Transport Minister Alexis Vafeades on Monday reiterated his support for the construction of the Denia-Astromeritis road after meeting community leaders from Morphou, Solea and Marathasa.

“There is a common desire for the Denia-Astromeritis road to be constructed to combat the urban sprawl that plagues all mountainous areas,” Vafeades said.

The minister assured that efforts to construct the road “as soon as possible” were underway, adding that the public belief is that without this highway, the mountainous communities of Nicosia were “doomed to desertification”.

Increasing urbanisation from these areas has already been seen in the censuses of 2010 and 2020.

“We must help these communities, so that the residents can stay in the place where they were born,” he concluded.

Construction plans for the road were first been announced in 2019, with former Transport Minister Vasiliki Anastasiadou announcing that the 19 kilometre long road was to be built as a second part of the Astromeritis to Evrychou road.

In 2021, the construction of a four-lane highway from Akaki to Astromeritis was approved by the environmental department after the aforementioned Astromeritis to Evrychou project was suspended. The cost of the project was estimated at more than € 130 million.

Vafeades then moved on to announce updates on the planned works at Larnaca port.

“The dredging has been awarded to a contractor, the preparation of the architectural competition is progressing with the assistance of the Larnaca municipality, and the study has been assigned to consultants in Greece,” the minister said.

He added that other project-related works including the deepening of the marina, the architectural competition for the construction of the maritime complex and the study of the port and the marina were processing, with consultation with the local community scheduled for early September.

Finally, the minister commented on recent media reports regarding school bus inspections in view of the upcoming school year.

The responsibility for examining the driver’s professional licence and the vehicle’s technical inspection certificate fell to the contract between the school management and the service provider, the minister said.

The minster stressed that a certificate confirming that the vehicle had successfully passed the technical inspection was mandatory.

Recalling that, in the previous year, a school bus had a technical inspection certificate, Vafeades called on teachers to reach out to the road transport department (TOM) to double check the technical suitability of a vehicle if they had any doubts.