MPs decry mismanagement of properties in Mackenzie

Large corporations are running Turkish Cypriot properties in Larnaca’s Mackenzie area, raking in profits while not paying a single cent in fees for the privilege, MPs said on Tuesday.

The matter came up in parliament, where a committee was discussing the management of the properties in question.

The properties originally belonged to Turkish Cypriots, but due to the events of 1974 and the subsequent displacement of populations, they have come under the management of the Guardian of Turkish Cypriot properties – effectively the interior ministry of the Republic. The Guardian is responsible for these properties until a comprehensive solution to the Cyprus problem is found.

Greek Cypriot refugees – displaced from the north – should have rights of first use, for which they’d pay a nominal fee.

But MPs heard that, instead, plots of land in Mackenzie are being commercially exploited by corporations – in some cases their owners not even being refugees themselves.

And according to chair of the House refugees committee Nikos Kettiros, in many cases the Guardian has not collected a fee from these businesses for a decade.

“It proves a decade-long mismanagement of the Mackenzie area. No contracts signed, no revenue for the Guardian, no initiative taken… and millions of euro lost,” he said.

“I can’t even imagine how much money [revenue] has not been collected.”

The interior ministry has promised to ‘rationalise’ the relevant legislation to rid it of any loopholes that allow for such practices.

Lawyer representing a group of Greek Cypriot refugees who argue they should be the primary beneficiaries Maria Athanasiou corroborated that properties are being run by businesses with no ties to refugees.

“Our clients were not even consulted,” she added. “The Guardian’s role has almost been nullified.”

She said the allocation of what are originally Turkish Cypriot properties should be done according to measurable, quantifiable criteria.