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In a crumbling apartment building in Larnaca, residents who fled their homes during the 1974 Cyprus conflict live under conditions that make daily life a quiet ordeal of fear and frustration. The aging structure, meant to house families displaced decades ago, has long been promised repairs and an elevator, yet years of pledges have yielded little more than empty assurances.
The human cost of inaction became painfully clear a few months ago when an elderly resident fell on the stairs and has been unable to return to her apartment. She now lives with relatives, leaving behind a home that is physically out of reach.
Other residents, many elderly or with health problems, navigate the building cautiously, mindful of the hazards that lurk in each step. Among them is a young family with four children and a pregnant mother, whose daily movements are punctuated by anxiety. The fear of accidents in the building’s deteriorating corridors is constant.
The building’s plight resurfaced this week on Alpha TV’s Alpha Good Morning, where Nikos Ketteros, chairman of the parliamentary Refugee Committee, addressed the ongoing problem. Funding has been earmarked for repairs, €100,000 for maintenance and €30,000 for an elevator, but efforts to secure contractors have stalled.
Anthi Lakkotrypi, director of the Turkish Cypriot Services Management Office, explained that tenders have been issued twice without interest, though she said a third attempt is planned. Until now, the only significant improvement to the building has been roof insulation, according to AKEL MP reports.
Residents say the waiting is wearing. One said: “All we ask is to be noticed a little as well. It’s a shame. We shouldn’t have to change our identity and paint ourselves a different color just to be seen. The situation here is difficult; there are elderly people.”
He continued: “We also have health problems, thank God. We have four babies. My wife is pregnant. We want to go shopping and we are thinking about bringing things upstairs. They need to see the situation with the elevator and outside as well. Has anyone come to check the state of the apartment building?”
The plea is simple: ensure access and guarantee safety for the refugees from 1974 who still call this building home. For those inside, every day without an elevator is a reminder that promises alone cannot carry the weight of human need.
With information from 24news.
