Tender cancellation for Paphos-Polis road project draws criticism

The government of Cyprus has officially cancelled the tender process for the Paphos-Polis road project, sparking sharp criticism from the opposition party, DISY. Yiannis Karousos, the Vice President of DISY and former Minister of Transport, condemned the administration for failing to manage the project effectively, labeling the cancellation a major systemic failure.

Karousos stated that it took the government six months to realize that the submitted bids significantly exceeded the established project budget. He argued that the administration had been warned about this budgetary discrepancy by interested economic entities beforehand but failed to take timely action. According to the opposition, terminating prior contracts for large-scale projects without a viable 'next-day' plan has led to unnecessary delays, wasted time, and the risk of further cost escalations. The DISY official has demanded that the government accept responsibility for these setbacks and immediately present a concrete timeline for restarting the project.

Currently, there is no official statement from the government regarding a new project schedule or specific measures to rectify the situation. The cancellation remains a point of contention, with the opposition emphasizing that the lack of planning has stalled a critical transport link for the region.