IT HAS emerged that the EU has placed the Title Deed fiasco at the top of its agenda for high-level discussions between Cyprus government ministers and senior ranking EU officials scheduled for 10th July.
News of this development came at a meeting between Cyprus Interior Minister Eleni Mavrou and Pegeia Council.
During this meeting, Ms Mavrou brought up the Title Deeds issue in connection with the Leptos Harbour Shore Estate development in Coral Bay. Those who bought property on the estate have been waiting for Certificates of Final Completion and Division Permit for more than 40 years. (Obtaining a Certificate of Final Completion is a necessary stage in the process of issuing Title Deeds).
Ms Mavrou raised her voice and started shouting at the Mayor saying that they must issue Certificates of Final Completion immediately as Pegeia was holding hundreds of buyers to hostage during its long-standing battle with Leptos over development of the beach area.
The reason for her strong approach is that a high-level meeting is scheduled to be held on 10th July between senior ranking EU officials and Cyprus government ministers. Ms Mavrou referred to the hundreds of complaints received by the EU about the problem and how the EU had placed the Title Deed fiasco at the top of its agenda for these forthcoming discussions and how Cyprus was being ridiculed.
Pegeia municipal councillor Linda Leblanc who attended the meeting said “We’ve waited a long time for something big to break on this and I think the timing of the EU Presidency couldn’t be better!”
The Cyprus Title Deed fiasco
AT the present time, estimates put the number of properties in Cyprus without Title Deeds at 130,000.
This unacceptable state of affairs means that those who have acquired these properties are being denied one of their fundamental human rights as defined in Article 23 of the Constitution of Cyprus – the right to “own, possess, enjoy or dispose of any movable or immovable property”.
Furthermore, the government coffers would benefit to the tune of more than €1 billion if all those Title Deeds were issued and ownership of those 130,000 properties were transferred to those who acquired them.