Mayor says Athienou in need of ambulance station  

Lives in Athienou are in danger since there is no permanent ambulance station, mayor Kyriakos Kareklas warned on Monday.

“It is necessary to create a permanent ambulance station in the area to serve Athienou and nearby communities such as Avdellero, Troulloi and Lympia,” he said.

In the past, he added, lives were endangered due to the time it took an ambulance to get to patients.

“The issue has been raised with the leadership of [state health services organisation] Okypy, which is studying it and we hope that the outcome will be positive so that the ambulance station will operate together with the new Athienou health centre. The new centre has now been completed and is being delivered,” the mayor said.

The buildings of the centre have been completed, but it has to be furnished and needs medical equipment, something which will take time, Kareklas explained.

“We hope the problem of the coronavirus pandemic will not take more than five to six months so that the health centre can function as soon as possible.”

Other improvement projects for Athienou are changing lighting in the local park to led, installing new toys in the park and repairing the windmill, which will cost €185,000.

Improvement works around the central square are being evaluated.

A project expected to cost €45,000 concerns the restoration of the facades of two traditional buildings of Athienou which were purchased in recent years by the municipality.

According to Kareklas, the municipality will pay for 16.65 per cent of the projects while the remaining amount will be covered by national and European funding.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.