LEFKOSA - Mayor of Lefkosa`s Turkish Cypriot Side Cemal Bulutoglulari and Mayor of Greek Cypriot side Eleni Mavru met Monday in the buffer zone and discussed issues regarding the opening of the Lokmaci Gate.
The two mayors said they would work out technical details in order to safely open the gate for use of pedestrians, in five days. They briefed the press over the issue after the meeting.
Mavru said the buildings in the area should be renovated for the safety of the pedestrians who would use it. He said the leaders of the two sides would decide when the gate would be opened.
On the other hand, Bulutoglulari said they reached an agreement over the technical details and said the renovation in the area would be carried out under a project which was awarded in Malaysia.
Meanwhile Jose Diaz, Spokesman of the United Nations Peace Keeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) released a statement on the issue and said the renovation process in the Lokmaci border-gate for the safe passage of pedestrians would start shortly.
Diaz said the process would be carried out in three phases. He said in the first two phases the area would be cleared of mines and explosives and the old buildings in the area (likely to collapse) would be fortified. He said these phases would take around 10 to 15 days.
Diaz noted that in the third phase the buildings in the area would be renovated.
(OZG-SOL)