Tornado compensation on its way to the needy

COMPENSATION will soon start being handed out to those most affected by the September tornado, which destroyed a number of homes and businesses in the Nicosia suburb of Latsia.

“At this precise moment we are dealing with the most vulnerable cases,” Nicosia District Officer Argyris Papanastasiou said yesterday. “I have already prepared a letter, accompanied by a list of who we have found to be the most needy members of the public affected by the tornado, which I will send to the Interior Ministry on Monday.”

He added the state would compensate up to 80 per cent of the damage incurred, as was provided for in the case of natural disasters.

In total, 13 vulnerable families will be compensated within the next two weeks – though the District Office has hundreds of cases to look into.

“For the other cases, we still haven’t made any decisions,” said Papanastasiou. “Next week we will be looking into those whose water tanks and solar systems were destroyed by the tornado.”

He said there were so many aspects that needed to be examined, especially following this week’s floods from heavy rainfall, which left many homes with serious damage.

“There are some seriously urgent cases from the recent catastrophes that need to be looked into, involving elderly people and large families; so we need to look at every case first before making decisions,” he said.

“We are still scrutinising each case to see who has insurance and who doesn’t. You understand, those who already have insurance will not be compensated by the state, as this would be wrong and anti-social,” Papanastasiou said. “It is unfair on others. This is the taxpayer’s money we are dealing with.”

In order to avoid discrepancies, those who receive compensation will be made to sign a statement that they don’t have insurance. “If it emerges that they received state compensation as well as compensation from private insurance, it will be punishable by law.”