On Monday, President Nicos Anastasiades and members of his cabinet paid a visit to Paphos where it was announced that the €60 million of the public purse would be spent on various maintenance works around the town ahead of the town’s Culture Capital of Europe role in 2017. The money is set to be spent on upgrading buildings, squares, streets and roads but the spending doesn’t end in Paphos.
Speaking to state radio on Tuesday morning, Demetriades said the freeing up of funds to help tidy up Cyprus shows that the economy is on the road to recovery following the banking sector crash of 2013, which brought the island face-to-face with bankruptcy.
“This was not only a social visit (to Paphos)”, said Demetriades. “It wasn’t just about the President wanting to reach out to the people of Paphos but to also inform town officials of the state’s decision to allocate the funds for the necessary works especially with ‘Pafos 2017’ just around the corner.”
“We are already seeing signs of improvement. In 2013, we all had the crisis; in 2014 we saw stability while in 2015 we are seeing the first signs of improvement. Some funds have been freed up which is why the government is moving ahead with this disbursement amongst the districts. We want to now give emphasis on social development through these works and we want the people to feel the benefits of these works.”
He added: “We are also aware that the last things to improve are always lowering unemployment and increasing salaries. We understand this. But things are looking up and we just need to be a little more patient.”
President Anastasiades had recently announced that the state would be looking to pump some €200 million into the districts of the island as the head ofstate plans various visits across the island. That initial estimate has now risen to around €300 million following some estimates that we reassessed and other works added to the to-do list.
The €60 million that has been spent on Paphos, according to some media reports, is not the largest amount to be spent on a district with the President also set for visits to Larnaca, Nicosia and Famagusta.
“It is not a question of comparison (between districts) or who gets the most money,” continued Demetriades. “We don’t see it that way. Paphos needed additional funds which were provided because the culture capital project and we responded.”
“The works in Paphos will not finish in 2015. They will get underway in the next couple of months and will take a few years to complete. When they will finish depends largely on whether there will be work delays, whether certain tenders are found quickly or whether other problems may surface.”
“But these works are a good thing for the people of Paphos who will finally begin seeing works get underway around the town that will end in improvement.”
Source: InCyprus
