the apartment buildings will have the right for each project to choose the civil engineer from a list to be compiled by the NTEK, and after a study it will be decided whether it needs maintenance, renovation or whether it should be demolished and a new apartment building should be built.
"They themselves will decide, taking into account the amount of the grant that will be given to them. We will give a certain amount. So it is up to them to decide how to proceed," the Home Minister concluded.
(EFYs)
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