Eleni Xenou
For a politician to do their job well, they must be able to understand the human experience. And through that understanding, they must make it their priority to make life more humane. Or, to put it more plainly, a politician without the empathy to grasp the impact of their actions on a citizen’s psychology remains fundamentally inadequate in the exercise of politics.
Why this preamble? Because for some time now, the traffic problem in Nicosia has grown monstrous. Simultaneous roadworks at multiple points, without even temporary alternative routes being offered, have turned daily life for the hapless residents of this city into an exhausting battle with their own patience and mental health. As if modern life weren’t already a relentless and ultimately futile race against time, the state, with the Ministry of Transport and whoever else claims or shirks responsibility, has now managed to trap people in endless traffic jams, with a cascade of side effects on their already fragile psyche.
And this is not something that can be smoothed over or forgiven with superficial excuses. Because if the responsible authorities cannot grasp what it means to make people’s everyday lives unbearable without offering an alternative, then the problem runs much deeper. When you can’t even be bothered to show that you have a plan, a plan that ensures both the completion of the projects and the minimal disruption to citizens’ already suffocating commutes, then there’s only one conclusion to draw about your way of governing: that you simply do not care. You don’t care to find ways to make people’s lives easier; you believe they must stoically and silently endure whatever projects “must” take place, as though the thousand other problems they face, the result of chronic political inadequacy and the vast gulf between politics and empathy, were not already enough.
After the ten-year ordeal of waiting for Eleftheria Square to be completed, with all the traffic chaos that accompanied its construction, the long-suffering resident of this city must now endure the simultaneous closure of major arteries that overload the remaining streets in the center, resulting in a magnificent, full-blown traffic gridlock with no way out. In simpler terms, citizens are now forced to spend the greater part of their day stuck in their cars, blocked from every direction.
And why this condition should be tolerated and accepted is a fundamental question the responsible minister owes us an immediate answer to. Makariou is closed, Konstantinou Palaiologou is closed, works are underway on Digeni Akrita, works on Evagorou, and the closure of these roads, combined with lane reductions elsewhere, has turned Stasinou into a nightmare, as well as the already failed Kallipoleos.
The Nicosia Municipality claims it had been sounding the alarm for months, warning that this day of absolute traffic chaos was coming, sending, as Mr. Fakas stated, a clear message that traffic measures in the city center needed to be re-evaluated.
They even made proposals to the ministry, but instead of being heard, these were “swept under the rug.” Why were they swept under the rug? Why weren’t the traffic measures re-evaluated? Why didn’t the municipality and the Ministry of Transport meet jointly to find better alternatives until the works are completed? Why isn’t the municipality pressing the ministry harder? And why does the ministry remain unmoved by the unacceptable suffering it inflicts daily on citizens? Is anyone ready to answer or will our cries keep falling on deaf ears?
