The government is spending €4.7 million on projects in Kyperounda, Interior Minister Constantinos Ioannou said at the village’s apple festival on Sunday.

Ioannou formally handed over a €462,000 renovation of roads in the old part of the village, finished last month with interior ministry funding.

A cultural centre cost €1.72 million, with a planned folk art and natural history museum, with an estimated budget of €2.5 million, still being built.

The state’s aim, he said, is to “build infrastructure and policies that give people reasons to stay in rural communities”.

He said the government wants villages to “remain alive and attract new residents”, especially “young people and families”.

He listed housing measures aimed at the countryside, including a recently announced scheme allowing an extra floor on existing homes and a new plan to hand state-owned land to families.

The cabinet has also raised this year’s support allowance for mountain residents by €50 per household and €35 per person.

Kyperounda is in the Pitsilia region of Limassol district, perched at around 1,300 metres in Troodos and is the third highest village on the island.