THE Cyprus Scientific and Technical Chamber (????) has urged the government to demolish illegally constructed buildings that will not be granted relief under the proposed town planning amnesty. This will serve as a penalty for those who have broken the law and as a warning to those who may consider breaking the law in the future.
Speaking on behalf of ETEK in front of the House Committee on Internal Affairs, Costantinos Constantis, referred to recent actions taken by the Spanish government, which send a clear message to law breakers. The Spanish the town planning amnesty is not open-ended and, in future, town planning laws will be rigorously enforced without exception.
ETEK also proposed the creation of a ‘black list’ of property developers who:
- Sell apartments off-plan without first having secured the necessary permissions and who then make false claims regarding completion and withhold Title Deeds;
- Having been refused a loan, remortgage property for which no Title Deed has been issued in order to fund the development of their next illegal project.
Mr Constantis drew the Committees attention to the fact that various companies were destroying Cyprus’ international reputation. He said that the authorities should reject applications made land developers who were known to have broken the law.
Mr Constantis report, which was made in an earlier debate on the proposed planning amnesty bill, provoked a response from the property developers’ representative, Mr Leptos. He blamed the delay in issuing Title Deeds and Certificates of Final Approval on public sector bureaucracy and on buyers who make changes to their properties illegally, such as constructing BBQs and enclosing balconies. It also claimed that some of the provisions in the proposed legislation being proposed will lead to stagnation in the construction industry.
About ETEK
The Cyprus Scientific and Technical Chamber (????) is the statutory Technical Advisor to the State and is the umbrella organisation for all Cypriot Engineers.