The agreement for the concession of the inert areas of the old Larnaca Hospital, dating from 1932, to the Municipality, for the purposes of housing the Municipal Services, was formalized in a formal meeting of the Municipal Council and the Larnaca City and District Development Committee.
The agreement was signed at the old Hospital by the Minister of Health Androula Agrotou and the Mayor of Larnaca Andreas Louroutziatis in the presence of the former Minister of Health Stavros Mala. The event was also attended by the Deputy Minister under President Titos Christofidis, Larnaca MPs of all parties and Dimitris Pieridis, a member of the Management Committee of the "Evanthias Pieridis" Bequest.
The Minister of Health Androula Agrotou in her speech stated that on October 10, 2012 the Council of Ministers had decided to grant the use of the building to the Municipality of Larnaca, while a few days later the Minister Stavros Malas "handed over to me the Ministry of Health and a large project with some pending among which was the implementation of the specific decision of the Council of Ministers. "I felt that it was one of his concerns, that is, not to neglect, to prepare and sign the agreement with the Mayor of Larnaca," he said.
The Minister thanked the Deputy Minister to President Tito Christofidis, as she explained that "he was the catalyst to solve some legal problems, while the information given by Dimitris Pieridis to the Attorney General helped to conclude that the building could be handed over to the Municipality." Larnaca. "Based on the provisions of the Council of Ministers, we have prepared the agreement we are signing today and I hope with this agreement we will help the prosperity not only of the people of Larnaca but of the whole province of Larnaca".
For his part, the former Minister of Health and candidate for the Presidency of the Republic, Stavros Malas, stated, among other things, that "the decision to allocate this space to the Municipality of Larnaca was taken within 45 minutes and in order to serve the needs of the Municipality. The whole Municipal Council was unanimous in the decision that was taken while the Mayor himself took the issue very warmly and I hope this space will be shaped as it deserves ". He thanked all those who helped to overcome some of the "legal problems" that arose.
He added that "our purpose in Public Health Services, at least when I was in the Ministry, is to upgrade the Hospitals in such a way that on the one hand they have the right structure and on the other the right infrastructure to serve the needs now and in the future. . All this is part of a framework for the development budget of strengthening public hospitals, since we believe that in a General Health System environment, public hospitals should remain the main service provider and this will save us about 300 million euros from the implementation of GESY ".
The Mayor of Larnaca Andreas Louroutziatis in his own speech stated that "with feelings of pride and emotion I welcome you today, here at the site of the Old Hospital of Larnaca. A place of historical value with buildings of architectural and cultural interest that make it one of the most important landmarks for the city of Larnaca ". He warmly thanked the Minister of Health Androula Agrotou, the former Minister of Health Stavros Mala for their catalytic contribution to the "unblocking" of the procedures as well as the Management Committee of the Bequest "Evanthias Pieridis" and in particular Dimitris Pieridis ".
As of today, continued Mr. Louroutziatis "in the Municipality of Larnaca, a lot of work awaits us. In order to achieve the goal, we will set up a Special Committee, which will undertake issues such as building planning and seeking and securing the necessary funds to begin the restoration work of this historic building as soon as possible.
For his part, Dimitris Pieridis, member of the Management Committee of the Bequest "Evanthias Pieridis" said that after the concession of the old hospital building in the Municipality of Larnaca "in the minds of many of our fellow citizens is the question of the cost of repairing and restoring the great of this building. Today I was informed that in similar cases where the interested party is mainly a Municipality and bears the costly costs of restoring a government building, he is entitled to various benefits such as the so-called "gifted building factor" which the Municipality of Larnaca can sell to third parties throughout Cyprus. to cover up to 50% of the restoration costs of the building ".
He added that "the realization of the goal of rendering the inactive space of the Hospital in the Municipality of Larnaca" was hindered for years by a misinterpretation of the wishes of my blessed aunt Evanthia Pieridi. The former Minister of Health Stavros Malas showed immediate local interest and actively and substantially supported even with his explanatory intervention to the Attorney General of the Republic, something that finally came to fruition ".