Larnaca municipality on Tuesday is looking to various stakeholders to determine its next actions, following the collapse of the Kition Ocean Holdings deal.
Meanwhile, the semi-governmental Cyprus Ports Authority is poised to take over management of the port and marina, following the loading up of a ship bound for Gaza in the context of the humanitarian Amalthea initiative, Minister of Transport Alexis Vafeades said, speaking on CyBC’s morning programme.
Elsewhere, workers unions have also mobilised to safeguard the rights and collective agreements of 50 soon-to-be former Kition employees at the port.
“The day after the termination of the contract […] we are starting contacts with various actors and all relevant bodies,” Larnaca mayor Andreas Vyras told the Cyprus News Agency, adding a meeting with the minister is set for Friday, where a briefing and a specific proposal, in light of the new parameters, is expected.
The Larnaca municipal council and the city and district’s development board will attend.
“The position of all the competent bodies […] is to proceed with the implementation of [what is] undoubtedly an important project for the city as well as the Cypriot economy,” Vyras said.
On Wednesday, the mayor will meet with the Larnaca Chamber of Commerce while he will also start meetings with political party members, in efforts to keep the project moving.
One idea being floated is to separate the project into two components: one being the marina, to be granted to an investor; and the second being the port, to remain under the jurisdiction of the ports authority.
The mayor’s statements addressing the public shockwave of the project’s collapse, were muted as he remarked on the situation as “a negative development” and noted that “it was important to learn from past mistakes.”
“The municipality, with the contribution of all the city’s agencies, [had] made all possible efforts for the project to continue uninterrupted,” he said.
Sources have speculated that the deal collapsed when Kition determined its feasibility was in doubt and that the costs incurred would be greater than previously estimated. Others have suggested the first mistake was combining of the port and marina projects into one overly ambitious enterprise.
Peo union meanwhile have put forth the principle that ports ought to retain a “public character” for the benefit of the nation, and that the failure to do so is what caused the current “adventures”. (cyprus mail)
