Heavy rainfall on Wednesday affected the planned protest by shop owners on Limassol’s Misiaouli and Kavasoglou and Yildiz streets, but they are determined to continue their demonstrations against road works planned by the municipality which will include bicycle lanes and vegetation.
Protesters gathered in the morning to resume protesting, following a demonstration against the project on October 18, saying that it would mean less parking for their customers, which in turn will affect their profits.
According to Kyriakos Moustakas, secretary of the small shopkeepers’ union Povek which supports the protests, the new wave of demonstrations comes after the shopkeepers were informed about another issue which concerns them, the restoration of buildings belonging to the municipality in the area.
The public presentation by the municipality for this part of the project is planned for Friday at 5.30pm.
“We will hear their positions, what they are thinking of doing with the space, because in the original plans there are no parking spaces, and if we see that their plan is to protect only the property of the municipality but not to do anything for the road, we will have more reactions,” Moustakas warned.
He said the protest would continue until the demands of the affected people were heard and met.
Asked to comment on the fact that the municipality said there have already been several changes based on the shopkeepers’ suggestions and that they will lose the €5.2 million funding from the European development fund if no bicycle lane was included, he replied “this doesn’t matter, but they didn’t do what they had to and have to do.”
The €5.2 million project is not only about a bicycle path, but 150 new trees will be planted and 10 bus stops will be added. The area will also have pavements ramps for disabled people and a bridge for pedestrians and cyclists, pedestrian crossings, new lighting, additional traffic lights and an underground utilities network.
Mayor Nicos Nicolaides, presenting the project recently, said that after eight public consultations the number of parking places has been increased from 81 to 158, while the cycling path has been shortened by 300 metres from 850 to 550 metres.
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