A second incident involving the collapse of part of Nicosia’s venetian walls, in the Arab Ahmet quarter, mobilized the Technical Committee on Cultural Heritage.
Takis Hadjidemetriou, the Greek Cypriot Head of the bicommunal Technical Committee said that engineers are already in the area conducting measurements. Together with UNDP, the Technical Committee already started the procedure to launch calls for tenders for the reconstruction of the walls, he added.
“The project has absolute priority. We are cutting funds from other Technical Committee projects in order to finance the reconstruction” Hadjidemetriou told CNA. According to preliminary estimates, the cost is expected to reach 100 thousand euros, he noted.
The Technical Committee was already planning some limited interventions in parts of the walls that surround the old city of Nicosia and in particular in the Turkish-occupied part of the capital, to remove vegetation and deal with humidity problems.
However, after the two incidents in neighboring parts of the walls, the Technical Committee is moving forward with the tenders and designs to save the walls, Hadjidemetriou concluded.