Measures will be taken over the next few days for another dangerous building in Larnaca to be evacuated, with authorities also concerned about the social aspect of the process.

Larnaca’s district government organisation (EOA) president Angelos Hadjicharalambous said on Thursday that the 24-flat building was in Faneromeni area in Larnaca would have to be evacuated within three days.

The area around the block of flats, he said, would be fenced off and secured while works were carried out to fix the building.

Hadjicharalambous told the Cyprus News Agency that the letters to the owners were delivered on Wednesday and notices were posted in the building informing the tenants that the building was dangerous.

This was not the first time the owners had been notified of problems with the building. “Ten years ago, the first problems arose and the owners received letters from the previous authority and did nothing,” Hadjicharalambous said.

A decade later, the building has been declared dangerous, he added.

Hadjicharalambous clarified that a building declared dangerous did not necessarily have to be demolished, but works should be done to make it safe again.

He said there were more such buildings and the EOA was assessing the measures that needed to be taken, including evacuations.

“Our first concern is the safety of the people and that is why we took specific measures, after much consideration,” Larnaca’s EOA president said.

He added that the owners were responsible for maintaining and restoring their buildings, and that deciding to evacuate a building meant that it was in pretty bad shape.

A problem the authorities often run into, he said, was that in many cases some of the owners were abroad and the responsibilities of administrative committees would eventually be passed on to the EOA.

The evacuees of the specific building would be put up in hotels, however Hadjicharalambous said “we must collectively address this social problem that will be created”.