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Nearly three decades after land was reserved for a new school in Lakatamia, the property remains untouched, prompting fierce criticism from lawmakers who say the state has violated landowners' rights and failed to act transparently.
The Parliamentary Audit Committee, meeting Thursday, reviewed longstanding complaints from landowners whose properties have been under state reservation since 1996 for the construction of a primary school and kindergarten. Despite this, the land has neither been expropriated nor developed, while neighboring plots, allegedly owned by "prominent individuals", have been released from reservation.
Committee Chair Zacharias Koulias, of the DIKO party, called the state’s handling of the matter unconstitutional. “The State, through various tricks and manipulations, has illegally withheld their property to this day without paying them a single cent,” Koulias said, accusing the Ministry of Education and Town Planning Department of “significant arbitrariness.”
Koulias pledged legislative changes to protect private property and ensure landowners are compensated when their land is earmarked for public use. A Ministry of Education official informed the committee a proposal to construct the long-delayed school would soon be submitted for approval.
AKEL MP Irene Charalambidou echoed concerns of corruption and unequal treatment. She cited past testimony indicating that adjacent land was released because it belonged to influential individuals. “This land seizure must stop,” she said, adding that the Ombudsman’s Office is currently reviewing eight similar complaints.
DIPA MP Alekos Tryfonides proposed reforms requiring the state to purchase land immediately when it reserves property for public use, and to exempt affected landowners from capital gains tax. He also called for the inclusion of the Lakatamia school in future budgets.
Independent MP Alexandra Attalides said the case reflects deeper issues of corruption and inequality. “When land is reserved but then released only for individuals with positions of influence, corruption becomes an issue,” she said, urging a broader investigation into who approved the release of certain plots.
Landowner Andreas Savva told the committee his property has remained in limbo since 1996, with a formal expropriation announced in 2011 and revoked in 2014. The total reserved area has since shrunk by one-third.
Lawmakers called for swift government action to resolve the issue, citing serious concerns over transparency, justice, and constitutional rights.
