Fotini Tsiridou: Limassol is not receiving its due

The District of Limassol, the engine of the Cypriot Economy and at the same time the second most populous province of Cyprus, is being wronged.

It is being treated unfairly in regards to public/state building and road projects with rates of only 5% and 10%.

The development of Limassol and its current image is largely due to private initiative. Limassol attracts private developments and for years has been a pole of attraction for large and other private business activities, while supplying the industrial and commercial sector throughout Cyprus It is the Maritime center of the country (with a contribution to the GDP of the state over 8%) while it is now becoming the capital of the high - tech industry, a sector that already records high percentages of contribution to the state's GDP reaching 14% with a dynamically rising trend. In all of this, let's take into account the contribution of the Commercial, Industrial and Tourism product of Limassol to the GDP of the island.

Indicative of the great inequality in the distribution of public resources, to the detriment of Limassol, are the large Construction and Road Projects of the State that were foreseen and are being foreseen in both last year's and this year's Budgets, where Limassol compared to its population, size and contribution in the country's GDP, benefits from a disproportionately low percentage of Developments.

For Road projects amounting to almost half a billion euros for the two years 2024 and 2025, in Limassol projects amounting to only €49 million euros. Or in percentage, just 10.1% of the total amount.

And in Construction Projects, for the same two-year period, Limassol is really the 'poor relative'. Of the total of approximately €330 million, Limassol accounts for only 5.6% (€18.4 million) and with only four projects.

A Province with a population of 260,000 and with several thousand other people active in the city, which is the most important commercial hub of the country, the base for thousands of companies, with the most attractive business environment, with the most private initiatives and developments, should be a priority for the State in its broader development planning.

As a Member of Parliament for Limassol I consider it my duty to raise the issue and at the same time I call on the competent State Authorities to take the data seriously so that in future state plans the allocation of funds and by extension the projects will be reviewed.

*Fotini Tsiridou, MP, Democratic Rally (Disy)