AKEL has reacted strongly to the Ministry of Justice’s decision to locate the new Central Prison building in the Agios Sozomenos area. In a written statement, the party refers to an “unorthodox approach to implementing such an important project for the country.”
READ ALSO: Backlash over the new prisons in Agios Sozomenos: The municipalities of South Nicosia-Idali and Latsia-Gerio denounce the bypass
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Read the statement:
AKEL has, from the outset, supported the need to build new, modern Central Prisons. Nevertheless, we are observing the Christodoulides government taking an unorthodox approach to implementing a project of such importance for the country.
The Ministry of Justice, which is responsible for this matter, cannot decide on the location of such a large-scale project without documentation, without studies, and without any consultation with local government authorities. It is clear from the reactions of local authorities, as well as local communities, that no contact was made with them. First it was Mathiatis, now it is Agios Sozomenos in the Municipality of South Nicosia–Idali, and later it may be somewhere else.
Local government cannot be sidelined in this manner, especially in the midst of a reform process that the central government must actively support rather than undermine.
The AKEL Nicosia–Kyrenia branch calls on the government and the relevant minister to reach a new decision only after first conducting the necessary studies, secure the required scientific documentation, and consult with local government authorities and the local community.
