Family seek urgent assistance

THE DEMETRIOU family of Pentalia village in Paphos is requesting urgent help from the government of Cyprus.

Pentalia village is all but abandoned, due to severe landslips and subsidence, and villagers are being moved to another area close by.

There are only a few people left in what has become a ghost village, and the Demetriou family are appealing to be moved.

A member of the Paphos district office confirmed there was a problem.

“I can’t really talk about this case without permission from my superiors,” he said. “But I can tell you that many families have left Pentalia, due to the situation there. We have many cases to deal with, and people to re-home. It isn’t just one family.”

He continued, “the decision doesn’t lie with us; the government decided to move people to a new area, and certain criteria must be met. This decides who will be given a plot.”

Mr. Demetriou is a Cypriot, and is in full time employment. His wife, Simela, looks after the couple’s three children, ranging in age from two to ten.

Their house is tiny, only 50 square metres, and the walls are badly damaged, covered with large cracks. In places the walls are crumbling.

The family say they particularly suffer during the winter months. They have appealed to the government to re-home them, or give them a piece of land on which they might build a new home before the onset of winter.

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