Peyia mayor promises end to water contamination

Peyia municipality will provide water to homes in the area whose private supply had been contaminated, the mayor said on Wednesday.

Neophytos Akoursiotis told the Cyprus Mail that the residents of the area – around 300 – had signed an application letter to be linked to the municipal water supply.

“The water problem has been solved,” he said.

The homes are connected to a private well belonging to the developer who constructed them. Having a water supply was one of the conditions for granting construction permits.

In the meantime, the area was included in the municipality’s jurisdiction but residents continued to get their water from the well.

In June, they were notified by the health services that the water was no longer suitable. Residents, however, said that the problem started in February of this year.

The owners had been forced to buy water at a cost of €20 to €30 per tonne.

The mayor said the homes in question were inside an area designated as touristic, and the municipality was obliged to supply them with water.

Akoursiotis said the priority was to provide water to dwellings in the Coral Bay area but they would try and serve those outside also. He expected most outside the boundaries to be served also.

The cost per dwelling is €800 – set by legislation – despite the local authority having to install additional pipping.

The residents would also have to write to the developer asking to be disconnected from the well.

Residents have complained in the past over water shortages and the high cost.

The owner of a holiday home who lives in Nicosia, who has been in the area since the mid-90s, said they paid a €33 flat fee every two months but in the capital they paid less than a third of that amount.