A New Voice for Limassol - Penelope Vasquez Hadjilyra

In the 7th Episode of The Farah Shammas Podcast, we are happy to welcome Penelope Vasquez Hadjilyra.

We dive into her journey from entrepreneurship to public service, discussing leadership, the housing challenges in Limassol, post-fire preparedness, and her vision for a more balanced and sustainable future for Cyprus.

Penelope also shares her perspective as a woman in business and politics, the importance of community, and what meaningful leadership looks like in today’s Cyprus.

As Penelope prepares to run in the 2026 Parliamentary Elections in Limassol with the support of Volt Cyprus, she speaks about the need for unity over division, human-focused solutions for housing, immigration, and the environment, and a political approach built on research, collaboration, transparency, and hard work.
 
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✨Enjoy a conversation about leadership, purpose, and building a Cyprus that works for the next generations always with respect and love. 
 

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:01

In this episode, we welcome Penelope Vasquez Hajilera to discuss her journey into politics, her work as an architect and entrepreneur, and her bold vision for the future of Lima Sol and Cyprus. Welcome to the seventh episode of the Ferris Shamus Podcast.

SPEAKER_02 0:21

Say Penelope, thanks for being here. I want to start off with the human and the personal side. So I know that you'll be promoting a lot the political aspects and your goals, but let's, before the politics, before business, who are you to your core?

SPEAKER_01 0:40

So my name's Penelope Vasquez Hajlira. I'm half Dominican and half Cyprian. I was born in Dominican Republic in 1987. And I was shipped to Cyprus when I was only five years old. So I grew up in Cyprus most of my life. And I've uh I'm I'm a I'm a wife, a partner, and a mother. And I, you know, I have my own architectural practice in Limassol. I mainly work with the restoration of listed buildings. And then I collaborate with the public sector and research institutions into uh strategizing for sustainable development projects. Um so these are a few things that I do. Um but yeah, I grew up in Limassol. Uh I initially I moved to Polemidia. So uh a few years of my life, I I I grew up along uh many refugees from the occupied side of the island. So I got to kind of experience that side. Then at some point I moved to the city center, like at the core of Limasol. Um and I grew up as a as a very strong, independent child. My mother made sure that all you know, I have a family like my mother, my father that he passed away last year, and I've got my sister, my brother, and we all grew up in the city center, very, very independent, very, very strong-willed. And these are tools that my mother gave us in order for us to be able to uh be autonomous, um, as I said, independent and self-confident. So, and this is like something that uh really I share equally with my my brother and my sister, that we have these kind of characteristics.

SPEAKER_02 2:59

And again, why did why did you move to Cyprus? Why did the family move back to Cyprus when you were five?

SPEAKER_01 3:06

Yes, so uh when I moved, I was only five years old. My sister back then, she was 12, entering puberty. Uh, Dominican Republic was not, especially back then in '92, it was not the best conditions, especially for a for a young girl. Um, and I think my mother really uh sensed that she wanted to assure that my sister would grow in a in a safer, let's say, environment.

SPEAKER_02 3:38

How did your your mother was Cypriot? My mom, yes. And how did they meet your parents? So it's quite, I mean, Cypriots marry into a lot of cultures, but Dominican Republic, we don't hear a lot.

SPEAKER_01 3:49

I have to say that my mother, strong woman, you know, for her time to be uh, you know, uh partnering with a crazy Dominican Latino guy, uh bring shipping him all over from that side to this. That was kind of very forward for for her, uh, especially back then in the 90s. In the 90s. So my mother and my father they met in the Soviet Union during their studies. Um, more specifically, they were studying in Odessa, so Ukraine, uh, today Ukraine. Um, they met, they got married, and they decided to move to Dominican Republic for a while. That's where uh my brother and I were born. My sister was actually born in Odessa.

SPEAKER_02 4:38

Oh, really?

SPEAKER_01 4:38

So my sister, she has her birth certificate, is from Odessa, yes. Wow. Uh in in Russian and everything. So um I think, yeah, so I'm guessing it was Russian.

SPEAKER_02 4:52

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 4:52

Using Russian language back then, yeah, that was part of the Soviet Union. Uh, but then we were we moved to the Dominican Republic. That's where my brother and I were born. And then there were efforts from my mom's side to kind of maintain us there for us to grow there. But at some point, uh she she just she needed the, you know, like she needed the assistance from her family. Yeah, she needed a safer environment for especially my sister that was older and she was like entering to this uh sensitive age. Um, and I mean, I think good choice because if I if thinking about it today, the way we've evolved, and comparing maybe to other friends of my sisters in the Dominican Republic, maybe, maybe this is like it was a good choice. Um saying that we still keep in touch, we still visit quite often. And I guess you have family. And we have family. My father, too, until his passing, he used to spend a lot of his time there. He used to spend, of course, a lot of time in Cyprus too. So he would live in both islands. Uh um, because my parents, uh, they actually uh split up when I was 12. Uh, my father, too Dominican to stick in Cyprus, he was he had to, you know, uh go back to the motherland. And but for us, I mean, it was um definitely a difficult period, the the the split. But at the same time, uh, you know, it provides you of this um appreciation that you actually have two homes. Like for me, I I have these two beautiful islands I I belong to, and I like the fact that I have a home here and a home there.

SPEAKER_02 6:51

So yeah, and you and you were exposed to different cultures and traditions and maintaining them. Yeah. So was there a defining moment? I mean, in all of this, that's what I'm getting to, where you said I want to be part of a change.

SPEAKER_01 7:05

So my father, from day one I was born, like he the being part of the change, it was embedded in us. Like he, my father himself, he was into involved in politics, he was part of a party in Dominican Republic. Um, he always spoke about politics and justice, and he was always um uh he he would always talk to us about uh being opinionated, uh having critical thinking, having a critical mindset of not uh receiving information and accepting it uh passively, but really uh make sense of the information and analyzing it, and then coming up with a with a position regarding whatever that that information was. So he would always play game games with us from a very, very young age to always cultivate this critical thinking. Um, he did not um accept uh a passive stance in life.

SPEAKER_02 8:20

Well, I mean, I know your sister, I don't know your brother, but you're all very academic.

SPEAKER_01 8:24

All of us, all of us.

SPEAKER_02 8:26

He followed, like, yeah, quite tough fields. No one's in an easy, easy job.

SPEAKER_01 8:31

Uh no, it's not an easy job. And I gotta say that on one side it was my dad that he was like from day one, like this and this, and be a fighter, you know, and he was a very revolutionist as a character, like revolutionary, sorry, as a character. And on the other side, my my mother's dad, my grandfather, the Cypriot, my my my grandfather from Morphu, he cultivated in me the act of care that we care about each other. So my granddad, he would be one of these people that, and and I remember this, and I always say this story because it's very stuck in my mind since I was very, very young. I remember I was in my dad, in my grandfather's car, and you know, we were driving, going to, I think we were going to the to the orchard we had he used to have, um, and there was a box, a big cardboard box in the middle of the street, and he parks, he steps out. I'm I'm staring like, why, why is he stopping? Like, what is he doing? And he would go and pick the box up and put it on the side just to make sure that he's not in danger, the other person that's driving is not in danger, just caring enough to park and go pick up that box. So, from the one side, the revolutionary Latino Dominican dad, and from the other side, the caring Morfitis, Cypriot figure. These two gave me this. So I care enough to step up and I revolutionize enough to step up. So this is like my duality deriving from these two characters.

SPEAKER_02 10:15

And why now? Why have you decided to run now and not the previous time or the next time? You know, what is it that's made you say, no, I need to do it now? Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 10:25

Yeah. So I was lucky enough in the past few years to work in different settings that also understanding the power of politics requires some sort of maturity. Um, at least in my opinion. I mean, obviously, there's a few people that might say, look, I'm gonna get into that from my teenage years. They told me I should be this, I agree with them, I'll be this, and I'll that that that's like one side. On the other side, for me, I was always um participating in politics, but in real life, like the decisions I make in life, you know, every decision in life, it's a political decision. Being vegan, it's a political decision. Uh protecting nature, it's a political decision. All decisions are political. Step in. Yes, I do believe every decision from the from the moment I I truly, truly believe this. From the moment we open our eyes in the morning, the first decision we make until nighttime that we sleep, all of them are political. And we should know that. It's not just voting a political decision, yeah. Because you know, anyway, I can analyze this more another time.

SPEAKER_02 11:42

Sorry, we need to cut this one second. Hello. Hi, it's okay. No, is it something urgent? For the photo. But I've given it. I've written email and I've given it, and I've given the actual Yeah. I gave it in. I have. I I don't remember how I did it. Was it on a uh electric I did it? I went on the paraport and did it. Yeah, a hundred percent. Okay, all right, okay, thank you, thank you. Sorry, I just had to answer that because I thought it was a school in case one's on a trip and one's okay, but I look at the camera and I continue. Okay, all right, perfect.

SPEAKER_01 12:38

Um, so yes, um everything every decision we make, it's a political decision. Um and I've been standing by that since the beginning, but then experiences in the workplace, uh projects I've worked with, collaborations I've had, I've tried so many things, and and I I can tell you about all of the projects I've I've involved myself in, uh, like I involved myself into, but at the end of the day, any restrictions I've had into expanding this, into having a greater impact, into helping more people, all of them at the end of the day had politics and policy at the end. So uh when I decided that, you know, oh, let's um uh uh assist the local authorities with uh mission cities projects uh for climate neutrality, at the end of the day, if you don't get the central government and you don't have the policy there, I mean you can you can do a few things, but you need that setting, you need the policy setting. Um, or for example, let's say uh I used to work with the Limaso Municipality in the uh I was um um wait, let me translate. Um I was working with the Limaso municipality in the um regulation enforcement for the planning uh planning regulations. Yeah. And I did that.

SPEAKER_02 14:20

Oh yes, which is um I mean I think like every other building is like illegal part wasn't supposed to be there.

SPEAKER_01 14:27

Exactly, exactly.

SPEAKER_02 14:28

How do you okay? I love this stuff. How do you then regulate? Because I see a million buildings, so I'm like, that shouldn't be the illegal extension. So I was doing a window, wasn't there? And then what what do you do? Like what do you do? You go to someone's house and you say, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 14:42

That was my job. I I actually did that. I served the Lima municipality for two years, two, three years doing that. And what happens? And there are a few regulations, there's the law, there are few, and there's the law, and that you need to enforce it. And the local authorities are required to submit uh uh you know um complaints, and uh they go to um uh they they they go to court and they take the people that are are doing illegalities on their buildings. Yes, the law we currently have has a lot of weaknesses, yes, because I mean everybody's got it. Everybody's got it because because and and this is exactly, and thank you that you're kind of focusing on this because one of the reasons that I'm today laugh all the time.

SPEAKER_02 15:35

I mean, I don't know one person who doesn't have a neighbor or themselves has done it, or I don't know what. And you know, it's everywhere, and sometimes it's like okay, but sometimes it's massive, it's huge things, it's completely there's little things. There's a whole house in our neighborhood that's like for self and nothing, and we were like, why? I wanted to look at it. Yeah, and then I was like, okay, where's the papers? And they don't have any ideas, any um permits. So it's um it's completely, it's not even within the three meters of the boundary. Okay. So like and and it's being sold, like it should just be knocked down.

SPEAKER_01 16:10

Yeah, there's uh there's um there's a lot of levels of of things that people can do that are illegal in their in their in their properties. Yeah. The the first the the the the simplest thing that is currently happening in Cyprus is the change of use of a of a building. For example, we have we have a lot of shops, especially in the city center, that are are being used as apartments. Yeah. So this is like a simple example of what's happening. We have due to the lack of of housing, we see a lot of people transforming shops, commercial properties into housing. The the law to um regulate and enforce uh the regulation, yeah, uh to for people to license, to change the licenses, or for people to not use these shops as such has weaknesses, has a lot of weaknesses. And one of the reasons that today I'm stepping up is because when I was working with the municipality and I was preparing all the legal cases in collaboration with lawyers, of course, not a lawyer. And you're an architect, so you know what permits. Exactly, exactly. So this was my job. We would take people to court, we would try to make people, we were trying to find ways to enforce the law, to enforce the law, and the law itself has weaknesses. So you so it couldn't be enforced. We couldn't, the the the judge couldn't come up with a decision. It couldn't say, okay, knock it down. Because the law needs it needs a twitch.

SPEAKER_02 18:01

So I mean, we we're you know, we're laughing. I mean, a really tiny example um is uh my husband has an apartment, and opposite, somebody decided to change their front door to include part of the corridor. But that's like common area. That's common area. That's common area. And and and they just moved it by a meter and something. They even their front door now, um that corridor into the house, the illegal one, uh, there's the bathroom window of someone else's apartment. Exactly. You know, it's like exactly ridiculous.

SPEAKER_01 18:41

They do all of these things. I'm like, yeah, and you know, sometimes some the the thing with this, because my my aim is not to like prosecute everybody. Um this is not like bad. We need to think that a lot of times these kind of changes, aim could disturb your neighbor, as in their their well-being, their sanity, their well-being. Like maybe you're blocking a window of theirs or anything like that. In worst cases, these things are dangerous. So there's a lot of cases in Cyprus. Only recently in Paphos, I think it was a week ago, in Paphos, somebody was living in a basement. They uh turned on uh some sort of um was it coil to warm up or something? And due to the lack in ventilation, they died. Like, so the regulations are not there to prosecute people, no, to make their lives miserable, to make their lives better. It's to protect them because who is to blame now about this change of of use of use of these basements?

SPEAKER_02 20:01

But unfortunately, in Cyprus, we go back to the flow. We don't have the flow, you know, even now. I mean, okay, this is a whole other topic, but you as an architect will see we have the difference, um, the change of system from the previous to be centralized for the applications of permits, of building permits and planning permits. And yet it's not moving. It was supposed to make our lives easier. And I know many, I mean, I'm on the board of a Vell, the architects in it are going mentor, they're like, you know, saying, on behalf of everyone in our industry, in the building industry, we can't move. This is affecting commerce, this is affecting how uh the money flow into the timeline. Yes, you know, because we apply, everything is legal and we apply, and then it just gets stuck there for two years. Yes, but we're ready, we're ready to build, and and money will come in, more investment will happen, you know, the circulation keeps moving, but no, it stays there. And why does it stay there? Because they want to justify having a job, because they're understaffed, because the people aren't trained properly.

SPEAKER_03 21:06

What can you do?

SPEAKER_01 21:08

Look, I have a lot of uh theories uh and opinions about this. Um, initially, uh we need to uh say that whenever you have such a big change, so for many, many years, for example, um no, for many, many years, there was a system in place of how to examine uh building permits, planning permits, and who is in charge of this.

SPEAKER_02 21:36

For it's far from flawless.

SPEAKER_01 21:37

Yeah, yes, there was a lot of problems with that, and you know, one way or the other, we had to make the shift and do this centralization. Centralizate centralizing everything. Fact is the the at least I know for sure in Limassol, but I imagine this is true for all cities. New organizations are understaffed. This is a fact. And the fact that the shift was done before the electronic system was set up, this is also a problem. Because it's like you're trying to you're opening too many fronts. On the one hand, you want to digitize everything. You have people that are not able to uh correspond to this digitalization. At the same time, you don't have enough staff. At the same time, you need to transfer from all of the planning permits and all the local authorities that have planning permits, all the files, and in it it's a very big task. And I think that there's a lot of mistakes from it's from design from the beginning. But I am confident that people are working to kind of resolve this. At the same time, um uh I think that uh we should be aiming to reduce the planning uh processes, and what do I mean? Uh I'm I'm part of the uh uh board of architects, a deck, the um scientific chamber of Cyprus, yeah, with all the architects, and for many, many years they keep shouting and they keep requesting uh on how things need to become more automated automated. Like if you have architects and civil engineers and electrical engineers and all the engineers, the professionals, that we know our jobs, and we can say that this property, this this development, it's following the lines and everything, and all the regulations accordingly, why not speed up the processes and then let the uh the engineers uh have the responsibility for that? That could be like an option to speed up. But for many, many reasons, uh we continue to feed this uh bureaucracy. And here are also the issues of transparency. When you feed a bureaucracy, you create uh uh opportunities for things to not be be as transparent. Um this is a uh a bit of a big kind of accusation, but if you have uh a planning permit that for me it takes uh two months to be issued, but for Farah it takes uh 12 months to be issued, why? Why does this happen? How many offices did it change? Who is in charge? And these are like uh the bureaucratic kind of um uh uh things that are are staying hidden when you when you maintain a system.

SPEAKER_02 25:09

And also, why should it take that long?

SPEAKER_01 25:11

I mean and why does it take that long? So why don't we just skip the bureaucracy? Why don't we just in in in the UK, I used to work in the city council, the processes are much much quicker. You just submit, then the they come and check, but they don't examine each case individually. They just the the architect is responsible to make sure that the building is or the architect or the like the team of professionals. So why not find ways by which we kind of speed up the process? Big, big topic.

SPEAKER_02 25:51

So tell us about Vault. Yes. This is my favorite color, purple. What is Vault? Why did you um choose to work with them? And um what should people know in a nutshell?

SPEAKER_01 26:03

Okay, so uh Vault, uh we have to say that we are a new party, uh only only two years old. Okay. Uh it's uh formed by people from different kinds of um backgrounds and different kinds of uh starting points. And um where did the name come from? So Vault is a pan-European party. The name comes from uh the changing current, uh, the electricity current. So we believe that uh politics and policy need a change, uh uh a reboot, let's say. So that's where uh how we Vault is like the measurement of the current, yeah? So this is like the whole um concept that we need this electrifying new kind of wind in politics and policymaking.

SPEAKER_02 26:54

And so how many countries is vault in?

SPEAKER_01 26:57

Uh most countries are have their kind of vault group. Um there's a few that are mostly established. In Cyprus, as I said, it's only been two years. So uh and and fact is, uh even though we do have uh um an MP in parliament today, as she was an independent, she's an independent, but she's part of Volt. Uh Volt hasn't been in Parliament yet. So, but this year, May 24, when we're voting, when people are voting, we were definitely getting in. So, you know, as soon as we enter parliament, the government supports the parties that are in, and Volt is going to be able to kind of set up their central offices and so on. Um, and yeah, so basically Volt is a pan-European party that has kind of um the specific pillars that all parties of all countries follow, but then it it adjusts depending on which country you are. And like, for example, in Cyprus, we have very specific challenges and very specific problems. So we adjust these pillars into the local kind of ecosystem. Um, for example, Cyprus is the only country in the EU that it's divided uh and needs this kind of special kind of attention to solve like these kind of issues. Also, we are an island, again, makes us special. How do we have a lot of different things?

SPEAKER_02 28:25

And where does it stand on the political spectrum? Is it left, right, middle?

SPEAKER_01 28:30

So Volt doesn't believe that we should be talking about a political stance. We believe that uh society today is uh much more complex to have this kind of positions and linear. Yeah, we don't believe in that. Uh, there's uh people, you know, like there's members of the party that you can call them a bit more conservative in a few things, there's a people in the party that are a bit more kind of progressive in a few things, and all together we believe that we kind of reinforce each other and we create this kind of solid of um of what our society actually represents today. Yeah, modern solidarity, then exactly. So we do not believe that uh I mean we are asked a lot, like we're in the where do you stand?

SPEAKER_02 29:25

But we believe that these here in the logo, you've like it's like the nice colors of Benetad. Yeah, like all colours, we're not linear.

SPEAKER_01 29:33

We're not, we're not at all. And there are people, I mean, we have the pillars. Every uh position we've designed, we've designed it collectively, having in mind in what economy we are, uh how our social situation is, uh, how the demands of the society, what are their needs. And we co-design the positions. And you know, you being part of this, I witness like how, or maybe somebody comes with a bit of a more kind of rigid point, and then you get someone that's a bit more kind of fluid, and then together we find the middle ground and we say, look, for Cyprus, for our citizens, this is what they need today, and this is what they need for in in six months, and this is what they need in two years. And we plan for today, we plan for the next 12 months, and then for the upcoming years. So we have like um, we like to all our positions uh create like a roadmap for where we are today to where we want to get. And this roadmap uh cannot have rigid uh rigidity to it, you know, it cannot be like this is it. It needs to be uh constantly evaluated and constantly uh discussed between like these two sides, let's say, in order to kind of find the balance. At the same time, as a party, uh we truly believe that uh in Cyprus uh we tend to leave things unpunished, and nobody kind of takes responsibility for anything that happens, whether it's a small mistake to the greatest mistake. So as a party, we we really uh demand that uh it's okay to say uh I am at fault, and people should take responsibility of their actions. So we're one of those parties that really want to see justice in the system, and and we believe that uh by that creating the appropriate environments, as I said before, remember before I mentioned the before I mentioned about the regulations in the in the building sector, if you create the environment by which someone cannot act against the regulation, uh by default they won't. And then if you create the the regul the the environment by which you can oversee why is a case delaying uh in the building permit, in the build in the planning department, let's say. If you have um transparency and you create an environment that people can function without allowing mysticity, and then things will be running smoother as a whole. So we truly believe in this kind of transparency and communication from the public sector to the public.

SPEAKER_02 32:42

And what are you hoping personally to accomplish? Like if you win a seat and you become an MP, like what change would you like to see?

SPEAKER_01 32:51

So I'm as a as an architect, a planner, and as a person that I I've had this experience of strategy building, uh, you know, we build strategies for mobility, how to solve problems in mobility, how to solve problems with urban green. I'm I'm I'm constantly building strategies with a lot of different kinds of people. But I think we need better strategies for uh Cyprus as a whole. I think um I think I think Cyprus is not being treated as a um I mean, because I really want to say this uh correctly, let's say not correctly, but I'm I I would really like for Cyprus to be uh seen as a the prosperity of Cyprus to be seen as a long-term goal in which we like you know how we act in in the private sector as a business.

SPEAKER_02 34:00

Everything is short-term, short-term aims.

SPEAKER_01 34:02

I don't think money today. We're not thinking about I do not, I hate that. I hate that we don't have like a target and say, look, I'm not talking about parties now.

SPEAKER_02 34:14

Yeah, I'm not talking about like in 2050, in 2018. In 20 yeah, in in 2300. This is what Lemusau will look like.

SPEAKER_01 34:25

Thank you. This is what I want. What I would like to work on, and what I the mechanisms, and that's why I'm I I want to enter parliament because this is where you this is where you design the mechanisms, like the law, the regulations. And the regulations need to be directing you to a place, and it needs to enable the citizens to kind of be shifted towards a direction. So I do not all parties tend to think until oh, in five years, until the next elections. I don't want this. I want a plan for a hundred years from now. Where should Cyprus be in a hundred years of now? And I want this roadmap from today to this 2100, let's say. Uh, and and I want to have like this roadmap that says we need to do this, we need to do this, uh, you know, we need to calculate that we're gonna have climate change, we need to calculate that, oh, we might be deserted by then, we need to calculate that water is gonna be this. And from that, from that calculation, work backwards, work backwards and start solving and strategizing like that. This is businesses, this is what they do. They do projections and they solve their problems. Why the public sector is not acting like this is beyond me. This is how we should be acting. And if we do this and then we set in.

SPEAKER_02 35:52

So it's quite cultural, that's why, because in Cyprus it's always been like that. I mean, a taxi driver will rip off the tourist. You know, I remember in the 90s, like it was always, you know, we'd get in a taxi driver taxi, and I'm like, speak Greek, you know, because if they thought we were foreign, they would say three pounds when something was one pound.

SPEAKER_01 36:08

Yeah, they didn't think what a bottle, three euros, but it's yeah.

SPEAKER_02 36:12

Yeah, I mean, yeah, come on, yeah. Fresco humor. No, we're doing yeah, yeah, and fresh orange juice, one pound. You know, this is every beach bender. No, I I I understand. As I say, so we have to really work on changing that whole culture, that whole perspective. It's it's not gonna happen overnight. And maybe it's tough to say, like in you know, 2100, but you know, in 2050, like it's a time that most people will hopefully get to, you know, the children now will get to that.

SPEAKER_01 36:43

So I don't, I don't, I don't I think we are um so sorry, just to to tidy it up. So first of all, I I understand that yes, culturally we do that, but at the same time, culture it's not something embedded in us like from birth. This is something that it's cultivated, and it's cultivated through education and policy. So if policy is there and education does what it needs to do, culture will shift.

SPEAKER_02 37:20

This is like culture, it's not like it's not like yeah, yeah, it's true, like everything, like the smoking man. Yeah. Who would have thought, like, you know, 20 years ago, if you said people want to smoke in a restaurant, say in cyber's no way. Exactly. And here we are, we're fine.

SPEAKER_01 37:35

And we've really exactly that was policy. That was policy, and then education. And you would see that now a lot of young people don't smoke, don't even choose smoking because it's not it's not cool, it's not cool at cool. It's cooler to eat almonds. But then go to the gym.

SPEAKER_02 37:49

Yeah, they want to be in the gym. Yeah, they want to go to the gym and eat almonds.

SPEAKER_01 37:52

So that's what's cool now. Now it's cool. So I hope so.

SPEAKER_02 37:56

So this is like on the one side if you're listening to the and no vaping.

SPEAKER_01 37:59

Oh my gosh, no vaping. Um, so yeah, this is the the issue with culture, but I think that vault, and this is the good thing about vault, and this is why today I entered Vault, like, and I'm giving my energy to this, is because we do not believe in strategies of of five years old. We believe in long-term strategies, and we should do that. We should do that exercise. I love that. So it wasn't just for the color purple, not only for the color.

SPEAKER_02 38:28

Although it agrees with me, like my favorite color too. Okay, well, let's move away from politics and talk a little bit about WeDrive. Uh-huh. Because I think people really need to know about this. And I think everyone knows about this. So this is um an entrepreneurial side of you that you co-founded.

SPEAKER_01 38:48

Tell us about, tell us about WeDrive. Yeah, I wouldn't say co-founded, but I'm part of the team. Okay. Uh I wouldn't want to, you know, I've got my uh the founder that is actually uh Dr. Uh Professor Maria Gamariani. So she's uh an amazing friend of mine. Uh that we collaborate on this project. Uh so yeah, We Drive. So she recognizes gap in the market. Yeah. Yes. So basically, uh let me just say that um What is it? Tell everyone what it is. So uh We Drive is uh uh a transport on demand service for like a taxi service, yeah. I would say too many buses. It's a bus, it's it's a pup, it's a public transport system with the comfort of door-to-door service. So, and another note, I know we said no politics, but the regulation is not in place yet because we're so outdated regarding what is this. It it is public transport, but it's like a taxi, but it's not a taxi. So, what is it? We needed a clear regulation about what these things are, but yeah, so we drive, it's a um transport to demand service that today it was designed to transport uh teenagers. Yes, 12 to 18, isn't it? 12 to 18 to any activity in the afternoon or Saturday morning, like from 9 to 4. We're working. Uh, and the idea was to it's an app, isn't it?

SPEAKER_02 40:24

So people download the app, then they book. I live in whatever people have from Yarma Soil. I need to get to Heritage School at 4 o'clock on Wednesday and come back.

SPEAKER_01 40:34

Very, very uh user-friendly app. Uh parents or um parents can download the app and plan the schedule of the child. Yeah, for each week. They can book the yeah, they can book, uh they can book up to 12 o'clock the day before.

SPEAKER_02 40:51

And the child gets on. There's how many seats, like 10 seats? It's 17 seats, 17 seats. So there'll be other kids their age. The driver, a driver to train. Yes. Um, everybody gets a code that only they and the driver has that code. Look at you, you're very you're very specific. But I use it. Yes, my kids are just like, mommy, we need you.

SPEAKER_01 41:16

So basically, you download the app, you design the plan of the child, so you have it ready, and then you book which of these um uh transports you need to that you need the service. Uh when you book, the child uh gets a code. It's like the ticket that the child needs to tell the driver so they can onboard. And then uh the parent through the app can see uh the movement of the child in the city, so like like live live feed, so they know that oh the child's gonna pass and moving, there's they're delaying, or so on. Um, luckily, uh because we have a system by which we receive live feed from uh different mapping systems from different maps, like we know where traffic goes and our driver avoids it. So we're very efficient. Like, even though Lima Sol is a very challenging city, yeah, we drive manages to transport the child on time and not spend too much time on the bus. So this is like something that was very important. I gotta say that when we designed this, we designed it through a European uh funded project. And when we designed it, we co-designed it with other parents. So we had parents and children interviewed telling us about what they need, what would be the conditions, how do they how would they trust this service? What would be the demand? What would be so we we collected a lot of data from I think it was 120 families, then we had interviews with drivers, then we had interviews with um bus operators, and we kind of collected a lot of data and we came out with WeDrive. And in this way, the service was very well uh designed and accommodated today 60 uh 60 kids per day, and still we're not in full capacity because we're still waiting for a few buses that are that are that are coming to us. So now we're running five buses out of the 11 that we're gonna have by the end of 2026. Imagine with 11 buses. If you have five and you have 60 transportations per day, and then you have like let's say Also, this is a massive thing for me.

SPEAKER_02 43:46

I mean, I we I whenever I'm in a val and we're talking about limousol and the traffic, I'm like, why can't we consolidate? Like I drop off my kids to school in the morning. Okay, my car is pretty full because I have three kids. But still, I could have one more. And still, you know, I look at most of the cars and they have one kid in, you know, two. And when people are leaving school, they pick up their kids at different times. So all that traffic is in. You know, you go into town and you're stuck in traffic and you look, and there's one person per car. That's exactly that's exactly. And so if all these children, I mean, you know, it's not a joke. 17 cars off the road. That's 17 kids. That's 17 kids. No, no, no, no. That's 16 cars off the road in place of one slightly bigger minibus. You know, which is huge.

SPEAKER_01 44:30

That's 17 parents that could have been working, arresting, exactly, fixing something up. 100%.

SPEAKER_02 44:38

That's like being present with the other child or doing something else.

SPEAKER_01 44:43

Why be a taxi and also, first of all, why parents should be taxi drivers? It's beyond me. Second of all, it's also about cultivating the culture for public transport in children. A child And also independence.

SPEAKER_02 45:02

That the child starts like I can be independent, I'm away. If the child starts at the time. What's the right age? Because 12, younger than I think no. They maybe need their parents.

SPEAKER_01 45:13

Younger than that, it's not allowed legally anyway. Uh, it needs to have uh a guardian. Not a guardian, but someone on the bus responsible. But if you start cultivating from 12 years old the stance that, oh, I can travel alone.

SPEAKER_02 45:28

And then public transport is acceptable. And then it's not beneath me.

SPEAKER_01 45:32

No, and then it's very likely that at 18, 19, this child is gonna grow to say, oh, I'm just gonna use the public bus. Like I'm it's fine.

SPEAKER_02 45:41

I took my kids on the bus. I think, I think it was last year. Okay, obviously, when we get to the UK or Europe, we we use buses and tubes and but in Cyprus it's just really not done. And um I think I was just over a year ago, we walked down from my house. Okay, it's the beachroad, it was it takes like 10-15 minutes, and then we got on the bus, and it was like an excursion, can you imagine? And then I was like, how ridiculous that we're this is like a fun day out for them to try to go on the bus. You know, yeah, but I was like, yeah, guys, you know, you've got to like, that's it's and then we went, you know, along Limassol, and then we, you know, did a lot of things. No, but it's it's it's good to do that. All parents should do that because it's so easy on cyber should say, oh, we've got a car, we don't need it. But no, yeah, we should cultivate that culture. No, no, we should.

SPEAKER_01 46:28

And also the, you know, like the bus gives, I mean, beyond we're buses are great in Limassol. We've really got like good buses now. We have very good buses. And you know what? Uh when we were developing WeDrive, part of the uh of the of the partnership is also the public bus operator, the company, like they're running the buses with us, and we provide them with information on which areas are more popular in order for them to improve their lives. Yeah. Exactly. Because interesting, yeah. A lot of times there's a demand because they wouldn't know. How would they know? How would they know? So this is this is why we need to work collectively. Oh me, I can make money today. It doesn't service anyone that if we don't work collectively, the problems are of all of us.

SPEAKER_02 47:21

I always say that in tourism. People are like, Why do you why do you advertise someone else's hotel? And I'm like, why not? Like the more people who come to the hospital. We want more people, exactly. And not everyone is, you know, the will will find St. Rafael right for them. But likewise another hotel. So, and if people come to mine and then they go next year to PAFOS, they'll come back to Cyprus again. Exactly. And so let's keep on, like just pushing each other. You know, but people don't think like that. We should all rise together, you know. Oh my goodness. Right, I'm going, because we can talk forever. So, as usual, I put a post on my Instagram, anybody who's watching this, um, and I ask people to comment. Yeah, and and tell us.

SPEAKER_01 48:01

Um I do want to tell you about We Drive that it's doing so well that we're opening up for young professionals too in the mornings. Really? Yes. Oh, so it's not just no one, but I still stops at 18. That's right. I wanted to tell I wanted to share this with you because this is like a next step. Uh, because obviously children are at school until 1, 1:30, 2, 3, depending on the school. We've got the buses sitting. So the mayor of Lima Sol, uh, the mayor of Limassol, he asked us to create a pilot and collaborate with a few companies. I love that company. And the municipality and a few other companies, maybe the Electrical Authority of Cyprus, like people, people that have big um uh their offices, their offices in the city center, to transport them from different locations to the city center. So ideally, what's happening at 7:30 in the morning or nine o'clock uh in the morning, to avoid that and have people be transport also for professionals.

SPEAKER_02 49:09

Oh my goodness.

SPEAKER_01 49:10

We're piloting this year, so guys.

SPEAKER_02 49:13

Okay, so we did get one question from someone called Joanna, and she asked, if you become an MP, what will you do with regards to the limousine housing crisis?

SPEAKER_01 49:26

So uh we thought uh thank you, Joanna, thank you so much. Um so we believe that uh we no, let me take it slowly, Joanna. Wait. So we know that 50% of the housing stock in the city center is abandoned. We know this. 50% meaning just old, like old houses, empty plots, uh just sitting around, they belong to a few owners that some of them live abroad, some of them Some of them also Turkish Cypriot, aren't they? Some of them, and what we believe is that the government needs to create incentives, whether positive incentives or taxation, either way, penalties penalties for mobilizing this stock. They need to mobilize it. Do you want to rent it or rent it? Do you want to sell it? Sell it. Do you want to like I don't even know why, but we believe that this 50% of housing stock that it's left abandoned needs to be mobilized in order to create uh uh uh not demand. What am I saying? Demand then supply, thank you. So, yeah, so in order to create uh create supply for our young uh Cypriot local people that do not have a way to stay in the city, the prices are going up. Not, I mean, obviously, we have uh these um uh people coming from abroad, which is uh perfect for Lima, so the economy is going up, great, but we need to protect the local communities, and protecting them means mobilizing these uh abandoned, frozen, available properties that are there, they are there. We know this, we have the data. It's 50 percent of the city center. Imagine if we have this available. Yeah, I don't know how like if I was MP, this is what I would do. I would I would uh um uh create the conditions by which is it incentives like I'll give you something as a as government, I'll give something to these owners to kind of help them mobilize the stock.

SPEAKER_02 51:55

It could be anything, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 51:56

Or tax them. Either way, one of the two. Actually, Volt did submit uh a proposal for taxation uh recently that a lot of people didn't support from other parties. We insist that this is one solution. We shouldn't either tax or provide incentives because you know what? Uh Joanna Molso, that you're listening to us, uh I could say today, oh, you know what? Let's design new buildings like in the outskirts of Limasol that uh uh the government can afford to find a plot and you know create like uh affordable housing there. This is nice, but if Joanna works in the city center, that's not convenient for her. We want affordable housing. Yeah, she can be there and city center. Yes. So even though the you know the government is trying to do this.

SPEAKER_02 52:50

It's true, like all the older buildings that aren't really used. They don't have to make them into they're abandoned. You know, yeah, they're not gonna make them into some gold dripping, you know, 20,000 a month. No, just you know, make them affordable housing.

SPEAKER_01 53:06

And create the conditions and the and the create the mechanisms, nice livable spaces by which people, the owners are not gonna feel so the the also the owners that own this, they need, you know, like uh a security that, oh, I'm not gonna lose my property. Let's design this. This is what I want to do. Design all of these kind of mechanisms by which also the the the rental laws have to be adjusted.

SPEAKER_02 53:35

The rental laws, that's why they're not gonna have a sitting tenant. They might say, Yeah, I'll help you out and come and rent it for 700 a month to be nice. This is exactly. And then they, you know, 20 years later they can't even let their kids move in because they've got a tenant there who says, I'm not leaving. No, you know, that's what they don't want.

SPEAKER_01 53:52

I think that I think it needs uh um a diverse set of of incentives and regulations that A uh uh allows for the owners to say, okay, I'm doing this. Yeah. Either by, as I said, incentives and security that look, you're not gonna lose your property, but provided to the young people to be able to work in the city center and live. Like this is on one side. And then if people are not collaborating, have taxations because it Yeah, penalty. If you haven't done it with a if you haven't done it in two years, if you if your property is more than like two, three years abandoned, boom, there, put it down. And you know what? Yeah, I it's politically risky. I don't mind. It is a problem. 50% cannot live in the city, it's abandoned, 50% of the housing stock. And the young people do not have a place to stay, they end up moving to the mountains, they end up working in the city center. And also, and it adds to the pollution because they're driving. Pollution, the mobility issues. So it's all these problems are all systemic. And because I love systems and I love working with systems, this is all about, you know, organization.

SPEAKER_02 55:13

We need to fix it.

SPEAKER_01 55:14

Exactly.

SPEAKER_02 55:15

Thank you so much, my dear. As I said, we could talk forever. This has been so interesting. And um, I can't wait to watch What's Your Journey. Let's see. So thank you so much for sharing.

SPEAKER_01 55:24

Let me just say 24th of May, everyone should go and vote. Uh, if anyone's listening and they're not enrolled uh and registered to vote, uh, the the final date is the 2nd of April. So go out there. Your vote is your voice. Whether you vote for me or not, it doesn't really matter, but make sure you use your voice. And yeah. And how do they register for um? They need to go to the to the um uh citizens office and they complete a form and they just uh register. Uh, but really get into that. People go vote, and you know, most people they're probably registered and they just don't vote. So vote, it's important.

SPEAKER_02 56:07

It is, it is. There you go. Thank you so much.

SPEAKER_01 56:10

Thank you so much.