Extension given for bringing water from Greece

THE WATER transport from Greece could be extended beyond its initial deadline of December, the Agriculture Minister said yesterday.

Michalis Polynikis was speaking on his return from Athens, where he held talks with his Greek counterpart to discuss the need to extend the contract for bringing water from Greece. The extension refers only to the timeframe within which the water must arrive and not to bringing an additional amount of water.

“We exchanged thoughts on extending the contract for carrying water from Elefsina to Cyprus, which normally ends in December,” said Polynikis after his meeting in Athens on Monday with Greek Development Minister Christos Folias.

“Based on present facts, it is possible that there will be a small extension to complete the transportation of the entire amount of water, after December,” Polynikis added.

The contract provides that a total of 8 million m³ of water will be transported to Cyprus from Greece until December. Due to the long delays and problems faced in the process of bringing the water, Cyprus has until now received just 3.15 million m³ of water from Greece.

Despite this delay and the heavy cost of the Greek water, Water Board officers yesterday defended the decision to bring water from Elefsina in tankers. “It has substantially contributed to facing the problem in the summer months,” said Kyriakos Kyrou, Senior Plumber at the Water Board.

Kyrou also clarified that despite an improvement in the water crisis, the option of ending water cuts is not under consideration. “There is an improvement in the water situation, but no thoughts on ending cuts,” he said.

An additional 30,000m³ of water per day is expected to start coming over the next 20 days from water works in Limassol that are being prepared. “The additional quantities will start coming from the Moni desalination unit, the treatment of water from Garyllis River and the increase in the production of the Larnaca desalination plant,” Kyrou said.

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