Serious coastal erosion along the Voroklini seafront near the Radisson Beach hotel is causing safety problems, ground subsidence and aesthetic damage, with local officials calling for immediate action and describing the issue as a problem of national scale.
The Deputy Mayor of Voroklini, Neophytos Facondis, and the Director of Technical Services of Larnaca Municipality, Neoyphtoula Angelidou, spoke about the situation, outlining the extent of the erosion, its likely causes and the steps taken so far.
Erosion along entire promenade
Angelidou said there are erosion problems and coastal retreat in the area, adding that the municipality has been in contact with the Public Works Department since mid-last year. A series of works have been completed, including the addition of breakwaters and the removal of a vertical jetty near the Lebay hotel.
She said the phenomena observed had been particularly alarming, and that the municipality had been in contact with the Public Works Department since September 2025 to examine possible solutions.
Angelidou noted that when the promenade was constructed, the width of the beach was taken into account, which is why the Planning Department decided that the relevant section would be built on a foundation rather than piling.
However, she said, the erosion is appearing along the entire length of the promenade regardless of the construction method used. “The erosion phenomenon appears along the entire length of the promenade, whether we have piling or foundation, and it is something that concerns us greatly because it is very intense, especially following the removal of the vertical jetty,” she said.
She described it as a “complicated issue,” saying the municipality has brought in two consultants, but that the main advisers remain the Public Works Department. “We are waiting to see how we will address the situation,” she added.
Outdated study and missed update
Asked what had gone wrong despite studies and works costing millions of euros having been carried out in the area, Facondis pointed to a study conducted by the National Technical University of Athens in 2010, with a minor update in 2012. He said that when breakwater construction began some ten years later, the Public Works Department should have contacted the university to update the study based on the data available at that time. “Unfortunately that did not happen,” he added.
On the cost of the works, Facondis said the earlier breakwaters, built before the university study, were funded with Voroklini covering 50% of the cost. For the current breakwaters, an EU grant covers 50% and the state 25%, leaving Voroklini responsible for the remaining 25%. “The breakwaters cost approximately four million euros, and Voroklini therefore pays 100,000 euros per year until the one million euros corresponding to its 25% share of the total cost is repaid,” he said.
Safety measures and call for action
Angelidou said Larnaca Municipality has put safety measures in place for the public, though some citizens do not comply, requiring frequent monitoring of the area. “This is not the image we want for a seafront that is in use all year round. We are calling on the authorities to take immediate measures,” she said.
She described coastal erosion as a “national problem,” stressing that it is not local in nature and that appropriate solutions must be found in time. “At this moment in the area we have recorded safety problems, aesthetic damage and ground subsidence,” she said.
Angelidou called for cooperation with the relevant departments and ministries to find the right solutions. “We need to identify where this problem originated and then look for solutions,” she said, warning that without doing so, resources would be wasted without providing meaningful answers.
(information from CNA)
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