THE House Health Committee was yesterday adamant that Limassol’s municipal pool stay closed after recent water sample tests showed elevated levels of bacteria.
“They resolutely must close,” committee chairwoman Eleni Theocharous said.
The DISY deputy’s statement followed reports that parents had appealed to the Cyprus Sports Federation to allow the pool to stay open for another month so that their children could train for the national swimming championships in July.
Municipalities’ union representative Panicos Louroutziatis said: “Limassol’s municipal pool should have closed three years ago, but it was kept open so that the swimming team had somewhere to train. Now parents are asking that we re-open the pool because their children need somewhere to train, even if the [filter] equipment is destroyed. We agreed with the federation it had to close.”
The committee was discussing the issue of the quality of swimming water, both sea and pool water, after Green Party deputy George Perdikis called for an examination of the topic following recent findings of bacteria levels four to eight times above the legal limit in public swimming pools’ water.
Acting public health services head George Giorgallas told the committee health inspectors routinely carried out inspections on public pools.
He said pools within municipal boundaries were the responsibility of the Interior Ministry and municipal inspectors. Any pools outside those boundaries were under the district officer’s and health services jurisdiction.
“Where the public’s health is at risk, the Health Minister has the authority to shut down pools,” he said.
Giorgallas added that water quality control was also the responsibility of pool owners who were obliged to send samples for testing.
“In 2005, health inspectors tested 71 samples and 67 were suitable and four were unsuitable. In 2006, we have tested 35 samples, 15 of which 15 are so far suitable and we are still waiting for the results of the remaining 20,” he said.
Based on information on records from 2004, Interior Ministry representative Demetris Demetriou said only 11 per cent of pools were licensed to operate. This was because most pools were located in hotels or in the tourist district and made structural changes before receiving town planning approval.
“And town planning approval is a prerequisite to have a licence issued,” he said.
Louroutziatis pointed out laws controlling the operation of swimming pools needed to be modernised as a matter of urgency and suggested categorising pools so as to make quality inspections easier.
“The quality of water is such a sensitive matter and we need to be on top of it continuously. The law needs to be changed so as to speed up [inspections],” the Yermasoyia mayor said.
The House heard a large number of pools were set to close if their water quality was unsatisfactory and deputies did not rule out criminal prosecutions for pool owners who allowed bacteria levels to exceed legal limits.
The committee will meet again in two weeks to discuss what amendments need to be made to improve swimming pool laws.
