An Akaki property owner has built a house on land slated for expropriation by the state for a new road, it was reported on Friday.

Head of the public works department Lefteris Eleftheriou confirmed the claim after it was reported by West Nicosia News.

A building permit had been authorised for a recent property buyer on a section of land set aside for the Akaki-Peristerona-Astromeritis road, Eleftheriou told the CyBC.

The situation is unacceptable the official said, and the public works department had never been consulted about the permit, despite it being known that the plot could not be sold as it was to be expropriated.

The public works department will now examine the specifics and attempt to find a solution, with the goal of allowing the buyer to keep his home.

The house is almost finished with its owner claiming he received the building permit in 2023.

In a letter dating to June 2024 the public works department reportedly brought the matter to the attention of the transport ministry, the district administration, and the head of the planning department, stating that the plot was on the exact spot where a road junction was to have been built.

The public works department bears no share of the responsibility as it had duly communicated all relevant information to the relevant agencies, Eleftheriou said.

The planning department and the Nicosia EOA are thus left responsible for the misfire.