People who are dead and would be 150 if they were alive are named on rental contracts for Turkish Cypriot properties, the House refugees committee heard on Tuesday.

Who gets to rent Turkish Cypriots properties in the south, abandoned after the invasion has been an ongoing matter for discussion at the committee.

“We agreed that once the legislation is in place and we see where there are problems and weaknesses, we will correct them,” chairman and Akel MP Nikos Kettiros said after the committee discussed the budget for the Turkish Cypriot property management service.

In addition to its weaknesses, the system still runs analog, and urgently needs to be digitised, he said, assuring that amendments to the system would be made in the new year.

Efforts to digitise the system had been underway for three years, albeit unsuccessfully, but Kettiros expressed hope that the process could soon be expedited now that relevant funding had been secured.

“At least this year there is a budget allocation and we are waiting for the first few months for the tender to be awarded,” he said.

He confirmed that the committee was aware of a wide range of irregularities in the management of Turkish Cypriot properties and said that instructions had been given to carry out relevant contract checks.

Kettros, in his position as Akel MP, later brought up the topic that a relevant bill had been submitted by Akel according to which those who have mortgages, regardless of when they took them out in the past, will be able to apply to the Turkish Cypriot property management fund for interest subsidy.

He said that the bill had so far been met with positive responses that now that the article-by-article discussion has been completed, the proposal would be brought before the plenum.

The creation of a new national fund to reimburse Greek Cypriots who lost access to their immovable property as a result of being displaced during or after 1974 had been broadly discussed by the House refugee committee in early September.

The plans had been brought to parliament by Disy, which submitted a bill on the matter, while Kettiros later called for the matter to be discussed and concluded as quickly as possible.