Seven state infrastructure projects currently underway

The government has decided to prioritise the creation of infrastructure to house state and other services, using state-owned assets to fund the projects.

The Transport, Communication and Works Ministry’s 2023-2024 action plan provides for the construction of buildings to host state and other services as part of a project that started being implemented in 2021 with a total budget of €188.6m. The implementation deadline is December 2027.

Below are seven such projects that are either underway or under evaluation.

Construction of new Cyprus Museum

Construction work on the new Cyprus Museum began in February 2023 at the site where the old Nicosia General Hospital used to be, opposite the House of Representatives. Dubbed as Cyprus’ biggest cultural project – it spans 30,000 sq.m. (including underground) and is being built on a 40,000 sq.m. plot – the museum is expected to be delivered in December 2027.

It will include permanent exhibition spaces spanning 5,500 sq.m. that will host around 6,500 antiquities, 1,000 sq.m. of periodical exhibition areas, educational programme areas, 2,000 sq.m. maintenance workshops, underground parking, 5,000 sq.m. antiquities warehouses, restaurant, cafeteria, library, auditorium, offices, art shop and extensive landscaping of the exterior spaces – including a public square with a fountain. The project is state funded and is estimated to cost €143.9m.

Creation of Press Centre for the Presidency of the EU

The creation of a Press Centre for the Cyprus Presidency of the Council of the EU is currently under evaluation. It will be state funded and is expected to be implemented over the two-year period 2024-2025.

Mental Health Centre

The Mental Health Centre has been under construction since February 2022 and is expected to be delivered in February 2024. The entire project is budgeted at €12.01m and is being funded by the Recovery and Resilience Plan.

The first phase of the project incorporates two clinics for acute cases, one for men and another for women, an addiction unit and outpatient clinics. The project also includes pavements, roads, parking spaces and landscaping.

Department of Lands and Surveys – Central Offices

The new central offices of the Lands and Surveys Department will be in Aglantzia, Nicosia, at the junction between Kyrenias and Glafcos Clerides avenues. The government is currently renting out offices for the department, so the new building is expected to save funds in the long run.

Construction work on the five-floor building began in 2022 and is expected to wrap in August 2024. It is state funded and is being built using the study, construction and 12-year maintenance method.

It spans 12,620 sq. m., including underground parking areas, workshop spaces, offices and an exhibition/museum space.

Cyprus Blood Bank

The Cyprus Blood Bank is being built in the Geri municipality at a location that is easily accessible from all Cyprus districts.

The Cyprus Blood Bank will collect the blood taken from stations island-wide and will process, check, store and distribute it.

The central blood bank will have the capacity to distribute 80,000 blood products (such as red blood cells, platelets and fresh frozen plasma) for clinical use throughout the country.

The ground floor of the building will host a modern blood station with an independent entrance, where people will be able to enter and donate blood in a fast and easy process.

The building, including underground, will span around 3,300 sq.m. Construction work began last January and is expected to be completed in February 2025.

The total estimated cost is €7.8m and it is being funded by the Recovery and Resilience Plan.

New Presidency Administration Building

The new Presidency Administration Building will be built on the Presidential Palace hill in Nicosia, separate from the main building and spanning 1,000 sq.m.

It will house offices and special use storage areas with specialised electromechanical systems.

It will be located south-west of the hill and special care will be taken to ensure it fits in with the surrounding landscape and historic presidential palace building.

Building work started in November 2021 and is expected to be completed in February 2024. Its estimated cost is €2.6m and it is state funded.

Review of the government's housing needs

Meanwhile, the government is in the process of revising the state’s housing needs as well as the specifications under which any new buildings will be built.

This is a strategic decision by the government, and the reason behind the Transport, Communications and Works Ministry’s decision back in September to cancel a tender for the new Law Office building.

In its bid to rationalise its management of public resources and cover the public sector’s housing needs more effectively, the government also decided to postpone the construction of new offices for the Interior and Transport ministries in Archigrammatia.

It is reviewing the cost of another two projects for the same reason – the State Lab and Nicosia District Court – as well as looking into energy upgrades for existing government buildings.

(Source: InBusinessNews)