In a direct response to growing structural concerns, a specialized joint task force will begin intensive on-site inspections of properties within Nicosia’s historic Walled City starting Monday, April 20. The initiative is a collaborative effort between the Nicosia District Local Government Organization (EOA) and the Nicosia Municipality.
The operation comes as authorities face a significant backlog, with the EOA Nicosia recently reporting that 268 buildings in the district have already been declared hazardous, including four that require immediate evacuation to protect occupants and the public.
A Multidisciplinary Strike Team
To ensure a comprehensive evaluation, the authorities have formed a four-member expert committee. This team is designed to bridge the gap between structural engineering and public health:
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Engineering Oversight: Two engineers from the District EOA and one from the Municipality will assess the physical integrity of buildings.
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Health and Nuisance Control: A municipal health inspector will identify sanitary risks, manage waste accumulation, and address public nuisances in neglected properties.
Mission Objectives
The team will focus on three primary goals to stabilize the safety situation in the capital’s historic center:
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Re-evaluating Known Hazards: Inspecting buildings already on the dangerous register to see if their condition has deteriorated.
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Identifying New Risks: Using visual surveys to discover and document previously unrecorded structures that show signs of instability.
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Sanitary Remediation: Clearing stagnant water, waste, and other health hazards that often plague abandoned or under maintained buildings.
The Wider Context: A Safety Ticking Clock
This localized action in Nicosia is part of a broader national push to secure aging building stock. Following a tragic building collapse in Limassol earlier this month, the Ministry of Interior has urged all district organizations to accelerate inspections and consider publicizing lists of unsafe structures to warn potential tenants.
Currently, the Nicosia EOA is managing a backlog of 1,466 pending files inherited from previous administrations. While the government has provided a €2 million grant to assist with direct interventions island wide, officials estimate the cost for Nicosia alone could exceed €2.3 million to fully eliminate hazards in the most critical cases.
Source: www.stockwatch.com.cy