Limassol police HQ in dire need of maintenance, MP says

The 65-year-old building housing Limassol police headquarters needs maintenance and improvement as a matter of urgency, House legal affairs committee president Nicos Tornaritis said on Friday after he headed a committee visit there.

“Clearly if there are no plans to relocate, there should be maintenance for all building areas,” the Disy MP said.

He said it was unacceptable that a building where about 300 people work, and which is also visited by the public has no lift and called on authorities to take immediate action to have one installed.

Something also needs to be done about Lania police station which operates in a container, he added.

The Limassol visit was the first of a tour of district police headquarters the House committee plans to carry out to discuss problems, suggestions and concerns.

As regards staffing shortages, he said that this was something the committee was trying to address to the extent that they had the power to do so, adding that given that police have additional duties, they needed more personnel.

Asked about the metal detector for Limassol court which remain unused because they do not fit in their assigned spots, Tornaritis said all public buildings needed security and it was up to those responsible to make this possible.

Figures presented to the MPs show an increase in the successful investigation of serious offences in 2021 with 100 per cent for murders (5), attempted murders (5) and rape (9). Moreover, last year of the 44 cases or robbery and blackmail, 27 or 61.4 per cent had been successfully investigated, as has 117 of the 206 burglaries reported (56.8 per cent) and 87 of the 193 thefts (45.1 per cent).

The detection rate for arson or attempted arson was 24.6 per cent, while none of the eight cases of destruction of property with explosives reported last year had been successfully investigated. There was a significantly better success rate of 79.7 per cent for other serious crimes.

Last year saw the lowest number of road deaths in the Limassol district in six years with nine, compared to 17 in 2020, 14 in 2019, 17 in 2018, 18 in 2017 and 11 in 2016.