Significant delays in implementing the “Ktizo” scheme were identified at Tuesday’s meeting of the Parliamentary Refugees Committee. Three years after the scheme began, one new apartment building has been completed and another is expected to be handed over in November. The scheme concerns 43 apartment buildings to be demolished and replaced by 19 new ones.
After the meeting, Committee chair and AKEL MP Nikos Kettirros said he was dissatisfied with the rate of implementation, noting that one building had been completed in three years. He added that the second is expected to be handed over during November and said: “If two apartment buildings are handed over every three years, you can understand how many years it will take us to reach 19.”
Solutions needed ASAP
Kettirros said the Committee had asked the Department of Town Planning and Housing, the Ministry of Interior and all relevant bodies to expedite the procedures. He singled out the outstanding issue concerning the Agency for Equal Distribution of Burdens, which must decide on funding for beneficiaries unable to pay their own contribution.
He said the matter remained pending despite assurances in previous months that it would be brought before the Agency’s Board of Directors. At the meeting, a further assurance was given that it would be submitted to the Board for approval.
On the financial aspect, Kettirros said that, in the best-case scenario, contributions totalling around €7 million would be required. To date, €4.8 million has been paid in rent for those affected.
More discussions to follow
He said it was positive that decisions had been taken to move residents out of dangerous apartment buildings, but stressed that solutions were needed for the scheme to proceed and be completed. He warned that the Committee would exercise stricter parliamentary oversight in the coming period. He also said the possibility of including a relevant note in the state budgets would be examined, so that Parliament could receive regular updates on expenditure and the scheme’s progress.
Asked whether the state could undertake the construction of the apartment buildings in full, Kettirros said the Committee was ready to consider changes if needed. He said all parliamentary groups had supported and continued to support “Ktizo”. The Minister of Interior is due to attend the Committee next week, when possible changes to speed up implementation will be discussed.
“It is a shame that people are left in uncertainty, or under so much anxiety and pressure, because they do not have €20,000 or €25,000 to contribute and allow the whole process to move forward,” he said.
On the causes of the delays, Kettirros referred to the required contribution, agreement among beneficiaries, and issues concerning heirs and property rights, which he said must be resolved as soon as possible.
DISY MP Giorgos Lysandridis said that, three and a half years after “Ktizo” was announced, problems persisted with procedures, plans, public contracts for demolitions, resources and funding. “Barely two apartment buildings have been completed,” he said, reminding the Committee that the scheme concerns 43 buildings slated for demolition and their replacement by 19 new ones. Almost half have been demolished or vacated, he added, saying more decisive intervention was needed.
Elderly tenants
Lysandridis said elderly refugees could not be expected to identify heirs in the apartment building where they live, assess bids or finalise plans for the construction of new buildings. He also said the Committee had requested a full assessment of the condition of all 358 apartment buildings.
He also raised concerns about safety and the protection of property in vacated buildings that have not yet been demolished, as well as in shopping centres in the housing estates. He referred in particular to the Linopetra area, where, he said, large quantities of pallets had accumulated in apartment buildings, creating fire risks. The Department of Town Planning and Housing told the Committee that a contractor had been assigned to fence off the buildings in question.
DIKO MP Adamos Aspris attributed the delays both to bureaucratic procedures and to issues involving beneficiaries, including family matters. “Procedures must therefore be expedited on both sides,” he said.
He called for the continuation of rent subsidies to be guaranteed and for their amount to be reassessed, particularly in Limassol. He also called for final decisions on beneficiaries who cannot pay their contribution, noting that many cases involve elderly people or families facing financial difficulties.
Alma MP Litsa Drousioti said the significant delays and problems needed to be addressed immediately. She called for specific timetables so that beneficiaries would know when they could return to safe, permanent housing.
“‘Ktizo’ must move forward, but it must move forward faster, with better coordination, specific timetables and solutions to the problems that continue to keep families waiting,” she said.
Source: CNA
