Over 500 applications for the reactivation of agricultural production have been submitted to date for the fire-stricken areas of mountainous Limassol, the Minister of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Development, Maria Panayiotou, said on Friday, expressing her satisfaction with what she described as the positive response from local communities to the government’s measures.
The Minister was speaking on the sidelines of a meeting in Omodos with community leaders and farmers, in the presence of the Commissioner for Mountain Communities, representatives of the Department of Agriculture and other officials.
In her statements, Panayiotou said that the Government’s main concern is to stand by the communities and move forward quickly with the implementation of the measures that have been announced.
She added that she was pleased to hear that the measures have been well received by farmers and that community leaders are also helping significantly to speed up all the procedures.
“We have simplified the procedures and are moving forward without bureaucracy. Compensation has already been paid to over a thousand farmers, with only a few cases remaining, where we are essentially waiting for them to provide us with some information we have requested, and we already have over 500 applications for the reactivation plans, which is very satisfying,” she noted.
Asked about preparations to address possible soil erosion and flooding, Panayiotou said that the Water Development Department has been on the ground from the outset and that on-site mapping will be completed on Monday.
She added that the necessary materials have been secured and tenders for additional materials have already been announced. “Our goal is to have all the dangerous spots around the communities, which are our main concern, completed by October,” she further noted.
Asked about the plan’s provisions, the Minister said that green firebreaks and arable land are what protect communities. “This is also the aim of the Common Agricultural Policy, the plans we are announcing, and the strategy for the primary sector that we revised last year and is now more targeted, precisely to encourage young people to return to work,” she noted.
“We have two more targeted reactivation plans for this case, and I am pleased to see that more than 500 reactivation applications have been submitted to date. We had a deadline of August 22, but at the request of the community leaders, we have extended it until September 15, and this, if you like, will be both the first and the most dynamic boost to reactivation, to return to cultivating our land, to cultivate the plots we have, vineyards, olive trees, carob trees, whatever is in the area, to replant precisely in order to restore the landscape,” she noted on the subject.
Asked about the request to clear the streams of burnt debris, Panayiotou said that the procedures are not bureaucratic.
“We want to protect the life that develops there without making interventions that will have more adverse effects on nature. So, the guidance provided by the Water Development Department is on how to clean up properly so that there are no negative impacts on the organisms that grow there,” she explained further.
Asked if this also applies to the type of greenery that will be planted in the reforested areas, the Minister said that the Ministry is interested in ensuring that the planting around the communities includes the right species.
“What we always want to use – and it is the Forestry Department that provides the guidelines – are species that are adapted to the environment of Cyprus, species that are not fire-prone. I have informed the communities here that we will come back in September with the Forestry Department to provide further information on the study we have conducted on the 245 communities, on how they can be protected with these green firebreaks, what they should plant, precisely in order to develop this type of tree so that they are better protected,” she concluded.
Omodos community chair Eugenios Michael expressed satisfaction with speed of measures’ implementation for fire-hit communities and villages, following the huge blaze that broke out in mountainous Limassol district July 23.
Michael was speaking to the press following the meeting with Agriculture Minister and other officials.
He thanked all the services, saying that right after the announcement of the measures by the government, everything that was agreed, is being implemented.
Michael said that officials from the agriculture and water departments are working tirelessly even during the weekends, in order to provide assistance to the citizens.
He said that during the meeting, they raised the serious issue of cleaning of public streams and rivers, for which the communities do not have the authority.
He stated that solutions must be found for this issue and the communities want to provide assistance to this end.
Michael also said that they discussed the issue of farmers’ immediate activation in order to cultivate their land and vineyards.
