People need schools, they need hospitals, they need roads, mayor says, insisting the area can’t remain as a backwater to please urbanites
It’s an early morning mid-week and Polis is springing to life at the leisurely, humane pace which makes the region so appealing for a certain calibre of visitor and resident. No traffic, no parking standoffs, no underlying ‘buzz’ to disturb the peace.
But large-scale developments, in the form of two hotels and an expansion of Latchi harbour, as well as the planned completion of the Paphos to Polis highway likely forewarn the beginning-of-the-end for the town’s laid-back vibe.
Mayor Yiotis Papachristofis breezes into the municipality building, which, aptly, is undergoing a facelift, and takes a seat. “The only way for the whole region to benefit and for the villages to be revitalised is the large-scale development of Polis,” he said.
Papachristofis hails from the sleepy, picturesque village of Pomos but there is nothing sleepy about him. He is a man with purpose, a man on a mission, and a man who does not mince his words.
Since the local government restructuring, the mayor is faced with the unenviable task of heading a diverse cluster of villages absorbed into the greater Polis Chrysochous jurisdiction (a total of 14 communities).
The 62-year-old veteran mayor, who spent an eight-year stint in New York as a restauranteur, was re-elected for a second term in 2023.
“We need investments that create jobs, real jobs with decent pay, jobs that encourage people to stay. We can’t rely on going around picking almonds and carobs and getting tourists to join us. Those days are over,” the mayor said.
Fed up of successive governments’ empty promises and delays, the mayor is intent on the idea that large tourist magnets are what it takes to ensure that Polis and its “satellite” villages do not go extinct.
Determined to usher Polis into the modern era, he has also scoped out landing a higher education institution in the town, he said.
Asked if there is a role for agrotourism, the mayor gave a measured reply.
“There is a role for everything,” but, he added, “not everything is economically viable.” As far as Papachristofis is concerned, the top order of business is to stem the flight of residents to urban centres and overseas.
Like many of his constituents, the mayor holds the view that governments have come up with far too little, far too late when it comes to agrotourism policies or alternative development for Paphos’ rural areas.
“If they [the governments] genuinely wanted to support agrotourism and farmers, they would have given the people the right incentives and we would be reaping the benefits by now,” Papachristofis said.
Instead, Polis is full of shuttered businesses and the surrounding villages lie abandoned and derelict, inhabited by a handful of elderly residents.
Over the years, Papachristofis has remained outspoken and consistent in his controversial pro-development stance.
The mayor went on to disparage those who seek to keep the region “pristine”, a nostalgic notion he said, completely at odds with the realities of those living in the area.
“People need schools, they need hospitals, they need roads. None of these can be sustained by keeping the area a backwater for urbanites to play in two weeks out of the year,” the mayor said.
And while eco-tourism can play a role he is clearly of the belief it can’t be the driver of the region.
“For every job created at a hotel, three to four jobs are created in the community. Why? Because workers need services! Existing services will need boosting, demand will arise for other services, cultural, educational, etc.”
The vital goal is to get people to stay in or return to their communities. Other refinements will follow, Papachristofis said.
“Nothing can be sustained without a minimum level of economic activity and a minimum permanent population size.”
Tourist projects currently underway are two hotels and an expansion of the Latchi harbour.
The first hotel is a luxury unit of four or five storeys (depending on who is speaking) with 85 rooms, able to host 170 guests. According to the mayor, the hotel, owned by a Russian-Greek business interest, is fully licensed for up to four levels, following changes in zoning and the new local development plan.
Reports of an illegal fifth floor are incorrect, as the lower level is a basement, the mayor said, and the only illegality is a coefficient deviation of around 100m².
In the works for the better part of nine years, it was built in 2017 after securing a planning permit but without the requisite construction permit from the municipality. It has stood empty since, after works were halted due to alleged illegalities in the building’s height and original rear façade, which has since been demolished.
An aesthetics, environmental and fire service review of the case is slated for October to assess the extent to which deviations have been rectified, the interior ministry told the Cyprus Mail.
The mayor said there is no question of demolishing the top floor so that permitting can proceed. The hotel’s expected opening date remains unclear, while wrangling over its status has now fallen into the hands of the Paphos self-governance organisation (EOA).
Meanwhile, works are underway at the former Elias Holiday Village (later Zening Eco Resort), bought by Israeli Fattal Group – a company which owns nine hotels on the island. The demolition of the previous resort is complete and Leonardo Club Family Resort, designed to accommodate 500-600 guests on a 60,000m² plot, is to take its place. According to reports it will feature “swim-up” rooms and a water park and will likely be an all-inclusive facility.
It is to open its doors in 2026, according to Papachristofis, although its course has also been a bumpy one, having been reported for building unlicensed constructions which the owners claimed were “models” of buildings to come.
Elsewhere, the Latchi marina is slated to roughly double in size and eventually triple, to support 350 large berths with potential for cruise ships to dock, managed by the Cyprus Ports Authority. Currently, the harbour supports 200 smaller craft.
The success of these projects rests in part on the completion of the Paphos to Polis highway, an endeavour currently 30 per cent complete. A decision is pending on whether to grant the original contractor a requested additional three years, and is expected within the month.
Problems with unsuitable materials and depots had hounded the project. Agreement for continuation is the most likely outcome, according to Papachristofis.
As for an upgraded sewerage system, works on a wastewater treatment plant, likely to be built in Pelathousa, are expected to start by the end of 2025 and be completed by 2027.
Asked whether Polis has adequate water security to pursue a strategy of large-scale tourism, the mayor said water in the municipality was plentiful and the town receives all its drinking water from boreholes.
“Polis will be the last place on the island to ever dry up,” the mayor said, adding that recycled water from the new plant will undergo tertiary treatment and be used for irrigation, with the surplus being used to enrich local aquifers.
