Development and improvement of Kyrenia Old Harbour will begin in December, Tourism Minister Ünal Üstel has said.
Stating that they have been working on Kyrenia harbour for four months and yet people hesitate to visit this place. The ministry is now working to return the harbour to its original state.
The minister said, “I do not want to criticise, but why did we make such a valuable place so worthless?” This situation should be questioned, he said.
Plans for restoring the old harbour were presented at the Savoy Hotel on Thursday. Minister Üstel said that by “April 2020, Kyrenia harbour will become the centre of attraction”.
Explaining that there will be a new lighting and sewage system installed in consultation with Kyrenia Municipality, the Ministry of Transport and KIB-TEK. Minister Üstel said that all the restaurant umbrellas would be uniform. Boats would be moved away from the harbour to improve the sea view and that everyone needed to make a sacrifice. But at the end of the day, everyone would benefit. However, this brought criticism from restaurant and boat owners.
They said that the proposed changes were not practical. Moving boats away from the safest mooring spots in the harbour would endanger their vessels. The boats would be exposed to waves by the sea wall and also leave very little room to manoeuvre.
However, the minister said that he had visited many harbours in the Mediterranean and had seen nothing quite like Kyrenia harbour. He pointed that the old harbour was a very valuable asset to the country and its improvement would bring more business to local shops. He also said that not many people approved of the current sea view at the moment.
Üstel went on to say that new mooring fees would be introduced and he was determined to implement the Ancient Harbor Regulation. The minister repeated the warning that owners who still have harbour fees outstanding will have their fishing boats, yachts and other vessels seized and handed over to the State Real Estate Materials Department.
The tourism minister said that Kyrenia harbour had been neglected for many years and buildings had not been maintained. A supervisory board will be set up for Kyrenia harbour to oversee any work to carried out.
Denizhaber.net. Cyprus Today
