After an almost two-year delay, the government announced on Tuesday the termination of an €8 million contract for the Liopetri River and fishing shelter project.

Despite 22 months of extensions, progress on the project has been extremely slow, the interior ministry said as it announced it was scrapping the project.

According to the government, there has been five per cent progress since last year.

“One year ago, the project was 50 per cent completed. Today it is at 55 per cent.” As such, there is no possibility to complete the project within the given timeframe, the interior ministry said.

The project was signed on during former President Nicos Anastasiades’ term, and MPs in the House agriculture committee were quick to express concern over the frequency of projects scrapped due to problems.

Liopetri mayor Markos Koumis charged that if there were that many problems, the contract should have been terminated over the summer. He called for the project to go ahead and authorities to find suitable incentives to help hurry the project along.

The association of fishermen said the project had got off to a bad start, while committee chair and Akel MP Yiannakis Gavriel blamed the fisheries department and urban planning department for the impact fishermen have been dealing with for years.

Disy MP Kyriacos Hadjiyiannis blamed all involved parties for the content of the contract as well as its oversight.

He questioned why a contractor who carried out a number of problematic projects took on yet another one which was marred with so many problems and loss of money.

Despite multiple notices to the contractor and project engineer, “they failed to meet their commitments,” and on the contrary made “extreme demands” leading to “huge delays,” the ministry said.

The delays have significantly impacted local fishermen, restaurant owners, and the broader community, causing a “domino effect” on regional development.

The government explained that numerous meetings were held in an attempt to facilitate the project’s completion. However, “it has become clear that all efforts were exhausted, and more than adequate time was given. Good faith and tolerance were shown to the contractor’s promises, while the contractor failed to meet any timeframe for the project.”

Evaluating the facts, it is “impossible to make up for the huge delay on the project.” To mitigate the consequences and damages, the town planning department last week terminated the contract, citing failure to meet contractual obligations.

The government’s decision was “supported by the findings of an audit office report, received on Monday from the town planning department.”

The interior ministry is now exploring alternative solutions to complete the project “as soon as possible under the circumstances and at the lowest possible cost.”