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The government’s ambition to embark on a grand national-building programme could get the ruling party and, in effect, the capital’s mayor in deep trouble over plans to build a skyscraper in the already overcrowded Old GSP area where traffic congestion is getting worse.
New high-rises are already going up and the taxpayer will dish out a record amount to build a Centre for the Arts nearby, at a time when Cyprus has little infrastructure for the arts to support such a megalith. Worse still, the Centre will surely be underutilized within a few months after it opens its doors to the public as it will become the centerpiece for six months when Cyprus hosts the joint EU presidency in 2012. After that, who knows?
But the mayor, it seems, aware of the government’s plans, failed to inform the other members of the Nicosia municipal council of these developments, that are in gross contravention to the public demand for a green area or park with underground spaces for several hundred cars, to satisfy businesses in the area. The mayor had won great public support for the democratic gesture to ask citizens what they thought and wanted to see in the area, with nearly 35,000 responding to the referendum. Although non-binding, one would have expected the progressive mayor to respect the view of the hoi polloi, with concerns now arising about the real interests behind such a brash project that will set back the taxpayer by about 94 million euros.
Ironically, the opposition DISY is not serious as it is only kicking up a fuss over the procedure by which it was not informed. It seems to have no objection to another high-rise being built on the adjacent plot of the old Athineon cinema and that the green area with underground parking at the Old GSP would be connected with a passageway.
No one seems worried by the fact that the archaeological digs at the Old Pasidy/Ayios Georgios site unearthed significant historical finds that shed light on the agora of the city of Lefkothea that eventually became Nicosia. Other discoveries at that same location pinpointed the artillery batteries from where invaders attacked the Venetian fortifications, making this one of the most important finds the capital could be proud of.
All of this will be covered over and will make way for another white elephant, the new House of Representatives, while excavation work during the construction of many other buildings in the area must surely come across archeological finds that have been quickly covered up.
At a time when government offices are moving to new locations, surely Nicosia could do with more green and protection of our historical heritage?
And as all these plans go ahead, what will we show our European guests in 2012 – more concrete?
