 | Ledra street crossing opens in Cyprus 03-04-2008 Ledra Steet, once one of the most important shopping street of Nicosia's
historic city centre, has been reopened today. The street has long been a symbol
of the decades-old conflict between Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots and
their divided capital.
At the moment the street is not open to traffic or pedestrians yet. "We need
about a week to open a crossing and bar anything unforeseen. We expect this to
happen towards the end of next week," Nicosia Mayor Eleni Mavrou announced. "In
the first phase, we need to shore up the buildings, improve the road surface,
provide electricity and a health and safety check is also needed."
Nicosia Municipality officials, from both sides, yesterday surveyed the area
in no man's land to examine the stability of dilapidated buildings that
have remained untouched since 1974.
Both sides and the United Nations are hopeful that the necessary technical
work can be done to ensure a Ledra Crossing opens by next weekend.
It will take an estimated five-working days for the authorities to put up
scaffolding to shore-up several unsafe buildings and construct a passageway.
Eleni Mavrou and her Turkish Cypriot counterpart had a joint lunch together
this week to confirm their commitment to opening the full length of Ledra.
Source:
The
Cyprus Weekly
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