Involvement of Public Works for the completion of projects on Pernera Avenue in Protaras is not ruled out
The involvement of the Department of Public Works is not ruled out in order to complete the projects that have started two years ago on Pernera Avenue in Protaras and have not yet been completed, said the Director of the Department Chrystalla Mallouppa.
Ms. Mallouppa was speaking after a long meeting that took place in the morning at the construction site and in which the contractor, the Department of Public Works and the Mayor of Paralimni participated.
Several shopkeepers in the area had gathered outside the meeting room to express their complaints about the untimely completion of the project.
Work began in the spring of 2016 with a planned completion of 18 months. The project is urban and is funded by the state (80%) and the Municipality of Paralimni (20%). Upon completion there will be a long bike path, adequate road lighting, large sidewalks and various other amenities for pedestrians, cyclists and drivers.
In her statements, Ms. Mallouppa, Director of the Public Works Department, stated that "we are in constant consultation with the contractor to find the best way to promote the fastest way to complete the project. The important problems and the procedures are also examined and the possibility is not ruled out that crews of the Department of Public Works may enter, but always within the framework of the contractual articles of the contract ".
Answering a relevant question, he answered that "definitely before June - July the situation will be much better. We hope that we will do much better than so far "he said" and added that "every year we made efforts with the Mayor (Paralimni), while we had continuous meetings with the contractor to help speed up the project".
Ms. Mallouppa noted that "the construction industry and contractors are facing particular liquidity problems after the financial crisis and this may be one of the reasons why the project was delayed."
To another question he answered that "the project had an approved extension of 134 days, something that had to be completed on March 31, ie before the start of the tourist season. "Unfortunately, there seem to be some problems that we are now examining, the contractor has not managed to complete the project as we expected".
He added that "recommendations were made to the contractor and the best ways to promote the project are being considered and we will do our best to have less influence on the people in the area".
Asked whether sanctions will be imposed on the contractor, he replied "of course there are financial sanctions, the contractor will start to deduct 3,600 euros per day from the day of the delay, while there is a high probability that their advance will be cut which is a significant financial burden for the contractor ".
He noted that "from the moment the contractor exceeds the time period of completion of the project, a contract is made on a contract basis" and stated that "several visits were made to the area to see how the project was progressing while the project team and the engineer came regular and continuous meetings were held. We did everything we could, within our capabilities and within the framework of the contract, to give every help we could to the contractor ".
From there on, he continued "unfortunately we ended up getting here today and we will do our best to complete the project, without ruling out the fact that the Public Works will enter to complete the project".
Asked about the work of this contractor, Ms. Mallouppa answered in the negative, adding that "some of the old works he has done for us were from the very good contractors. However, with the current data, we have several problems ".
The Mayor of Paralimni, Theodoros Pyrillis, stated that “what satisfies us is that the Department of Public Works is doing and continues to do what it can to deal with the situation. "We are dealing with a contractor who has been judged unreliable too many times for collaboration projects, has problems, has been unimaginably helped by all of us to be able to cope with the project, but unfortunately has failed."
He added that "unfortunately the contractor may be able to hide behind some small letters to do his own thing. A year ago in a similar meeting I had mentioned that his behavior and the way he works will destroy the tourism of Protaras "he said and noted that" the efforts we have all made in recent years to start the tourist season earlier has succeed, since this year we have started the tourist season from March 20 ".
However, he continued "with such data that exists, everyone's efforts, all the money that has been spent by us, by the CTO, by travel agents and many businessmen are unfortunately lost. Those in charge should now consider the way in which some contracts are given and exclude some people who are not able to perform the work ".
To another question he replied that "we are sorry that a contractor, a company at the end of the day, because it failed to achieve its goals, creates such a big problem in the place".
The contractor Kyriakos Avraamidis stated that "what should be very clear is that the contractual date of completion of the project was March 31. "Everything that has been said that the delay has been observed for 6-8 months does not correspond to reality and there were various reasons for which time extensions were given".
Among other things, he explained that "a hotelier complained that the works were bothering his hotel with the result that the project was stopped for several months" and noted that "the delays until 31/3/18 were not only the fault of the contractor. There were many factors that influenced the date of completion of the project, since with changes from the City Hall (Paralimni) and changes in Urban Planning the decision for the final look of the core was taken in December 2017, which meant buying from us new materials, new orders , time for receipt of new materials and more ".
He added: "I do not claim to be infallible and flawless, but I say that there were very serious reasons for this delay and today we are only 4 days away from the conventional date of completion of the project. There was cooperation and support from the Department of Public Works in order to move the project forward "and expressed gratitude to the Department.
Mr. Avraamidis also said that "the company believes that with even closer cooperation with the Department of Public Works and other services the project can be completed within a month and the vital areas can be completed in about 20 days. It is purely unfair to charge everything on the company ".
Asked to comment on complaints from shopkeepers that they do not see the contractor's crews working at all, he replied that "there were some fronts that needed to be promoted more and importance was given to these fronts. We could not work on all fronts of the project at the same time and it must be mentioned that half of the project has already been delivered to the traffic ".
He also stated that "the company is working on three fronts of the project, asphalt works are being carried out, excavation works and paving works are being carried out on the sidewalks. We thank everyone and ask for everyone's support for a little while longer ".
Source: KYPE