Tourism and business organisations in Larnaca have appealed directly to President Nikos Christodoulides, demanding his personal intervention to resolve persistent delays to the Larnaca–Dhekelia road project, which they say is causing mounting economic harm to the area.
A project long past its deadline
Work on the road began in September 2022, with an original completion target of 30 months that would have seen it finished by March 2025. Contractors were subsequently granted an extension of more than a year, pushing the revised deadline to the end of April 2026. However, according to the Larnaca tourism board, known as Etap, even that revised schedule is not being met.
Etap described its letter to the president as "a last-ditch effort to address a problem that remains unresolved despite previous assurances and contacts", warning of what it called a prolonged delay with "significant negative consequences for the region and the tourism sector".
The board stated that "the picture presented today in the field is not even consistent with the revised timetable", suggesting further slippage could be expected.
Businesses reporting real consequences
Etap said the impact on the tourist area is "already serious and measurable". Hotels have recorded increased cancellations, and tour operators have grown reluctant to finalise booking agreements, put off by what the board characterised as the damaging image of a prolonged construction site.
The letter, which referenced repeated contacts with the transport ministry and the contractor, concluded that delays "can no longer be considered either reasonable or justified" and called for "immediate and personal" presidential involvement, along with "a clear, binding position regarding the final completion schedule".
Chamber of commerce adds its voice
Nakis Antoniou, president of the Larnaca chamber of commerce (Evel), echoed the concerns, stating that the project "should have been completed and delivered by April of last year" and that despite successive extensions "it is still not finished".
"Neither hoteliers nor other businesses in the area will be able to afford the enormous nuisance," Antoniou said, noting that complaints from customers are on the rise.
He called directly on the contractor to accelerate work, warning that "the current situation cannot continue any longer".
Antoniou also drew a pointed comparison with the recently completed removal of oil and gas storage tanks from the Larnaca seafront — a project widely welcomed as a milestone for the city's regeneration — remarking that public attention had now shifted squarely to the unfinished road, which "was supposed to be completed in a few months".
Pressure mounts ahead of tourism season
The appeal comes at a sensitive moment for Larnaca's tourism industry, with the peak summer season approaching and operators anxious to present the area in its best light. Etap argued that the state "has already granted significant time for the completion of the project, without the corresponding result" and stressed that nothing short of direct intervention from the highest level of government would now suffice.
There has been no immediate response from the presidency or the transport ministry to the organisations' calls.
