Ready to go to the next phase of the “ktiZO” project, earlier than the predetermined schedule, the Ministry of the Interior presents itself, which has recorded various problems related to its implementation procedures, with estimates that are that within the next months they will begin the processes of building new apartment buildings and by Christmas there will be a big boost to the plan.
More than a year after the announcement of the plan by the Ministry of the Interior, the refugees living in the twenty dangerous apartment buildings, which were deemed to be immediately demolished, showed that they embraced the Ministry of the Interior's effort to upgrade their living conditions, since out of the 375 beneficiaries who live in the 43 apartment buildings (including 20 immediately razed and 23 dangerous but not immediately razed), 327 declared participation and 40 did not wish to participate.
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Despite any problems seen in the previous months, it appears that the proceedings are at a fairly good stage, as the Home Office appears ready to move on to the next stage. Specifically, based on the initial planning, the second phase of the plan would be implemented in 2025, however, the Ministry of Interior is ready to start immediately.
It is noted that the second phase of “ktiZO” concerns 70 apartment buildings, which face various problems, however, they are not characterized as dangerous and immediately demolished. Essentially, the tenants of the apartment buildings in question, who are located all over Cyprus, will appoint a coordinator and the costs will be covered by the Ministry of the Interior, who will carry out an inspection of the buildings and issue a study, for the repairs that need to be done in the apartment buildings. These changes will concern both the common areas and the apartments.
After the study, the Ministry of the Interior will provide an amount, a maximum of 300,000 euros for each apartment building, so that the repairs can be made. In the case of an apartment building that does not have an elevator, an additional amount of 90,000 euros will be provided for the specific project.
The Ministry of the Interior has already started informing the apartment blocks concerned, with letters and is able to start accepting applications. This development has brought satisfaction to the Ministry of Interior, as it seems that despite the problems, the plan will be implemented and will not be stopped.
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Five partitions create problems
However, despite the good omens, the plan is facing some static obstacles, especially in Strovolos, which also counts most of the unsuitable apartment buildings, as five beneficiaries… put their foot down and refuse to proceed with the eviction of their apartments, resulting in delays for both the procedures, for the demolition, as well as to the other beneficiaries, who proceeded with evacuations and handed over their keys to the Ministry of the Interior.
In particular, these are special cases, which presented different obstacles and reasons for refusing to leave their apartment. For example, in one case, the beneficiary refuses to vacate his apartment because he does not want to pay the contribution, in another case the beneficiary has a demand to return the money he spent on renovating the apartment, in another case there is a demand for a grant of the entire rent amount. It is noted that various obstacles were presented by two other beneficiaries, however, the golden ratio has been found and within the next few days they are expected to vacate their apartments.
What is emphasized by competent sources is that the responsibility for evacuating the unsuitable and immediately demolished apartment buildings lies with the local authorities and in this particular case, the municipality of Strovolos must take all the necessary actions to evacuate the five apartments in question. To this end, both the Ministry of the Interior and municipal officials held ten meetings with the beneficiaries, but so far no solution has been found.
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This refusal of the beneficiaries to vacate their apartments has caused discomfort in Ministry of the Interior, as it leaves the proceedings at a standstill, given that fully evacuated apartment buildings adjacent to buildings that still have occupants cannot be demolished, as a static adequacy problem will arise.
In addition, in the previous months, a problem had arisen with the lending of some beneficiaries, as they are elderly and the banks did not provide loans, as a result of which they could not cover the amount of the contribution. The Ministry of the Interior, after recording the problem in question, had carried out all the necessary procedures to find a solution to the problem and it was accepted that the loan be written to their children. At the moment there are very few who stubbornly refuse to make the specific changes.
However, what the Home Office is saying is that while all the teams started from the same starting point, the refusal of the five cases to vacate the apartments results in the delay in the development of the plan for all the beneficiaries of the specific groups and the project is blocked.
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