ILLEGAL AND errant parkers are the target of a new, satirical media campaign, which shot its first scenes in Nicosia yesterday. The short film includes a segment featuring the awarding of a mock prize to the ‘Citizen of the Year’ who parked the most times on pavements and in disabled parking spaces.
The initiative comes from the Paraplegics’ Association in Cyprus, who came up with the ideas for the project. According to Demetris Lambrianides, the President of the Association, the aim is to ensure pavements are for all of Cyprus’ pedestrians – not just paraplegics.
“This is a very serious problem because the Cypriot has learned to park on pavements and not walk even two minutes. He wants his comforts,” said Lina Hamali, the script and copywriter for the piece.
The short is titled “Theatre of the Absurd” and will run for a year on Cyprus’ TV stations and other media. Elena Georgallas, the art director for the piece, said many media outlets have volunteered to screen the short for free..
“It will take a long time for people to realise that pavements are for walking on – not for parking,” said Lambrianides.
A similar campaign was run by the Paraplegics’ Association four years ago under the slogan “I park without getting in people’s way”. According to Lambrianides, it was effective but the problem is so large that the message needs to be continually repeated.
Hamali said the problem of obstructed pavements is said to affect not just paraplegics but almost half of the Cypriot population.
She said the statistic becomes more understandable when the sectors of the population which contribute to it are considered. It is not just a problem for the disabled but also for the elderly, pregnant women, women with small children and families with prams or kids in strollers.
“Sometimes fines work. Maybe we’d have to increase them or introduce car towing and impounding for motorists to learn,” said Hamali.
The general consensus of those involved in the production of the short was that harsher initiatives were not the best way forward, not because they may not be more effective but because the aim of the campaign was to change the underlying national mindset on the problem.
“The important thing is to elevate and improve people’s consciousness on the matter,” said Georgallas.
The current initiative is not without a sting in the tail however. Concurrently with the media campaign, a large number of bumper stickers are to be handed out for people to stick on the windscreen of illegally parked cars.
The stickers read: “Paraplegics and women with prams salute you” and are in the form of the well-known five-fingered salute known as a ‘mountza’ in Greek.
“Compared to Greeks, we are polite. They printed stickers saying ‘You are a donkey’” said Hamali.
The short will run on all major TV channels from October this year, when the stickers will also be released.
