Shop owners decry ‘artificial death’ of Makarios Avenue

The joint platform of shopkeepers on Makarios Avenue on Friday claimed that any reduction in vehicles in the wider centre of Nicosia was a result of the “artificial death” of the area caused by “bad decisions” by the authorities. The remarks come after Nicosia mayor Charalambos Prountzos had last week confirmed the transport ministry’s stance that any alteration to Makarios Avenue must first ensure there was no risk of funding being reclaimed by the European Commission, which co-financed the scheme. Responding to Prountzos’ remarks, the group highlighted the European Commission’s mechanism for controlling and imposing financial corrections in the event of a deviation from the agreed sustainability conditions in co-financed urban infrastructure projects. According to the group, this process does not involve arbitrary or direct sanctions, but instead follows a formalised procedure that ensures the proper management of European funds and that member states are given a voice. The group reaffirmed that in the case of Nicosia, the argument for the controlled vehicle access directly reflected the views of residents, shopkeepers and small businesses, who are calling for transport links to the centre to be restored. “The total ban on vehicles led to the area’s isolation from traffic. Instead of the project serving to unify the historic commercial heart and the modern commercial triangle, it ultimately resulted in the fragmentation of the capital’s city centre,” the group said, adding that this had caused financial hardship for shops in the neighbourhood, causing a “dramatic reduction” in their turnover. The group further argued that the closing of the road did not deliver the intended environmental benefits but instead led traffic to be diverted to alternative routes, resulting in what it described as an “artificial death” of the wider city centre. “It is indisputable that the fall in traffic is a direct consequence of the decline in visitor numbers, the resident population and employment, as well as the decline in commercial and business activity,” it said. Additionally, the group stressed that despite the area being reopened to traffic, the regeneration project’s key infrastructure elements, including wider pavements and more trees, remained intact, essentially delivering the architectural upgrade for which it was funded. The group disputed Prountzos’ claim that 70 shops in the neighbourhood were occupied arguing the real figure was just 42 – a total that included two banks and two construction sites for high-rise developments. They also challenged his count of 36 vacant shops, putting the actual number at 48 including the empty units on Makarios Avenue. By their calculation, this meant that two out of every three shops in the area now stood vacant. Prountzos had told the Cyprus Mail that of 106 ground floor premises recorded along the avenue, 70 remained occupied, 36 were vacant and only 16 of those vacant properties were currently on the market for rent. The shopkeepers refuted the mayor’s claims that excessively high rents were to blame for the empty shops, emphasising that rents in shopping centres were incomparably higher. According to the group, premises available to rent on Makarios Avenue cost less than €10 per square metre, while the overall average did not exceed €30. “Reopening Makarios Avenue is the key to ending the peculiar transport gridlock affecting the entire historic commercial centre and the pedestrianised area,” the group said. The group further called for the south section of Makarios Avenue to be converted into a two-way road, reversing the decision to make it a one-way street. “The possibility of fully reversing the traffic measures is emerging as the Cypriot side’s ultimate safety net. If the European Commission definitively rejects the city’s arguments and finds a breach, the existing controlled traffic arrangements can be reinstated immediately. By simply re-imposing the ban on private vehicles, the irregularity is deemed to have been fully rectified, a fact which makes the possibility of a permanent loss or withholding of funds extremely remote, if not non-existent,” the group concluded.