THE DISTRICTS of Limassol and Larnaca suffered just under €2 million worth of damage following Monday’s munitions’ explosion at the Evangelos Florakis naval base just outside Limassol, Interior Minister Neoclis Sylikiotis said yesterday.
Speaking to reporters at a news conference, Sylikiotis said Limassol district had suffered €1,439,000 damage and Larnaca district had suffered €510,000 damage.
In the Larnaca district 314 homes had been damaged and around 400 in the Limassol district, while there was also some damage to the camping site at Governor’s Beach in the Limassol district, he said. Cleanup crews had already started to clear the area and to repair the damage, he added.
The Minister said a joint budget of €600,000 from both the Interior Ministry and Civil Defence would be made available during the first phase to cover the costs of repairs and would be given to those eligible in the coming days.
A further €150,000 was also available from the budget used to maintain Turkish Cypriot properties, he said. The money would be used to repair damage to Turkish Cypriot homes in Mari, where the majority of houses were Turkish Cypriot, as well as Turkish Cypriot homes in Pendakomo, Sylikiotis said. Repairs to the damaged properties had already begun by Larnaca district authorities, he added.
An additional €42,000 had been allocated to repair damages to homes in Zygi’s self-financing council estate, he said.
“A proposal will be put to the Cabinet to cover all additional needs,” the Minister added.
Residents who had already started to repair their homes would receive financial aid in the coming days, he said. Residents whose homes had sustained greater damage would be evaluated and compensated not much later, he said. Meanwhile a number of homes and businesses would be covered by their own insurance and as for repairs to the church in Mari, those would be covered by a special budget assigned to repair churches in refugee housing estates, he added.
Meanwhile the tenants of three homes in Mari, which had suffered extensive damage had chosen to stay with relatives or remain in their homes even though they had been given the option of alternative accommodation.
Sylikiotis said the District Administrations, Interior Ministry’s Technical Services and the Civil Defence had acted immediately following the explosion and coordinated help in those first critical hours, and that within 24 hours a preliminary record of the damage to all affected communities had been made.
The minister said although a number of complaints had been made regarding the response to the afflicted areas “it is not possible to be everywhere at once, but this was done in a very short time”. Nevertheless he said he and the District Officers of Larnaca and Limassol had visited the area within hours of the blast.
