The mayor evaluates his term a few months before its end and states that he is satisfied with the degree of implementation of the projects.
In his capacity as chairman of the Kokkinochoria Sewerage Council, he blasts the subcontractors for the quality of the work, complaining about piles of defects that have left the roads in a miserable condition. He also complains that subcontractors made savings with imperfections! His warning is twofold and clear: The damage must be paid by the responsible contractors and if the roads are not repaired, the project will not be omitted.
The Interview with Tassos Perdios:
Do you consider that you have responded to your election announcements a few months before the end of your term?
I think we have responded worthily. We have promoted all the projects of the pre-election program except the Lyceum and this is due to the refusal of the Ministry of Education due to the fact that we do not meet the population criterion. Of course the declining number of students is due to many factors, such as unemployment and housing, leading our young people to leave. There is an aging population. Our success is credited to the entire Municipal Council. Most of the decisions were unanimous and on this occasion I thank the members of the Municipal Council and the staff of the municipality.
If someone asked you to be self-critical, where do you think your town hall fell behind?
We may have lagged behind in terms of road improvements, but I must make it clear that we cannot improve roads if we do not receive the sewer. We have implemented the park of alternative activities, the craft area, the renovation of the shopping center, the retirement club, the public market.
At the swimming pool it seems that things did not go well.
We have a serious problem in this matter, since it seems that only the Municipality of Deryneia is interested in the regional swimming pool. We have repeatedly asked both the COM and the President of the Republic to proceed with the construction. Moreover, during his visit to the region on July 30, 2015, the President of the Republic had announced that he would grant us the amount of 300 thousand euros for the study. It seems that the issue is escalating somewhere. The CMO and its president have shown great interest in the project. We are the only province that does not have a swimming pool and also the area is adjacent to the General Hospital of Famagusta, so we can promote both sports and medical tourism in cooperation with the coastal areas. The Municipality of Deryneia cannot undertake the 300 thousand for the study alone. Since it is a regional project, all other communities and municipalities must be involved.
How did the cut in state sponsorship affect you?
There is a 45% cut in the sponsorship we receive from the state. Indicatively, in 2011 we got around 1,8 million euros and today we get less than 1 million. We, however, with the right moves focused on small projects for which there is great interest and demand. Like the park in the neighborhood.
How were your steps judged to treat Deryneia with a different lens, because it is a critical and semi-occupied municipality?
On our initiative, the Committee of Critical and Semi-Occupied Municipalities was established, chaired by the mayor of Deryneia. We visited the President of the Republic and asked for incentives to upgrade the areas adjacent to the dead zone. The biggest achievement is the reduction of our percentage in the co-financed projects. For example, in the pensioners' club, where our contribution was 1/3, ie around 333 thousand euros, it was reduced to 10%, around 21 thousand. However, our request for an immediate increase in sponsorship was not accepted.
Emphasis was placed on the placement of Deryneia on the tourist map, where you lag behind…
We can not compare with the coastal areas. We are inland because we lost our beach in the occupied territories. We lost 2,5 km of coastal area. We try to bring the tourist even once during his vacation in Deryneia. We have managed through tourist agents and journalists to attract enough tourists to visit our museums, churches and strawberry plantations and of course our taverns. We have managed to have around three buses with tourists from different countries every day.
Do you think that the goal for 2016 is a bit ambitious at the opening of the roadblock?
We are almost one year old from the announcement. In the last meeting we had with the Minister of Foreign Affairs and in a lecture in Deryneia, the Government Spokesman announced that in April the bidding process for the contractor will proceed and when the bid is awarded, within 4-5 months the roadblock will be given to traffic. We hope that in 2016 it will open. I think that when the President of the Republic said that it would open in 2016, he knew something more.
Have any practical issues been clarified?
The issue of landmines and expropriations that are not needed has been clarified. The great achievement and I must congratulate the Roadblock Commission and its chairman, Soto Zakhaios, is that it was possible for the occupying army outpost to move backwards and for our outpost to remain where it is. The road will be 9 meters wide, 3,5 meters each lane and one meter pedestrian on each side.
How do you get the pulse of the world for the roadblock?
Not a day goes by that we are not asked what happens to the roadblock. However, I think that the latest announcements of the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the government representative have convinced the people that the Deryneia roadblock is the first to be opened, followed by Lefka, which has other difficulties. Deryneia lives and breathes for the roadblock. We have always supported reunification and rapprochement. There are some who are worried about the opening of the roadblock, but I think there will only be benefits for the whole province and in the effort to resolve the Cyprus problem. People need to know the other side. Improve contact between Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots.
And we are talking about a walking distance.
Most will walk, as they tell us. The road that will be improved is 2,7 km but from the roadblock to Agia Zoni is around 1 km.
Kokkinochorion Sewerage: "Subcontractors made savings with imperfections"
We had your own complaints a few days ago, in your capacity as chairman of the Kokkinochoria Sewerage Council, for major defects in the sewerage system and on the roads, but also from inspections of the pipelines with the cameras.
The first communities where the project started were Avgorou, Xylofagou, Dasaki Achnas, Ormideia, Xylotympou and Deryneia. Major irregularities and imperfections occurred in the beginning, from 2010 to 2012.
From contractors or subcontractors?
From the subcontractors and I said it in Parliament. We know the contractors, but the subcontractors have found ways to make savings with imperfections. The big problem in Avgorou is that they received the project and then we had the well-known landslides. In Deryneia we had an incident where five cars fell into a ditch because there was a gap under the road. We have provided a list of 150 items to be made. If they are not made, we will not receive the project. I remind you that the whole project had to be received at the end of 2015. We still have the repair of the damages and the procedures for the Biological Station in Achna. Neither in 2016 nor I am very afraid in 2017 we will start the construction of the Biological Station.
The camera checks revealed several points where the ducts were not installed correctly.
In Parliament, on April 12, it was said that he had taken over a three-member committee that would monitor the project. I hope the problems improve. If we receive problems there you can see reactions. Not a day goes by that we are not asked about the sewerage and the condition of the roads. Repeat. We can not improve the roads if the project is not received. We understand the resentment but if a complete coating is done now and a problem is found underneath, it will be taken down again.
You said that defects were found below. Are we talking about new excavations?
Most likely some roads will have to be reopened.
And who will pay the cost?
It was reported to the parliamentary committee that the costs would be borne by the contractors. We are not willing to pay.
We did not have a say in the contract and unfortunately they did not set conditions for the final paving of the roads.
Now our cooperation with the WDD, the Public Works and the Prefect is excellent and we have no complaints. In the beginning there were problems with the supervision, but we improved.
Would you call it a scandal in terms of imperfections?
We are a tourist area, but our roads present a picture of a rural area. It does not honor us as a country. We try to bring tourists inland, but some have to come down from the offices and see the crap of the streets.
Source: Dawn