POLICE ARE investigating the arson of 14 buses in the last month in Limassol, with the last two destroyed in the early hours of Sunday morning.
Head of Limassol Transport Company (EMEL) Giorgos Kyriacou said yesterday that his company has lost some €250,000 after the complete destruction of 12 buses and partial damage of two through arson in the last month.
The company is obliged to insure its buses with an insurance consortium which will not insure for sabotage, meaning all 14 buses were not covered for arson.
Speaking to the Cyprus Mail, Kyriacou said the company had to take out a second insurance policy with the bank for its fleet of new buses to ensure that they are also covered for arson.
He said the first act of sabotage occurred on February 23, when a fire started in an area where the company’s reserve buses were parked destroyed eight buses and damaged two.
The majority of the buses were old, though two were relatively new, dating back to 2005. They were part of the company’s group of reserve vehicles.
After the night of blazing bus annihilation, two more buses were set alight on two separate occasions while parked outside their drivers’ homes in the Mesa Yeitonia area.
Then on Sunday at around 4am, another two buses parked on Christofi Ergatoudi Street in the Tsireiou stadium area were destroyed when arsonists set fire to one bus which spread to the other.
The last four buses were eight to ten years old and in good condition.
According to Kyriacou all four were in circulation and used for established bus routes. They have since been replaced. All 14 buses are out of service. EMEL has 300 buses remaining in its fleet.
“Fortunately, the company had ten per cent of its fleet in reserve, but that doesn’t mean we can burn one every night,” said Kyriacou.
The company boss said the company acted transparently and had nothing to hide.
“We haven’t received any threats and we don’t suspect anyone in particular. There are a number of possibilities. We may have taken business away from someone who’s angry but we are offering a public service so there is no competition really,” he said, adding, “There’s something more sinister going on.”
Company officials met with Limassol police yesterday to answer a series of questions. After the meeting, Limassol police head Andreas Koushoumis said he was more confident police would get to the bottom of the case. A special task force has been set up at Limassol CID to work on it.
“Our meeting put us in a more favourable position regarding the course of the investigation. The police are fully aware of the situation and have decided to take measures, both in terms of prevention and solving these cases,” said the police chief.
Kyriacou thanked the police for their help, saying they have taken their concerns very seriously.
He said the company will use a rented location to park 70 to 80 buses at night in an effort to improve the security for the buses, while police have agreed to increase patrols.
For the remaining three quarters of the fleet, EMEL has contacted the communications ministry and municipalities for help to find safe places to park the buses at night, at least temporarily.
“We asked them before but they are paying more attention now. Sometimes it takes a crisis to get your act together,” he said.
Cyprus Mail
