A recent meeting organized by the Pancyprian Association of Construction and Land Development Entrepreneurs with the heads of district self-governments focused on the need to modernize and speed up the licensing system for construction projects. The discussion was attended by the Presidents of the EOA of Nicosia ( Konstantinos Iorkadzis ), Limassol ( Yiannis Tzouloftas ), Famagusta ( Yannis Karousos ), as well as the Vice President of EOA Larnaca ( Alkis Anastasiadis ) and the Limassol EOA Licensing Director ( Iraklis Achniotis ).
The meeting discussed the numerous problems faced by local authorities and their impact on the construction industry. Solutions were also proposed to address these problems in order to maintain the importance of the construction industry as a key sector of the economy. The main focus was on the licensing of projects, which are now the responsibility of local authorities. Participants in the meeting noted serious problems related to delays in processing applications.
It was particularly emphasized that Cyprus is the only country where the state system itself slows down the development of the country, which has negative economic consequences, including the loss of investors. In order to correct this situation, it was agreed to jointly introduce automatic issuance of urban development licenses in the form of certificates for low-risk developments (at least 20 apartments) within the established deadlines. According to the statement of the Ministry of Interior, it was noted that it is necessary to accelerate the implementation of this system at least for projects up to 12 houses or 20 apartments.
This change would shift responsibility to private designers, with strict sanctions and random inspection by building inspectors. This move would significantly unburden the EOA from thousands of applications and allow it to focus on more complex projects that require lengthy review.
Concluding the meeting, the chairman of the association of entrepreneurs in the construction sector, Yannis Misirlis assured those present that the members of the association, using their experience and knowledge, are ready to provide all possible support in resolving these issues. It was also decided to hold another meeting in a few months to discuss the progress achieved.
