Apostolos Tomaras
The Paphos–Polis Chrysochous road is heading for a place in Cyprus’ archives of construction projects that were never completed. Just as the assessment of two bids was expected to conclude, the Public Works Department canceled the tender process.
According to reliable information obtained by Kathimerini, the two construction groups interested in taking over and completing the half-finished road were informed in a brief letter that the entire process had been canceled.
It is the worst-case scenario, cementing the uncertainty surrounding the project since the dismissal of its original contractor, Greece’s Intrakat.
The cancellation bears out Kathimerini’s earlier reporting that all available evidence pointed to the road being shelved indefinitely.
The two bidders were CYFIELD CONSTRUCTION LTD and the ARACO CONSTRUCTION CY LTD & GEOSTROY AD joint venture.
The local community
The decision to cancel the tender process is expected to provoke a backlash in Paphos. Long before this latest development, local representatives were already demanding accountability.
Droushia Deputy Mayor Sotiris Koupparis had warned that the Public Works Department’s plan to appoint a new contractor would come to nothing, calling for an investigation into who was responsible for the situation.
“Those responsible must be held accountable for the additional €50 million taxpayers will have to pay. As I see it, the project will not go ahead. They will do nothing.”
Koupparis had urged the government to make a political decision to get construction moving again, initially completing a two-lane road to meet the district’s basic needs.
On ice
With the Public Works Department’s next steps unknown, Koupparis remains skeptical about its ability to deliver the project.
Speaking to Kathimerini, he questioned how the department could design and build something as complex as a high-speed road when, in his own area, it had failed to design and construct a 300-meter road in the industrial zone.
Koupparis said an investigation should run alongside the resumption of construction.
The road’s history
After years of public debate over the need for a modern road link in western Cyprus, the government of Nicos Anastasiades awarded the project to Greece’s Intrakat through a tender process during his second term.
The road was never completed, and the current government terminated the contract in 2024.
It took two years to launch a new tender process, which attracted two bids: €124,850,000 from CYFIELD CONSTRUCTION LTD and €128,935,480 from the ARACO CONSTRUCTION CY LTD & GEOSTROY AD joint venture, both excluding VAT.
The bids were approximately €30 million higher than the original.
According to Kathimerini’s reporting, the bids were being assessed, with the evaluation expected to conclude in about a month.
Instead of being invited to negotiate so the Public Works Department could secure a better price, the two bidders simply received a letter informing them that the process had been canceled.
Local representatives had warned that such a decision would effectively kill off the project. Construction companies, meanwhile, had cautioned that putting it out to tender yet again would drive costs even higher.
