At noon, in a modest ceremony in the presence of the Mayors of Larnaca and Livadia, Andrea Vyra and Marios Armenis, the President and members of the Board. of KETAP and members of the Municipal Council of Larnaca, began with special machines the dismemberment and dismantling of large oil tanks.
In his statements, the Minister described today as "historic" for the city and province of Larnaca, for the citizens of the area, who over time had the demand to remove the oil facilities from their city. "This was a commitment of the President of the Republic Nikos Anastasiadis to the people of Larnaca, since in several meetings he had with the city authorities he mentioned that the oil and gas companies will be dismantled and removed from the coastal front," he said.
He added that today the dismantling of the KETAP facilities has started after the removal of the liquid fuels and thanked the President and the Board of Directors of the company "because they made painful but necessary decisions for the company".
As he said, "we are in a place that has served Cyprus for many years, but has closed its life cycle", adding that the dismantling of KETAP facilities will be done in three phases and today is the effort of one third party for the removal, while we expect the cooperation of both the Municipality and the private companies to become the other two thirds ".
The Minister explained that "the second is the removal of private liquefied fuels and the third is the removal of LPG, which have been wheeled in cooperation with the Ministry of Interior. We want the liquid fuels to be removed at the end of this year and we have accelerated the licensing in Vassiliko so that the companies that are currently in Larnaca have options and to remove the liquid fuels ".
Regarding LPG, Mr. Lakkotrypis said that "the issue is more complex because we do not have facilities that can accommodate it, so the procedures for the creation of facilities in Vasiliko should be accelerated. I know that the companies have already made their applications for this project to proceed ".
Answering a question, the Minister said that "it is always difficult to see the operation of a company terminate, since there are employees, who we took care of together with the Board. to get all their rights and not be deprived of anything ".
To another question, Mr. Lakkotrypis answered that "for KETAP there are three different functions: we have the liquid fuel that has already been removed for more than 12 months, we have the function of the chemistry that is necessary because it proceeds to fuel tests that can not "Other Organizations in Cyprus are doing today and there is asphalt, which is also necessary because there is only one small private company whose quantities are not enough to meet the needs of the state."
He noted that "we had to solve these complications all this time and in cooperation with the Municipality and the company we managed. "Today is a very important day and it is the beginning for the other companies to follow in order to liberate the Gulf of Larnaca for tourism development".
Asked how the government would force private companies to leave Larnaca as the Ministerial Termination Decree expires on January 31st, the minister replied that this would be done "with a renewed Decree, with aggressive but realistic timetables and providing options for from Larnaca ”. In all this effort, he added, "we had to keep in mind the security of the country's energy supply, we could not leave the country without fuel, neither in terms of strategic reserves maintained by KETAP until recently, nor in the operation of oil companies ".
To another question, Mr. Lakkotrypis answered that the first phase, which is the decommissioning of the oil tanks will take 3-4 months, will be followed by an environmental impact assessment from the many years of operation of the refinery, which will have to be submitted to the Department of Environment within 12 months and then within six months the site restoration plan must follow. So it will take some time for the restoration to be completed, but we have started today and we will move on. "
Larnaca Mayor Andreas Vyras also described today as "historic for our city. As the Municipal Council of Larnaca, we welcome this development that the process of dismantling the tanks of KETAP begins and it is a day that we have really been waiting for years ".
However, he continued, "we want to express our frustration and the strong concerns we have as a city about how the process will proceed with the withdrawal and dismantling of the tanks of private oil companies and especially the companies that deal with LPG."
As he said, "it is a process, which had to be completed by the end of the month and this will not happen, there is the Ministerial Decree of Termination of Use, which we want the Municipal Council to remain in force."
He also explained that "the only ones who are not to blame for this situation are the citizens of Larnaca, since they face major security problems, problems related to the development of the city and we must always work with the government to provide a final solution. We also need to give specific timetables and specific compensatory measures to the citizens in order to achieve this very big goal that we have ".
He noted that "we have not reached the end of the road, but there is intense concern, especially for the gas companies, pending decisions of the Competition Commission that some of its decisions may lead us to new plans and new plans."
The Mayor of Larnaca also stated that concrete actions should be taken by various government departments, the Public Works and the guardian of Turkish Cypriot Properties, in order to make it possible for the gas companies to move to Vasiliko. "For all this we have to make specific decisions and set specific dates and this time there is no possibility that these schedules will not be met," he stressed.
"We want to believe," he concluded, "that today is the real beginning of the end so that we can achieve a great goal of the city and this area can be a milestone for the new city we want to build and create the city that citizens dream of." us".
On his part, Stelios Georgiadis, Chairman of the Board of KETAP, said that "the facilities of KETAP occupy an area of 150 thousand square meters. All tanks, metal structures and pipelines will be sold as scrap metal, which will be given for recycling and the company will get some money. The removal of the concrete bases will follow and together with the Department of Environment the analyzes will be made to see the condition of the subsoil and we will gradually proceed with the restoration of the space. That is, where necessary, new soil will be transferred to be placed or, where necessary, the soil will be sieved depending on its condition ".
Answering a relevant question, Mr. Georgiadis said that "the vast majority of employees at the KETAP facilities have left. At the moment, there are only 15 staff members and depending on the work carried out, if there is a surplus for additional people, they will leave with compensation based on their rights and contracts ".
The Municipal Council is satisfied
In a written announcement, the Municipal Council of Larnaca "welcomes the start of the demolition / removal works of the facilities of the Cyprus Petroleum Storage Company. At the same time, however, it expresses its disappointment for the fact that the companies that own or use facilities for the installation and storage of oil and gas continue to use or continue to maintain these facilities despite the provisions of the relevant Decree which expires on 30/1 / 2017 ».
The Municipal Council of Larnaca "considers that not all the necessary actions were taken by the involved parties, with the result that the companies do not comply with the above Decree and move their facilities. The Board is determined to work with all the means at its disposal to end the use of the above facilities, to ensure the health and safety of the inhabitants of the city, but also to be able to then development and upgrading of the area for the benefit of the citizens, the city and the place in general ".
The announcement adds that at a recent meeting the Larnaca City Council "after noting that the current stance of the companies easily concludes that no further deadline for their relocation is justified, decided as a first step to consider taking all legal measures against the above companies, including the court measures for the imposition of a fine ".
It is also noted that "the position of the Larnaca Municipal Council is that both the Government and the companies must immediately find ways to move these facilities as soon as possible and therefore has already requested a meeting with the Minister of Interior in the presence of companies and all relevant government departments to set definitive and strict relocation schedules, schedule checkpoints and delay clauses ".
Concerns about LPG installations by the mayor
Larnaca Mayor Andreas Vyras noted that "there is a lot of data that depends on various factors and various government departments that, if there is no determination, I am very afraid that any process of moving the LPG facilities from Larnaca will remain in the drawers."
To a question, Mr. Vyras answered that "at a recent meeting of the Municipal Council it was decided to send a letter to the Minister of Interior, requesting an immediate meeting in the presence of companies and relevant government departments that will be responsible, so that the companies can move ».
Depending on the results of the meeting with the Minister of Interior, he continued, "we will see what will happen next, that is, if we will request a meeting with the President of the Republic or if any dynamic measures will be taken. We do not rule out anything, but we will expect to see the intentions of the companies and how committed they will be to what may be agreed with the Minister of Interior ".
The mayor of Larnaca also said that "in July 2015 one of the gas companies took legal action against the Municipality, the Ministry of Interior, the General Prosecutor's Office of the Republic and all those involved in the case of the Ministerial Decree which expires on January 31, 2017. The said company is seeking compensation of 2 million euros ".
Regarding the movement of oil companies, Andreas Vyras said that "for this issue things are easier since there are alternative options. "Some companies already have their own tanks in Vasiliko, there is VTTV, from which they can buy services until the processes of the other companies are completed".
Source: KYPE