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In a historic day, as it was described, both for Larnaca and for the whole of Cyprus, the President of the Republic handed over the keys of the Larnaca Port and Marina to the consortium Kition Ocean Holdings, which is working with the aim to bring the biggest project ever done in Cyprus to life.
The handover ceremony took place in a solemn atmosphere, in the presence of the Speaker of the Parliament, ministers, the president of DISY and officials of Larnaca. The founder of Kition Ocean Holdings, Panos Alexandrou, stated that the goal of the consortium is to create a modern port, which will have 10 drafts with spaces of 3,000 square meters. In addition, a Port Authority, an entrance building, offices and a state-of-the-art cruise passenger terminal will be built on the site.
As far as the marina is concerned, development projects will be carried out in its maritime area, with the aim of having a capacity for 600-800 boats, up to 125 meters in size. What will differentiate it from other marinas, said Mr. Alexandrou, is that it will be able to offer, in cooperation with the port, docking services for some of the largest pleasure boats in the world. The projects will be completed in four phases and will last twelve years.
President Anastasiades spoke about a project which will contribute to the progress not only of Larnaca but of the whole of Cyprus. As he noted "the most important thing is that, in addition to the creation of more than four thousand new jobs and the upgraded identity that will be given to our tourism product, the additional, beyond the investments, estimated benefits for the economy, are estimated to exceed 120 million euros per year, during the period of full development".
He also indicated that this project comes to be added to development projects of 141 million euros, only for the Municipality of Larnaca, which have been completed or are in the process of implementation from 2015 onwards. Among other things, he mentioned the construction of a new wing at the Larnaca Hospital, the granting of the buildings of the old Hospital to house the Municipal Hall of the city, the relocation of the petroleum facilities and the total reformation of the urban center.He also indicated that this project comes to be added to development projects of 141 million euros, only for the Municipality of Larnaca, which have been completed or are in the process of implementation from 2015 onwards. Among other things, he mentioned the construction of a new wing at the Larnaca Hospital, the granting of the buildings of the old Hospital to house the Municipal Hall of the city, the relocation of the petroleum facilities and the total reformation of the urban center.
"This significant development impulse of recent years is due to the close cooperation between the executive power and local government, due to the close cooperation between an inspired mayor, but also a very capable municipal council who helped, so that we were allowed, by financing them, for projects to be carried out which for decades were either unclaimed, or due to weakness on the part of the central government and possibly local authorities, can be combined to offer what we owe to the citizens".
On his part, the mayor of Larnaca, Andreas Vyras, expressing his gratitude to the President of Cyprus, the Minister of Transport and the consortium, underlined that in combination with the movement of liquid fuels and the movement of gas from the Larnaca seafront, the city is on a growth trajectory.
During the event, Nikos Anastasiadis honored the general director of the Ministry of Transport, Stavros Michael, who is retired and had a decisive contribution both to the implementation of the project of the unified development of the port and the marina, as well as to many other Cyprus-wide projects.
Yiannis Karousos spoke of a gap that cannot be filled, with him, clearly moved, stating that he did everything he could for those who paid him, who were the citizens of Cyprus. "Civil servants must not forget that we are at the service of the people," said Mr. Michael.
