Eleftheria Square ready for Cyprus by early 2012

The capital’s central Eleftheria Square should be ready by early 2012, just in time for the events of the year that will see Nicosia hosting the EU presidency and a number of political summits and cultural celebrations.
The president of the Nicosia Chamber of Commerce, Christodoulos Angastiniotis, said during a recent meeting with the Secretary General of the ruling Akel party, Andros Kyprianou, that vital projects need to be speeded up that will benefit the capital’s population, as well as its business community.
Some of these priorities that Angastiniotis raised during the meeting were the completion of the works at Eleftheria Square, speeding up road works in Nicosia, utilisation of the Philoxenia hotel and International Conference Centre in Aghlandjia and the abolition of mortgage fees charged by banks when transferring a loan from one bank to another.
EVEL, meanwhile, praised on Friday the Council of Ministers’ decision to abolish the double mortgage fees imposed by banks, often rising to 1% or more of the value of the loan when transferring the mortgage from one bank to the other.
The government has proposed a ceiling of 200 euros in fees to the Land Registry Dept., which should make business among banks more competitive to the benefit of local companies and individual consumers, EVEL said.
EVEL’s Angastiniotis had raised similar concerns during an earlier meeting with President Christofias, saying that critical projects included road works in Nicosia, the new archaeological museum and the new House of Representatives, the transformation of the Old GSP area, construction of new government offices and small hotel units to be built by foreign investors.
Akel’s Secretary General said that from the information he had, the archaeological finds in Eleftheria Square should be incorporated into the area’s new plans and the whole project should be delivered to the public in early 2012.
He added that the issues of traffic congestion in the capital and the utilisation of the Philoxenia compound were a priority for Akel, too.
In a meeting last week with Nicosia Mayor Eleni Mavrou, Kyprianou said that Akel favours greater autonomy for local authorities, as part of the government’s plans for decentralization, and is ready to discuss the matter once a reform bill of the municipalities has been concluded.
“For local authorities to proceed with their plans they need to have the necessary legal and executive powers, as well as financial capability,” he said, adding that the Nicosia municipality needs greater state aid and should be able to tap into EU funds as well.
“Nicosia needs to be reunified as soon as possible so that the municipality can proceed with comprehensive plans for all its citizens,” Kyprianou said.
Mayor Mavrou also discussed the development of the historical part of town, better public transport and ways to upgrade Nicosia in general as a tourist destination.