Larnaca municipality on Tuesday called for a protest over the government’s plans for the city’s port and marina, as Transport Minister Alexis Vafeades expressed his hope a solution for Larnaca’s contentious project could be found.

The city’s municipality said it was organising the protest for 11am outside Larnaca port “against the government’s unilateral decision” on finding an administrator for five years “without having to invest a single euro.”

It called for “the immediate development” for the project, describing it as the city’s lifeline.

Vafeades on Tuesday had also visited Larnaca’s chamber of commerce where he specified a proposal was being evaluated, where the Cyprus Maritime and Marine Institute would be the administrator.

The proposal came from Larnaca’s mayor Andreas Vyras.

At this stage “nothing has been decided”, Vafeades said. “We are here to listen, to evaluate so that we can make the right decisions.”

He expressed hope that “within the next two days we will have something to announce.”

Commenting directly on Vyras’ proposal, the minister said: “it is on the table” and is being evaluated, in terms of the organisation and the “legitimacy of this approach.”