Government says planned ministry buildings ‘not a priority’
The planned government buildings in the Archigrammateia area of Nicosia ‘are no longer a priority for the government’, Transport Minister Alexis Vafeades told the Cyprus Mail on Wednesday.
Vafeades explained that the government has chosen to allocate its construction budget in the short term to other projects which it considers to be of more paramount importance. These include a new state laboratory, new district administration buildings and renovations to courthouses.
The Archigrammateia projects, Vafeades said, will be revisited “in three, four, or five years’ time”.
In addition, the previously announced plans have been altered and revised. Instead of three new buildings housing three ministries, there will now just be two on the site.
“Initially, the plan was for the justice, transport, and interior ministries to all be housed on the site. However, a study into the project showed that the plans would create traffic congestion. As a result, the justice ministry decided to not relocate to the Archigrammateia,” Vafeades said.
He added that the justice ministry will now instead relocate to the current site of the police headquarters in Aglantzia.
Asked whether the government would be taking other measures to fight traffic congestion in Nicosia, Vafeades said the government is taking measures to improve the capital city’s public transport.
“We are improving bus services in the city and encouraging the use of buses, and we want to attract people for more reasons than just congestion. We need to reduce environmental pollution in Nicosia,” he said.
However, the study showing potential traffic congestion in Nicosia with the erection of a third ministry building at the Archigrammateia has not moved the government to deter private companies from building their own buildings in the city.
Vafeades said no other ongoing or planned building projects in Nicosia have been impacted by fears of traffic congestion.
The new plans for the Archigrammateia include a large public space, and areas in which people can gather.
The architectural competition for the design of the new buildings will be held by the public works department, with a total of €130,000 worth of prize money available for successful architects.
When the planned new buildings are constructed, the Cyprus Library is expected to move into the building vacated by the Interior ministry.
The British colonial Archigrammateia building itself will undergo renovations once its current occupants, civil servants from the interior ministry, vacate it.