Shops are still trading on the ground floor of the former Othello cinema in Engomi, Nicosia, even though the building has been declared dangerous, the House Audit Committee heard on Thursday. Hundreds of pedestrians pass beneath it every day.
The committee asked the Nicosia District Local Government Organisation (DLGO) to study the building’s condition so that appropriate measures can be taken, and will put the matter back on its agenda. At the session, state services denied responsibility, and owners presented conflicting reports on whether the building should be repaired or demolished. The case was first reported by philenews.
Who is responsible
Agathoklis Agathokleous, who is in charge of dangerous buildings at the DLGO, said the building had been declared dangerous after a visual inspection.
Part of the site was fenced off to keep the public out, and the DLGO has sent a letter about an administrative fine. He said the DLGO was monitoring whether the building needed shoring because it had structural problems. “It is dangerous for those who are inside or outside,” he said.
Agathokleous rejected accusations that the DLGO had dragged its feet. He said it handles 1,400 buildings classed as dangerous, 800 of which have more than 20 owners.
Nicosia mayor Charalambos Prountzos called the building a safety issue and a long-running problem. He said he has lived in Engomi since 1984 and the problem has existed for two decades. About six weeks after taking office, on August 19, 2024, he sent municipal staff to inspect the building, and they found appalling conditions inside. He said claims that the municipality had failed to act had no basis.
Prountzos said that once a building is declared dangerous, health officials cannot go in to clean it unless the designation is lifted, which is why no staff had entered to deal with the nuisance. Anyone who enters commits a criminal offence, he said, and the premises should have been closed. He questioned whether the building’s sanitary condition allowed shops, including food outlets, to operate there. “If it is entirely dangerous, I wonder how shops operate there,” he said. Even if it were cleaned now, he did not think the nuisance would be solved for good.
He said it needed to be clarified whether the DLGO would handle the structural issues, the municipality the nuisance and the Health Ministry the public health aspect. The Interior Ministry and the health services both told the committee the matter was not their responsibility.
Owners divided
The owners of the building and of the businesses in it voiced anger but disagreed on what should happen.
Michalis Panteli, who owns a business and the three ‘Paradosiako’ shops, said he had been there since 1990 and had also worked at the cinema. “We are not asking for special treatment but for the whole Othello to be examined,” he said. He said the business owners had never abandoned their premises and had invested hundreds of thousands. In 2021 they carried out restoration work costing 700,000 euros, as a commitment to the new investor. He asked where the authorities had been all these years while the site became a source of pollution.
Panteli said the owners had commissioned a risk assessment and obtained evaluations from experts from the Cyprus Scientific and Technical Chamber (ETEK). He said the concrete was in excellent condition and not corroded. The building was originally designed for seven floors, but only one was built, to hold thousands of people, so there would be no structural problem, he added.
Another owner, Michalis Toumbas, said the owners had cleaned the common area and a drain themselves but had no right to intervene inside the cinema. He claimed drug users went there.
Andreas Hadjigeorgiou, who owns a business in the building, said they had asked the municipality to take action since 2015, but nothing was done. In the end, signs were put up saying the building was dangerous and their trade fell sharply, he said. Vasilis Hadjigeorgiou, from the same business, said a large fire broke out in 2025 that turned out to be arson.
Michalis Michaelides took the opposing view, speaking for himself and two separate shareholders, a Greek Jewish investor and a Greek Cypriot, who hold 50 per cent. He said a cleaning crew had been working on the nuisance since Monday, but part of the site was dangerous and officials could not go there.
Michaelides said the Greek Jewish investor had brought engineers to inspect the building, with a signed land-for-flats agreement and a signed letter from the other owners saying they would not object to demolition.
That study found the building must be demolished, and the shareholders want all parties to go to ETEK together. “An expert must tell us whether we repair it or demolish it,” he said. The building has been sealed three times, but people still get in, he added.
