Paphos projects battered and stalled

The new Paphos-Polis Chrysochous road, years in the making and with no end in sight, was once again the topic of discussions with ministers and Paphos authorities, who are now waiting for a fresh round of negotiations with the construction company to indicate if there were a way to make progress.

The Paphos chamber of commerce said in a press release on Wednesday that during a meeting on Monday with Transport Minister Alexis Vafeades and Agriculture Minister Maria Panayiotou the former said his ministry was still in negotiations with the construction company and in about 15 to 20 days they would know if there would be a positive result or not.

The chamber’s chairman George Mais said a solution must ultimately be found, as any complications or stalling would benefit neither the state nor the district.

Regarding the second phase of the road, from Stroumbi to Polis Chrysochous, Mais said it should be released from the delays of the first phase and by no means be dragged into collapse.

Vafeades and the director of the public works department Eleftherios Eleftheriou both noted the second phase could not begin any time soon, with launching procedures being placed at the end of 2025.

Mais expressed his dissatisfaction with the delay and urged for procedures to be expedited.

Referring to the road leading from Ezousa river to Paphos airport, Mais told the two ministers that he had done everything possible to facilitate the government in taking a final decision.

Both sides agreed to convene a meeting of experts in early August to look into the situation.

Another issue raised was building 43 wave breakers along 25 kilometres of the south coast of Paphos, to restrict corrosion in the broader area.

Mais said it was unacceptable that the state spent large sums on studies, while services stood back, only to allow the services to dismiss them on completion.

In the case of the wave breakers, he said the environment department was aware of all the details in advance.

Corrosion of the coast in the specific area was serious, Mais pointed out.