President Nikos Christodoulides has stepped in to find a way around a legal obstacle that bars the Cyprus Ports Authority (CPA) from developing the Larnaca marina, after the Law Office of the Republic told parliament the project must go to tender.
The government is in constant contact with the Law Office to resolve the legal issues and find an immediate solution, so that planning for the development of Larnaca port and marina can go ahead as scheduled, government spokesman Konstantinos Letymbiotis said in a statement on Friday.
Christodoulides spoke to the mayor of Larnaca by phone earlier on Friday, briefing him on the steps already under way and stressing the government’s determination, Letymbiotis said.
The government “remains fully committed to implementing this important project”, he said, describing it as of strategic importance for the city, the economy and the development prospects of the wider area.
The intervention follows a backlash among Larnaca organisations and residents over what emerged at Thursday’s session of parliament’s Transport Committee.
Rena Papaeti, representing the Law Office, told the committee that if the state wants to develop the marina, it must hold a tender. The CPA cannot take on the project through a direct award and would instead have to submit a bid, she said.
The possibility of legal claims by Kition Ocean Holdings, the port’s former contractor, was also raised at the session. Larnaca organisations had called on the President himself to intervene.
Background
At Thursday’s session, Transport Minister Evi Tsolaki told the committee her ministry had received the Law Office’s legal opinion on October 9. According to Tsolaki, it found no problem with transferring the port to the CPA, but a legal obstacle in the case of the marina. Larnaca deputy mayor Iasonas Iasonides warned that if the Law Office’s position went ahead, the project would be buried.
In July, the CPA presented a 20-year roadmap for Larnaca port, marina and land development, with an estimated cost of 415 million euros, subject to a variance of up to 50 per cent.
