Nicosia Municipality has removed 2,300 abandoned vehicles from the city so far, with the effort ongoing, Mayor Prountzos said in a social media post. He told philenews that another 4,000 vehicles still need to be collected.
Beyond posing a potential fire risk, the vehicles pollute open spaces with their presence, turning up, according to the municipality’s experience, in some of the most unlikely corners of the city, from streets and side roads to open spaces, private plots and fields.
Some owners leave their vehicles in open areas for sale, but when they go unsold for a long time, their exposure invites trouble: some have parts stolen, others are vandalised with smashed windscreens and windows, while some have their doors forced open and contents taken. Others are simply abandoned by owners who judge them unfit for repair or not worth the cost of fixing.
Panikos Konstantinou, deputy mayor of the Egkomi municipal district, where the latest vehicle shown in a related video was found, told philenews that since the municipality has no vehicle removal service of its own, it contracts a private company each year, selected through a tender process, to carry out the removals.
Mayor Prountzos told philenews that the municipality earns €200 for every abandoned vehicle removed, as the vehicles are sent for subsidised recycling.
When an abandoned vehicle is identified, a special notice is attached to it. If the owner does not move it within three weeks, it is sold at auction or destroyed as waste.
Some owners leave their vehicles in open areas for sale, but when they go unsold for a long time, their exposure invites trouble: some have parts stolen, others are vandalised with smashed windscreens and windows, while some have their doors forced open and contents taken. Others are simply abandoned by owners who judge them unfit for repair or not worth the cost of fixing.
Panikos Konstantinou, deputy mayor of the Egkomi municipal district, where the latest vehicle shown in a related video was found, told philenews that since the municipality has no vehicle removal service of its own, it contracts a private company each year, selected through a tender process, to carry out the removals.
Mayor Prountzos told philenews that the municipality earns €200 for every abandoned vehicle removed, as the vehicles are sent for subsidised recycling.
When an abandoned vehicle is identified, a special notice is attached to it. If the owner does not move it within three weeks, it is sold at auction or destroyed as waste.
Once collected, vehicles are handled as follows:
- If a vehicle has no valid registration licence, or has one but lacks a roadworthiness certificate where required, it is treated as an end-of-life vehicle and handed over as waste for final destruction by a licensed management facility.
- If a vehicle has a valid registration licence and roadworthiness certificate (where required), it is sold at public auction or through a public tender process, with the municipality keeping the proceeds.
The municipality stressed that moving a vehicle or object from one street to another, or from one open space to another within Nicosia’s municipal boundaries, does not count as compliance. Removal must take place to a suitable, legal, enclosed and private location, under conditions that do not create any other nuisance, particularly regarding cleanliness and unsightliness.
