THE ISOLATED communities in the Tylliria area west of the island will have much closer access to the capital by August when the Kato Pyrgos-Limnitis road is due to be completed, it was announced yesterday.

Government spokesman Stefanos Stefanou said implementation of the Limnitis agreement was going ahead as planned with the relevant body wrapping up the tenders process for construction work this month.

“If all goes well, works will start early March, depending on which consortium takes on the project,” said Stefanou, adding that all the necessary preparations, including expropriation of land, had been made.

There were two types of tenders, one where the duration of work lasts four months and the other six months. Depending on the cost, the work will be completed in either four or six months, he said.

According to the state broadcaster, three consortiums made up of Greek and Turkish Cypriot companies are bidding for the project to build almost seven kilometres of road in the area, helping to connect disconnected villages to the capital.

It currently takes residents of the Kato Pyrgos area over three hours to get to Nicosia. Opening the Limnitis crossing will cut this down to under an hour.

Work on the project will start after Greek and Turkish Cypriot engineering companies completed a joint venture to provide feasibility studies for the improvement of the Kato Pyrgos-Limnitis road.

The EU-funded project, implemented through the UNDP Partnership for the Future Programme, involves upgrading the road from Kato Pyrgos to Limnitis. This consists of a 2.2km section of road located in the UN-controlled buffer zone and another section of about 4.5km located in the northern part of the island.

The feasibility study focused on the survey, investigation and assessment needed to prepare the road designs and the preparation of the tending documents for the upgrading of the existing two sections of the road.

The UNDP-PFF was unavailable for comment yesterday.