By Bejay Browne
A stricken Tala development located just above a busy road in Paphos is sliding down a hillside faster than ever following this winter’s heavy rainfall.
Residents and local officials are concerned that the buildings could come crashing down onto the road below – the main access road in and out of Kamares village – causing injury or even death.
“In the last two weeks there are dramatic, visible changes in the buildings and the road surface,” Kamares resident Irina Yakimovitch told the Paphos Post.
“A 60cm crack is now apparent between the development and a wall, two of the buildings are massively tilted and the road has huge ripples in it. There are two cracks in the road, one is about 15 cm wide. There is a huge wave in the road creating humps, this means that the building is moving fast.”
The development, which consists of 14 units – four apartments, two villas and eight townhouses, (the latter still a concrete skeleton) – is the subject of a legal wrangle with the developers and the Paphos District Office (PDO).
The developers have already provided alternative properties (of equal value) to the owners and will meet with local residents to discuss the situation.
The developers have said that they would never have gone ahead with construction if they had been aware that the land was ‘problematic’ to build on.
All of the necessary permits and licenses were issued for the project prior to construction.
All residents and owners were forced to leave after authorities deemed the properties unfit for habitation.
“We are monitoring the situation closely. There is no direct risk to public safety at the moment, but there is a later risk. This is the opinion of our civil engineers and others,” Lambrou told the Paphos Post.
She said that the PDO civil engineer, and a private civil engineer are carrying out studies of the development, which will be examined by a committee of three civil engineers in the coming days. They will oversee any additional safety measures.
Local Tala councillor Cathi Delaney has written to Lambrou to raise concerns about the condition of the buildings and the effect on the road.
“There are assurances from the District Office engineers and other officials that if the building is going to slip there will be drastic changes before any slippage occurs. If the building reaches this stage, the road in front will be closed and traffic diverted,” she said.
Delaney added that the PDO said that the estimated demolition/site clearance costs are in the region of €250,000/€300,000.
“There is regular monitoring of the property and everyone is concerned that the wet winter has taken its toll on the property,” she said. “The deterioration is obvious.”
Kamares resident Rowena Moore has lived in the area for 25 years and drives past the crumbling development daily. She said changes to the buildings and road in the past couple of weeks have been swift.
“It concerns me what is happening under the road. The splits in the buildings are getting wider and the entire project could end up crumbling onto the road. Sooner or later someone will end up injured or worse. If there was an earth tremor, it could all come tumbling down.”
