Vyras redoubles criticism of govt over Larnaca port, marina

Larnaca mayor Andreas Vyras on Monday redoubled his criticism of the government over the ongoing projects to redevelop his town’s port and marina, saying that he has “reasonable questions” over the matter which “cannot remain unanswered”.

“It was mentioned that the marina docking projects are ready to begin. Are there complete construction plans and all the necessary studies? Have studies of the waves been prepared, as well as the required studies for infrastructure such as electricity, water, and internet?” he began.

He said that if those studies have not been carried out, “for which projects are we being asked to offer consent?”, before asking “if the studies are being prepared retroactively, will they be limited only to the marina itself or will they incorporate the area as a whole?”.

Transport Minister Alexis Vafeades, he said, “also mentioned in his public statements that renovations have also been made to the existing infrastructure”.

He raised doubts over this, saying that “as far as we know, apart from some minor rough repairs, the tender process for the repair and renovation of the existing infrastructure of the marina has not progressed”.

Later, he said he had held a meeting with Vafeades and Larnaca district governor Andreas Hadjicharalambous over the matter, and that during that meeting, “it was mentioned that by early may, the corrected study conducted by [GrowthFund] for the determination of the land area with urban developments will be presented”.

Additionally, he said, it had been expected that by “early June, a detailed masterplan with financing and specific timetables” would also be produced.

“In [Vafeades’] public statements, these timetables are absent. The first [GrowthFund] study did not include any land development at all. Who gave this order and what has changed? The town was and remains clear that such a project requires comprehensive planning with land use, as is the case in modern marinas internationally,” he said.

GrowthFund is Greece’s national investment fund. Its full name is the Hellenic Corporation of Assets and Participations (HCAP), and it undertook the responsibility for carrying out a study and devising a development plan for both the port and the marina when it took control of the Hellenic Republic Asset Development Fund (HRADF) last year.

The HRADF had initially been placed in charge of this endeavour, having been the operator of a number of ports in Greece. All of its assets and responsibilities were transferred to GrowthFund in July last year.

Vyras on Monday sought to stress that he and his municipality “do not disagree with the gradual implementation” of the project, but that “we disagree with the lack of clear commitment for the project to include urban development” – something he said is “desired by the entire town and all relevant bodies”.

“The transfer of urban developments to an indefinite future is dangerous and will not be accepted,” he said.

He asked if GrowthFund’s study results in it offering different recommendations to those previously having been offered by the ports authority, or recommendations which differ from “the town’s collective will for land development”, will “all of this be ignored?”.

“We want a clear answer. Larnaca has a unified position. We demand transparency, comprehensive planning and clear commitments. The port and marina project determines the town’s future and cannot proceed with uncertainty,” he said.

Vafeades had earlier said that GrowthFund will soon “present the results of the study concerning land development”, allowing the government to devise forward planning on that matter thereafter.

However, he said, “Mr Vyras decided on a different course”, though he said that the government will nonetheless “continue to work in this direction, upon which we had agreed.

“Although Mr Vyras seems to disagree, I insist that we should not wait for all the studies to be finished to start the projects, which are not in dispute,” he said.

He then added that the ports authority has already been given the green light to begin consultations to implement the marina’s development.