Transport Minister Marios Demetriades says a Cabinet decision to include funds for the Larnaca port project has been sent to the executive board at the Port Authority, which has to approve the money being included in their budget for the port revitalisation.

“In other words, the Port Authority will pay for it and will get the money back,” said the minister.

The government issued an Expression of Interest on Monday, with a submission deadline in early March.

Last December, approximately €1.3 million in funds earmarked for the development of the Larnaca port and marina was frozen, seemingly accidentally, by the House of Representatives.

During the heat of local election campaign, opposition parties voted down a government bill that would have paved the way to hire privatisation counsellors and experts in the 2017 state budget.

But it turned out nobody was against the money for the Larnaca project and left-wing AKEL even declared it would be ready to vote in favour of the measure if it came again to the floor.

But due to a procedural glitch, the funds for the project could not be put back to a vote immediately after the bill was rejected.

“This is the easiest and most practical way to move things forward,” the minister told state radio on Tuesday.

Source: InCyprus