Liabilities with the local authorities and gaps in the legislation have been identified by the Audit Office concerning a building in Nicosia that has been left in construction phase for 14 years.

The building is on Spyros Kyprianou avenue in the centre of the city, and the Audit Office has expressed concern in a report made public on Thursday that the owners have not suffered any financial or other consequences, while the building’s long-term abandonment was an eyesore as well as a health risk.

In the report, auditor-general Andreas Papaconstantinou said the law must be applied and the authorities should act far more decisively.

Particularly regarding buildings in key areas and the city centre, the local authorities and the state were even more responsible for inspection, aesthetics and safety, the auditor-general pointed out.

Even though the site is fenced off, access to the “dangerous building site” is still possible.

Papaconstantinou reminded that in the past a dead body had been found in the worksite.

He also said this particular building was not the only one of its kind and that there were more across Cyprus.

Taking a look at the history of the building, Papaconstantinou said there was a long period of permits, renewals of permits and derogations from approved blueprints, “without any substantive progress towards completing it”.

The first building permit was issued by the Nicosia municipality on August 23, 2011.

The eight-storey building comprised a shop on the ground floor, two flats on the first and second floors, and offices from the third to the seventh floor, as well as an underground carpark.

While efforts had been made to reactive the project, “the result remains an unfinished building in the centre of the capital for more than a decade”.

Papaconstantinou pointed out the impact of the situation.

“They are multiple and particularly serious since the image of the city is negatively affected, safety and public concerns are arising, there are phenomena of abandonment in the city centre and at the same time the impression of tolerance and absence of substantive supervision is cultivated,” he said.

The auditor-general added that an insufficient legislative framework was not an excuse and in such a case the Nicosia self-government organisation (EOA) “should demand additional tools to protect the city”.

The EOA confirmed recently that there had been no intention to abandon the project and that delays were due to revisions of all surveys for the building to meet required specifications, including fire protection.

It also notified the Audit Office that it was inspecting all inactive building sites and that the specific building was adequately fenced off.

But the Audit Office said the authorities had assumed a passive role, “hoping that at some point the owners would secure the necessary remaining permits and finish the building”.

This practice, it said, was based on the reasoning that “the financial cost of an investment to complete an unfinished development was smaller than the cost of demolition”.

The Audit Office pointed out that inspecting the fence could not be considered an adequate measure as the construction site was an eyesore that adversely affected the image of the city and posed a threat to public health.