The observance of the schedules recently made public by the Government regarding the three projects that will be carried out immediately in the marina will be requested on Monday by the Ad hoc Committee of the city's agencies, which will meet with the Minister of Transport.
Additionally, as the mayor of Larnaca told “F”, the Government's plan will be requested, as well as timetables for finding investors for the project, which as announced will be split. “We want to know what the plan is and how the ambitious timetables announced will be met,” said Mr. Vyras, once again expressing the readiness of the Municipality to assist in the implementation of projects for which it has expertise.
According to the announcements of the Government, in the first phase three projects will be carried out by the state in the marina over a period of three years, which were estimated at €25-30 million. The ultimate goal is to upgrade the marina, in which the previous contractor company did little, with the result that it presents an image that does not befit a modern city. At this moment in the area of the marina, which is now managed by the Ministry of Transport, there is a restaurant, a large children's playground with tarps in the outdoor area of which a trampoline was installed, wooden houses that sell, among other things, coffees and ice creams, as well as a parking area. Regarding the situation in the berthing areas, moreover, there have been too many complaints from the owners of pleasure boats, while the works on the preserved dock have not yet been completed, despite the fact that it was closed for about a year and a half.
It is for this reason that the agencies of Larnaca had requested that works be done immediately by the state, which satisfied their request. The first project concerns the dredging of the sea at the mouth of the marina, maintenance works within the marine zone, as well as the completion of the maintenance works of the preserved dock. According to Mr. Vafeadis, the works will be completed in September 2026. The government plan includes the completion in the same period of the landscaping of the marina, which will include large green spaces, which will be freely used by the public for entertainment and leisure purposes . For these two projects there are ongoing consultations in order to use the studies and plans of Kition Ocean Holdings.
The most ambitious announcement concerns the construction of a Yacht club, where the offices of the marina management, government services, as well as entertainment areas for the public (restaurants and cafes) will be located. The desire of the Government is to create an emblematic building that will be a point of reference for the whole of Cyprus and for this reason, as announced, a fast-paced architectural competition will be announced, “in a way that will not burden the project in terms of time”. According to the Minister of Transport, this project will be completed in December 2027.
Regarding the second phase of planning to find investors, the mayor of Larnaca stated that the procedures must be moved quickly and to investigate all the proposals that are on the table, even that of the Ports Authority, which expressed readiness to implement the investment in a port and marina with its own resources. “We want to know exactly what the process will be for finding investors. For us, everything is on the table with the aim of the fastest implementation of the project. We are not ruling anything out,” indicated Mr. Vyras.
