Bringing Down Barriers To Peace: Opening Of New Crossing

 

Background

The Overall Objective of the project is to support the reconciliation process and to increase the trust between the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot communities through the implementation of confidence building measures agreed by the Technical Committee on Crossings.

In particular the project will focus on the designs and works for the upgrade & improvement of the road section in Lefka/Lefke – Apliki/Aplic and Derineia/Derinya to facilitate the opening of new future crossings.

The Technical Committee on Crossings

The 21 March 2008 agreement reached between Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots paved the way, among other, for the establishment of the Technical Committee on Crossings and has given an important mandate to discuss and facilitate the opening of crossings to increase & improve communications between the two communities.

The Technical Committee on Crossings is an important tool for building confidence between the Turkish Cypriots and the Greek Cypriots and aims to provide a mutually acceptable mechanism for the implementation of opening of crossings.

UNDP has been requested by the UN Good Offices Mission to attend the Technical Committee on Crossings’ meetings since June 2015 after the declaration by the two leaders for the opening of two new crossings.During this first phases, UNDP has also made several bilateral meetings with the relevant authorities of the Turkish Cypriot community and the representatives of the European Commission (EC) in Cyprus.

Lefka/Lefke – Apliki/Aplic and Derineia/Derinya will be respectively the fourth and fifth crossing that UNDP has helped to open in Cyprus. (The other three are Zodeia/Bostancı, Ledra/Lokmacı and Limnitis/Yeşilırmak - all fully funded by the EU).

Like in the past, UNDP has a coordinator and facilitator role and acts as the “Employer”  for the designs and for the works closely supervising the implementation of works outside and within the UN-controlled buffer zone. UNDP is only responsible for the implementation of road upgrading works.

Results

Following the announcement by the leaders on 28 May 2015, UNFICYP supported the work of the Technical Committee on Crossings on the opening of the Lefka-Aplici/Lefke-Aplıç and Deryneia/Derynia crossings. Agreement was reached in the Committee on Routes, Technical Specifications and Modalities on project implementation for both crossing points.

The European Union, for its part, amended its Green Line regulation to add Lefka-Aplici/Lefke-Aplıç and Deryneia/Derynia to the list of official crossing points and, on 17 November, its member States unanimously approved the allocation of 2 million euros through the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) for both crossings, to be drawn from the aid package for the Turkish Cypriot community.

A Cambodian demining team carried out mine clearance in support of the opening of crossings at Lefka-Aplici/Lefke-Aplıç and Deryneia/Derynia from 28 September to 26 November 2015. A technical survey at Deryneia/Derynia resulted in the western portion of the United Nations recorded minefield being assessed as posing no threat, thus enabling the Technical Committee on Crossings to proceed with plans to establish a crossing at that location. At Lefka-Aplici/Lefke-Aplıç, five dangerous areas totalling 1,815 m2 were cleared around the crossing site. Thirty-one anti-tank mines and one trip flare were found and destroyed.

With both crossing sites declared mine-free, surveys and designs were commissioned by UNDP and carried out between February and May 2016.

Lefka-Apliki/Lefke-Apliç - northern section
The overall length of the road to be improved was 980 meters. The road footprint includes 7.0 meters for the road pavement and 2.0 meters for road shoulders on both sides (1.0 m on each side). Ditches were constructed where required on both sides of the road for rain water conveyance. Typical cross-section of the road included: 30 cm of sub-base, 20 cm of base (plant mix material), 7 cm of binder course and 5 cm of wearing course. Retaining and gabion walls have been constructed at locations identified on the project. Box culverts have been constructed at locations indicated in order to facilitate flow of water in the low areas and valleys. Road signs and road markings were placed for traffic management and safety. Guardrails were installed where necessary along the road. Pipes were placed at intervals along the road for future use of utilities.

Derineia/Derinya - northern section
The road footprint includes 7.0 m meters for the road pavement and 2.0 meters for road shoulders on both sides (1.0 m on each side). Ditches have been constructed where required on both sides of the road for rain water conveyance. Box culverts were constructed at locations indicated in the drawings in order to facilitate flow of water in the low areas. Road signs and road markings have been placed for traffic management and safety. Pipes and manholes were placed for future use of the utilities.

Buffer Zone sections
The Buffer Zone section of the road extends for 165 meters in Derineia/Derinya and 280m in Lefka-Apliki/Lefke-Apliç. The road footprint in Derineia/Derinya is 9m asphalt with 2 lanes of 3.5m and 1m of shoulders on both sides.  Similar road layout was designed for the Lefka-Apliki/Lefke-Apliç Buffe Zone sections.



Impact

START DATE

December 2015

END DATE

December 2020

STATUS

Completed

PROJECT OFFICE

Cyprus

IMPLEMENTING PARTNER

United Nations Development Programme

DONORS

EUROPEAN COMMISSION

UNITED NATIONS DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME

TOTAL CONTRIBUTIONS

$2,586,239

DELIVERY IN PREVIOUS YEARS

2016$872,365

2017$1,025,073

2018$483,348

2019$3,688

2020$32,337

Full Project information