A crossing at symbolic Ledra Street could be open for foot traffic as early next week.

©Petros Karadjias - AP

A Cypriot soldier stands guard by a temporary bulkhead at a Cypriot outpost next to the UN buffer zone (Green Line) that divides the Greek and Turkish Cypriot controlled areas in Ledras main street in divided Nicosia, Cyprus.

"We need about a week to open a crossing, barring anything unforeseen, we expect this happen towards the end of next week," said Nicosia Mayor Eleni Mavrou yesterday.

"In the first phase, we need to shore up the buildings, improve the road surface, provide electricity and a health and safety check is also needed."

Nicosia Municipality officials, from both sides, yesterday surveyed the area in no man's land to examine the stability of dilapidated buildings that remain untouched since 1974.

Both sides and the United Nations are hopeful that the necessary technical work can be done to ensure a Ledra Crossing opens by next weekend.

It will take an estimated five-working days for the authorities to put up scaffolding to shore-up several unsafe buildings and construct a passageway.

Significant

The heavy equipment will move in today, in what is essentially a significant bi-communal effort to restore trust, as well as buildings.

The Mayor confirmed that Turkish troops would not patrol the immediate vicinity and said they have "already withdrawn from the area".

A UN explosives team on Wednesday completed a sweep of the buffer zone cutting through the landmark street in old Nicosia, to secure a crossing in the capital that highlighted Cyprus' division.

"We are pleased to announce that a safety check at the proposed Ledra Street crossing area was completed during which no dangerous items were found," said UN spokesman Jose Diaz.

"On our part, the area is now safe and the authorities can go in and shore up the buildings."

A six-member team had gone in to check for unexploded ordinance or booby traps rather than landmines in the buffer zone.

If all goes according to plan, the crossing point in Ledra Street, inside the old city's 600-year-old Venetian walls, could be open in the "first few days of April", said Diaz.

Lunch meeting

It would be the sixth such crossing point opened between the two sides along the island's 180km ceasefire line.

Mavrou and her Turkish Cypriot counterpart had a joint lunch together this week to confirm their joint commitment to opening the full length of Ledra.

"The buildings in the area are in bad shape, most of them are derelict. Our technical teams have a five-day scenario. It's better to be safe than sorry."

Turkish Cypriot Mayor Jemal Metin Bulutoglulari was also upbeat and talking from the same phrase book.

"We start helping each other and we will finish at the beginning of next month.

"On both sides shop owners in the area have started cleaning up and restoring their shops. They are excited...I hope we can open this crossing to help the economy of both sides."

In a breakthrough meeting last week, President Demetris Christofias and Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat agreed that Ledra Street "will as soon as technically possible open and function in accordance with the established practices at other crossings".

Christofias and Talat also agreed to start formal negotiations in three months to seek an end to the island's 34-year-old division.

Opening a street that has been blocked-off for decades is seen as a much-needed confidence-building measure that would underpin the peace efforts, which largely stalled under ousted President Tassos Papadopoulos.

The international community has also welcomed the move as a sign of progress on Cyprus after the failure of the 2004 Annan Plan.

On Monday, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said the decision to open Ledra was a "positive step forward".

With the area cleared of any unexploded ordinance, the dilapidated buildings that lie within the no-man's land separating each side of Nicosia, needs to be shored up until restoration work can be undertaken.

Although restoration will take several months to complete, work will proceed without the need for the crossing to close.

Ledra Street has been a symbol of the decades-old conflict between Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots, with Christofias calling it the heart of Nicosia, the world's last divided capital.

Prepared

At their closest point at Ledra, the two sides are only some 60 metres apart.

Last year, the government tore down its side of the concrete barrier on the pedestrian street. Turkish Cypriot authorities demolished their side in 2005 but political wrangling prevented a crossing point being established until now.

Turkish Cypriot 'prime minister' Ferdi Sabit Soyer dismissed claims that the Turkish army had prevented the UN going in earlier to check Ledra Street. He said the "wall of tears" would open in the same way the other crossings were prepared.

The EU is funding the necessary preparation to make a Ledra Street crossing fit for purpose.