The owners of the leisure centers in Protaras and Ayia Napa are in despair, after the end of the grace period given to them to secure the necessary fire safety permits. The Fire Service, applying the law, refuses to inspect properties that do not have building permits.
The issue was discussed yesterday at the Commerce Committee, which requested the simplification of the Fire Department's inspection procedure in real estate for the issuance of an operating license.
The President of the Committee, Member of Parliament of DISY, Kyriakos Hatzigianni, underlined that "a lot of bureaucracy has suffocated the entire tourist industry and leisure centers", as a result of which services are declared deadlocked.
As he said, one year was given to the executive power, and "finally the three Ministers (Interior, Justice and Tourism) must come to an agreement with each other and decide what the solution will be".
He added that piecemeal approaches do not benefit anyone and cannot provide a solution. "We will wait two weeks for them to tell us what is needed. We expressed our readiness, if something is needed from the Parliament's side, we are here to come and achieve corrections", he said, noting that there are no discounts on security issues.
In his statements, the General Secretary of the Association of Recreation Center Owners (PASIKA), Fanos Leventis, stated that the issue arose from a change in the attitude of the Fire Department, and it has to do with "the exhaustive way of controlling the legal recreation centers, which operate and in the outer space, at times".
He added that the state has an obligation to find those solutions in a very short period of time, so that recreation centers can be licensed, "without deteriorating", proposing to find a solution that is friendly to recreation centers.
Besides, he said, throughout time, the security in every aspect that recreation centers offer during their operation has not been raised or questioned.
He noted that "we will wait for the result of the consultation that the state has committed to conduct in the next few days, and this concerns the Ministry of Interior, the Deputy Ministry of Tourism and the Ministry of Justice and we hope that they will also consult with us. We have proposals to submit, which have to do with reality, which can assist in whatever decisions are made".
He emphasized that no leisure center is going to be closed, but the point is that entrepreneurs can operate in a legal regime and not be exposed.
