Two more dangerous residences in Larnaca are being demolished, Angelos Hadjicharalambous, President of the Larnaca District Organization, told CNA on Friday, adding that the Larnaca District Court has also formally secured an evacuation order for the apartment building in the Faneromeni area and the Organization will proceed with its fencing.
The President of the Larnaca EOA also referred to the social aspect of the issue concerning the relocation of residents, saying that for the relocation of the 40 people in total who lived in the 24 apartments of the apartment building in Faneromeni, there was assistance from the Ministry of Interior, Civil Defense and the Municipality of Larnaca, but not from the Deputy Ministry of Social Welfare. At the same time, he spoke about the need to amend the existing legislation so that the Authorities can act in a timely manner.
In his statements to CNA, Mr. Hadjicharalambous stated that "yesterday, Thursday, June 11, and today, Friday, June 12, two more dangerous residences located on Stavrodromiou Street in Larnaca were scheduled for demolition."
According to him, at the end of May, the demolition of the house in the Sotiros area of Larnaca, where three women lived, took place, while last week the demolition of a second house, whose roof collapsed in mid-May, was also completed.
Mr. Hadjicharalambous also mentioned that "there are 35 other buildings that must be managed within the next few days." That is, as he explained, "letters should be sent to the owners to take the necessary measures to remove their danger."
"In the event that the necessary measures are not taken within a predetermined period of time, then we will proceed with evacuating the buildings, a procedure that is followed for such cases," he noted.
When asked where these dangerous buildings are located, Mr. Hadjicharalambous said that "the 35 buildings are small and large apartment buildings and residences located in the Municipality of Dromolaxia - Meneo and in other Communities, but most are located in Larnaca."
As he explained, "the process followed in these specific cases is time-consuming and there is a long delay until all the actions that need to be taken are taken."
"There is also the social problem because the state is not helping to find a solution to the issue of housing for the people who live in these dangerous buildings," he said.
Asked about the apartment building in the Faneromeni area that was evacuated by its residents, Mr. Hadjicharalambous said that "this week we also formally secured an order from the Larnaca District Court to evacuate the building, something we already did with the notification from the Director of Licensing, which declared the specific building dangerous."
"Procedurally, we also wanted to have the Court order to serve it on the owners of the apartment building," he said.
He also noted that "the Larnaca EOA will immediately proceed with fencing off the apartment building and additional signage will be placed to inform passersby of its danger, always aiming to protect and ensure the safety of the public in the area."
As Mr. Hadjicharalambous said, "with the evacuation of the apartment building in the Faneromeni area, many problems arose, both with the relocation of the 40 people in total who lived in the 24 apartments, and with where the furniture and other household equipment they had would be placed."
He also mentioned that "the Ministry of Interior, Civil Defense, and the Municipality of Larnaca assisted in this specific case, however, the Deputy Ministry of Social Welfare was absent."
"We expect more involvement of this Deputy Ministry in the management of similar cases because these specific issues must finally be regulated in the right way," he noted.
Asked to state whether the help and assistance of the Ministry of Interior was requested in order for the procedures that the Organization must take to be carried out more quickly, Mr. Hadjicharalambous said that "we expect the amendment of the legislation so that we can handle such cases immediately, without wasting time and be able to close these cases as soon as possible."
"We want to be more practical and immediately solve any problems that exist, for such cases, which are not easily resolved due to existing legislation," he concluded.
Source: CNA
