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The reconstruction of the first apartment buildings under the "BuildingZO" project will begin in July, Minister of Interior Konstantinos Ioannou said today, speaking at a meeting of the Parliamentary Committee on Refugees, Missing Persons, Trapped Persons and Victims.
In his statement, Mr. Ioannou referred to the actions taken over the past year, from the date of the announcement of the Plan, until today, as well as the response of the beneficiaries living in the 43 blocks of flats covered by the first phase. In particular, the Minister said that 77.6% of beneficiaries (287 beneficiaries) have expressed interest in participating in the Project, while 6.5% of beneficiaries (24 beneficiaries) have expressed their wish not to participate. At the same time, 165 beneficiaries have been granted rent subsidies, while 25 apartments have been provided with storage space for their personal belongings.
The Minister of Interior briefed the President and members of the relevant Parliamentary Committee on the progress of the process of evacuation and demolition of the 20 blocks of flats deemed to be in immediate danger. According to him, five apartment buildings located in the Municipality of Latsia have been evacuated and demolished, and the demolition of the remaining apartment buildings will proceed in the coming period.
According to Mr. Ioannou, in cases of apartment buildings that were not fully evacuated, and under the Law on the Regulation of Roads and Buildings, the competent authority to issue an Order for the evacuation of unfit and dangerous buildings is the competent Local Authority/Municipality. Therefore, it is up to the Municipalities to activate the provisions of the legislation to issue an Ordinance. He further pointed out that in cases where there are delays in the completion of the reconstruction due to the fault of the State, the Ministry of Interior will continue to provide rent allowance to the beneficiaries until the completion of the project. However, in case the delay is caused by the fault of the beneficiaries (e.g. they refuse to vacate the apartments, do not agree on procedural matters such as the selection of a Coordinator, sharing of apartments, etc.), then the rent allowance will be discontinued after the predetermined period of time.
Moreover, speaking to media representatives after the session, the Interior Minister called on the relevant municipalities, within whose boundaries there are apartment buildings that have not been fully vacated, to proceed with the issuance of Ordinances so that the apartment buildings can be demolished and the implementation of the Plan can continue with reconstruction.
Regarding the reconstruction process, Mr. Ioannou said that the tender has been awarded to a contractor for the construction of an apartment building in the settlement of Apostolos Andreas in the Municipality of Latsia and the reconstruction is expected to begin by July. For a 2nd apartment building in the Kokkinis settlement in Strovolos, the final date for bids from contractors is April 19 and the expected start date for work was set around the end of July. Tender documents are being prepared to receive bids from contractors for the blocks of flats in the settlements of Agios Eleftherios in Latsia and Platy in Aglantzia, with an expected start of works around the end of August. Procedures are also progressing for the cases in Chrysospiliotissa and an apartment building in Strovolos C.
Finally, the Interior Minister noted that the process for the second phase of the Plan concerning 70 apartment buildings will soon begin, the beneficiaries of which will be given a grant to hire a civil engineer to prepare the necessary studies, which will show whether the apartment buildings should be rebuilt or repaired. Mr. Ioannou went on to explain that, in cases where some of these apartment buildings are deemed unsafe and need to be rebuilt, the construction of the apartment buildings will take place on the same site and the same procedure will be followed as in the first phase, i.e. evacuation of the apartments, granting of rent allowance, appointment of a Coordinator, sponsorship by the State to the beneficiaries, contribution by the beneficiaries, etc.
In conclusion, the Minister, after thanking the members of the Parliamentary Committee on Refugees for their continued support, noted that there are some individual problems, which are being resolved in cooperation and with the suggestions of the members of the Committee. However, he expressed confidence that there will be no serious deviation from the established timetables, so that a holistic solution to this long-standing problem that has been plaguing our fellow refugees can finally be found.
(MKY)
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