Ministry called to intervene in bases water dispute

THE AGRICULTURE Minister has been asked to intervene in a dispute between the British Bases at Dhekelia and a group of farmers.

In a letter sent yesterday to the Agriculture, Natural Resources and Environment Minister, Costas Themistocleous, four agricultural organisations urged him personally to intervene and stop the British Bases in Dhekelia preventing 13 farmers from drawing water from bore-holes within the bases.

But Bases spokesman Mervyn Wynne Jones, however, told the Cyprus Mail that the facts had been “twisted”. Wynne Jones explained that a number of individuals had been summoned to appear before a bases court for drawing water from illegal bore-holes.

“We are following exactly the same policy as the Republic during this time of water shortage,” Wynne Jones said. “This is routine court action against individuals drawing water from bore-holes for which they have no permit. People have been taken to court for illegal wells many times before.”

“We co-operate completely with the Republic in matters of water conservation and follow exactly the same policies,” he added.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.