Cabinet approves facilities on island’s motorways (updated)

Sanitary facilities and recharging stations are set to be available on a 24-hour basis at the island’s motorways, following cabinet approval on Tuesday.

The creation of the facilities will have multiple benefits, Transport Minister Yiannis Karousos said after the cabinet session.

The sites will operate on a 24-hour basis and will include sanitary facilities for men, women and people with disabilities as well as small cafés and kiosks and charging points for electric vehicles. The sanitary facilities will be offered for free to the public.

In this way, Karousos said, the actual needs of the traffic network users will be met, “increasing the overall level of functionality of the public road network and contributing to individual policies of the transport ministry”. These concern road safety, the development of road transport electrification, support for public transport and sustainable development objectives in general, the minister explained.

Furthermore, the facilities are expected to support other state policies in the field of tourism, economic development and the creation of permanent jobs.

A key objective is also to save resources and create synergies through existing or proposed public spaces and infrastructures such as bus and weighing stations.

“The operation of such infrastructure is particularly widespread in most foreign countries where distances are greater,” the transport ministry said later in the day. In Cyprus, the proposal was made following requests from tourism bodies and other organised groups.

To begin with, the facilities will be set up on the Alambra-Nicosia motorway in Alambra, Xylotymbou-Ayia Napa motorway in Xylotymbou, Alambra-Limassol in Kofinou, Limassol-Paphos in Episkopi and Limassol-Paphos in Mandria.

Later, facilities will also be created on the Nicosia-Astromeritis-Evrychou and Paphos-Polis Chrysochou motorways.

Cabinet also approved a bill on income taxation with the aim to expand the existing tax exemption framework to grant tax relief to a legal entity for investment in an approved innovative small and medium enterprise.

The bill is included in the commitments of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan’s Enhanced Research and Innovation section where the aim is to provide tax incentives to attract investment in the research and innovation sector.