MPs from Limassol complained to the government on Tuesday over stalled plans to develop the western part of the coastal city, particularly the stretch know as Lady’s Mile.
Lawmakers were vexed to learn that the reconstruction of the decrepit road on the famous beach is not among the priorities of the interior ministry.
“Sadly the state has not managed to organise Lady’s Mile into a tourist beach; it is a unique beach, perhaps the longest in the eastern Mediterranean with 6km of sand,” Disy MP Andreas Kyprianou complained.
“The state has not carried out mild infrastructures, such as providing electricity, sewerage, a road or parking spaces.”
It is precisely the absence of a functional road that is contributing to damaging the wetlands there, as cars passing through churn up dust.
Kyprianou said that reconstructing the road would require an environmental impact assessment as well as the drafting of building plans.
“But how is it that these procedures have not been completed 11 years on?” he asked.
Calling Lady’s Mile beach “a victim of bureaucracy,” Kyprianou said he has personally spoken with the interior minister to try and push through development of the area.
He suggested Lady’s Mile fall under an agreement between President Nicos Anastasiades and former British Prime Minister David Cameron to develop an area extending from the old harbour to Pissouri.
For his part, deputy Costas Costa of main opposition Akel said legislators discovered that the development project was not among the priorities of the interior ministry.
“So many years later, it’s clear that the government is dragging its feet, it lacks the political will and essentially does not want this project to go ahead.”
He said that bizarrely, Limassol municipality has been asked to carry out the environmental impact assessment and the building design for the road.
However, the area in question is outside the municipality’s territorial jurisdiction.
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