Authorities brace for fire season

FURTHER practical steps to prevent and combat forest fires were decided yesterday at a high level political meeting.

Interior Minister Neoclis Sylikiotis, Justice Minister Kypros Chrysostomides and representatives from the Finance and Agriculture Ministries were all in attendance.
The meeting was a follow-up to an early April meeting for the purpose of a more effective handling of the island’s perennial summer problem.

Sylikiotis announced that on May 10 the third fire-helicopter which has been rented for the Forestry Department will arrive and that on May 15 all three existing helicopters will be operational.

In addition, the tenders have been received for the purchase of a second airplane for the Forestry Department.

“However, the second airplane will not be operational in time for the summer season,” Sylikiotis explained.

Moreover, no less than 120 seasonal fire-fighters will be hired.
“Because of the drought, fire outbreaks are more dangerous.

“Extra fire-fighters will man rural outposts of the fire services,” he said.

Chrysostomides said that it has been decided that the network of fire sentries will be upgraded so that the authorities can be informed of a fire as soon as it breaks out.

Sylikiotis and Chrystostomides both agreed to look into providing the fire services with high-powered motorbikes to help in putting out fires in hard-to-access areas.

The Interior Minister anticipated that, “within May we shall be providing the necessary fire-fighting equipment needed by the fire services, district administrations and the forestry department.”

Sylikiotis added that some equipment issues remained, which would be discussed at the committee’s next meeting in September.

In response to a question about fires in the buffer zone and/or the north, Sylikiotis said that, “these areas may indeed be outside our control, but we consider it our responsibility to protect the natural resources of the occupied areas as well.”

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.