Polis Chrysochous mayor Yiotis Papachristofi has expressed frustration at his municipality being excluded for a second time from a government housing scheme aimed at rejuvenating disadvantaged and mountainous communities, in a letter to President Anastasiades.

In an official complaint sent on Tuesday, the mayor welcomed the inclusion of almost all Polis area communities in the scheme, but expressed ‘strong discontent’, for the town itself being left out for a second year running.

“It is really unfair for the Polis Chrysochous residents not to be able to benefit from the housing scheme, unlike almost all communities in the area-such as Neo Chorio Paphos, Argaka, Ayia Marina Chrysochous, Droushia, Innia, Steni and Peristerona, bordering the municipality and having the same geographical criteria and characteristics, which have been rightly included,” Papachristofi said.

He stressed that Polis, one of the island’s smallest municipalities, is an equally remote and isolated area, hit hard by urbanisation as the younger generation is leaving the community.

This is why, he argued, that the municipality should have been included in the scheme as this was the main reason why other such communities have benefited, including areas that are developed and closer to urban centres, with a larger population.

“The exclusion of Polis for a second year despite protest letters last January and February to both the president and the interior ministry, has inevitably led to a sense of injustice and unfair treatment by locals,” the mayor added.

He called on the government to reconsider and take the necessary political decision to include Polis in the scheme that would motivate young couples to stay in the community, which is steadily declining in population.