Cyprus honoured in rebuilt Artemida

IT WAS in the village of Artemida that the fires which ravaged the Peloponnese during August 2007 begun and which the Cyprus government pledge to rebuild as a gift to the people of Greece.
On Sunday President Demetris Christofias attended the emotional presentation ceremony for the completely rebuilt village during which residents expressed their gratitude and political leaders from Greece and Cyprus reaffirmed their mutual connections.
“For decades now,” said George Papandreou the Greek Prime Minister “especially when we are referring to the problems which Cyprus encountered and is still dealing with, we are accustomed to saying – and meaning it – that the Cypriots are our brothers.  Today I would say that they themselves prove it in practice”.
The fire left 26 people dead and a destroyed village in its wake.  According to the Greek Embassy, the rebuilding process was handled in its entirety by the Cypriot government from financing to drawing up the architectural plans and arranging the contractors who carried out the building works.  The total cost of the project came in at €14 million.
At the formal presentation ceremony, the residents of Artemida expressed their satisfaction with the works and clarified that the only thing left to do to make the project complete was the installation of a sewage system, including some further work on plumbing.
The works completed included rebuilding, repairs and renovation to damaged properties and infrastructure and the construction of an olive press, sheep station, milking station and houses. 
The town square was also redesigned, rebuilt and renamed ‘Cyprus Square’ to honour the assistance of the Republic of Cyprus.
During the ceremony, the residents of Artemida and the surrounding area packed Cyprus Square to hear the dignitaries from the Cypriot and Greek governments speak.  “The Republic of Cyprus, the people of Cyprus, have done their duty.  As Greece takes care to help and be there for Cyprus in its difficult moments, I would think it is self-evident that Cyprus also, using such powers as it has at its disposal, would go to the aid of their brother Greeks,” said Christofias in his address at the ceremony.
The ceremony was attended by a number of Cypriot officials, including Interior Minister Neoclis Sylikiots, Government Spokesman Stefanos Stefanou, Presidential Commissioner George Iacovou and Cyprus` Ambassador to Greece Ioseph Ioseph.
After the ceremony, President Christofias left for Athens, where he was holding official meetings with the Greek leadership.

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.