Athienou municipal council on Wednesday called on the leaders of the two communities and the United Nations to agree to open the Pyroi crossing point immediately. The council said its 52-year closure turned a drive of eight to ten minutes to Nicosia into a journey of 45 to 60 minutes.
At an extraordinary meeting, the council unanimously expressed strong disappointment that the crossing had not been opened. It urged the leaders and the UN to take up the issue again at their next meetings in the coming days.
The council said Athienou had been isolated in transport terms since 1974. It listed the costs of the closure: more fuel, more wear on vehicles and more time spent travelling to and from Nicosia.
Opening the crossing would also mean that residents taken by ambulance to Nicosia General Hospital would no longer have their lives put at risk by a journey of 45 to 60 minutes, instead of eight to ten via Pyroi, the council said.
Students from Athienou, it said, were forced to rent in Nicosia at a heavy cost to their families, when they could commute to university from home.
The crossing would also ease congestion at the entrance to Nicosia, as residents of the south and east of the government-controlled areas would use the route. It would create opportunities to revive local economic, social and population growth and make daily life easier for residents, the council added.
