‘Paphos is not a city-state’
PAPHOS mayor Savvas Vergas was yesterday shot down by the government, after he insisted that his municipality wants to manage its water supplies without outside interference.
Following the recent spell of solid rainfall, from which dams in Paphos have benefited the most, the local municipality plans to ease water cuts.
“We shall be implementing a more flexible programme,” Vergas informed state radio.
According to the mayor, Paphos dams are currently holding more than 34 million cubic metres of water, compared to a total of 55 million cubic metres in all the other Cyprus dams combined.
The Asprokremos dam, he said, now held 14 million cubic metres, compared to half that amount recorded last March. And the Kanathkiou dam now contained 7.5 million cubic metres, compared to 5 million last year.
This showed the situation for Paphos had improved considerably, necessitating a rethink of the local water management policy.
“The municipality shall take these new circumstances under serious consideration. But at the same time, we shall continue to emphasise to consumers the need to save water,” said Vergas.
Through a policy of overcharging for water wastage – as opposed to disrupting supplies – the municipality had successfully prevented over-consumption during the lean times. It was now time to reward residents, he suggested.
“Our municipality shall continue to run its water supplies independently,” he added, giving out the impression that this was a given.
But Argyris Papanastasiou, head of the Nicosia district’s Water Board, said a deal allowing Paphos to go it alone existed in the mayor’s mind only.
“There is no such agreement that allows Paphos to run its own water management programme,” Papanastasiou countered.
“Water is a national resource, and no one can take it upon themselves to do as they please with it.
“There are no city-states in Cyprus,” he added.
If each district were calling the shots, it would make a mockery out of a national water management policy, and lead to disastrous results, the official said.
“The February rains should not prod us into actions that might create rather than solve problems. We need to be careful so that we don’t create a clash of cities or of consumers… the goal should be a rational policy that is fair to everyone.”
