THE “SHAMEFUL” state of repair of UK Service accommodation in Cyprus was highlighted in the Lords yesterday. The condemnation came in the wake of an RAF serviceman and his two young children’s death in a fire at the Akrotiri base at the weekend,
Referring to British UN accommodation in Nicosia, Lord Morris of Aberavon said the former five-star Ledra Palace Hotel in Nicosia, where British members of the UN peacekeeping force live, had “electrical points hanging out the walls in uninhabitable rooms”.
Lord Morris, a Labour former Attorney General, cited accounts of “sewage coming back from the toilets” and “a total absence of air-conditioning in the bedrooms”.
Lord Morris protested: “Thousands of British tourists visit Cyprus. Is this the best we can do for our troops in these shameful conditions?”
His comments, at Lords question time, were echoed by Labour’s Lord Anderson of Swansea, who had also been on a recent Parliamentary visit to the east Mediterranean island.
British Defence Minister Lord Drayson conceded: “The accommodation there is unsatisfactory. Responsibility for its maintenance lies with the Republic of Cyprus government, and we continue to make representations to them about its condition.”
Lord Drayson, who had earlier pledged a “thorough investigation” of the separate incident at Akrotiri, told Lord Morris: “I agree with you that this is totally unsatisfactory. It is really not good enough.”
While the state of housing in Akrotiri is the responsibility of the Sovereign Bases, the Cyprus government is reportedly working on improving the living conditions at ledra Palace. Plans have been drawn up but it is believed that progress has been slow.
“It must be conceded that when UN peacekeepers arrived, they never expected to be [in Ledra Palace] for over 30 years,” a source said yesterday. “Given the age of the building, there are different gradations of how much that can be done.”
Lord Drayson confirmed that British Armed Forces Minister Adam Ingram had visited the accommodation in September and that “very strong” representations had been made to the Cypriot government and to the UN.
The minister went on: “It really is not good enough, and we do expect to see that improvements are made quickly to the accommodation that our troops are suffering under at present.”
Crossbencher Lord Hannay of Chiswick, the government’s former “special representative” for Cyprus, described the situation as “clearly unsatisfactory”. He suggested it might improve if the UN force were converted into an “observer force only”.
Lord Drayson said that, while the UN accommodation was primarily Cyprus’ responsibility, the UK was “looking at other options ourselves, in terms of building our own accommodation”. But this could be only a long-term solution.
Moving the UK personnel to another base, as suggested by Liberal Democrat spokesman Lord Wallace of Saltaire, “would not provide a solution to the problem”, he added.
Tory Earl Attlee, a TA Major, asked: “Have you suggested that we might consider removing the troops?” Lord Drayson replied: “Of course. We look at all options.”
??
??
??
??
