President Nikos Christodoulides on Saturday remained non-committal over the possibility of a new hospital being built in Polis Chrysochous.

He was asked about the matter while visiting the town as part of his ongoing tour of the island, and said, “let me remind you that a few days ago we had a special meeting with [state health services organisation] Okypy specifically about first aid in hospitals throughout Cyprus”.

He added that “this, of course, includes Polis Chrysochous”, and entailed the provision of millions of euros “so that we can move forward”.

This answer fell short of the whole new hospital that the town’s mayor Yiotis Papachristofi had demanded in a letter to Health Minister Michael Damianos on Wednesday.

Papachristofi had said his municipality needs “special support” from the central government to be able to “ensure proper and adequate medical care for its residents”.

With this in mind, he said the existing hospital in Polis Chrysochous has “significant problems”, most of which have come about due to its age. He pointed out that parts of the building were built during British colonial rule and that they therefore “no longer meet the area’s modern needs”.

While in Polis, Christodoulides outlined €35 million of projects, which combined with the expansion of the port, estimated at €50 million, would lead to projects worth €85 million in the area.

“The area of Polis Chrysochous is an area that has special prospects and needs the substantial support of the state,” he said.

Referring to the Paphos-Polis Chrysochous road, the contract for part of which has recently been torn up by the government, he said for it to have value, it must be done in its entirety, both phases must be implemented. “And that’s our design”.