After yesterday's protest by livestock farmers at the Rizoelia roundabout, the protesters left the area.
According to the Police, traffic at the Rizoelia Roundabout has been restored and traffic is flowing normally.
It is recalled that kilometer-long queues formed on Thursday evening on the roads around the Rizoelia roundabout, as livestock farmers protesting the killing of animals due to foot-and-mouth disease proceeded to indefinitely close the point, following the fruitless meeting in Nicosia with the Minister of Agriculture Maria Panayiotou.
A lot of inconvenience awaited citizens traveling on the highway when the roundabout was cut off by the livestock farmers, some of whom were on their way to the airport.
There was an increased traffic police presence in the area, whose members were trying to handle the situation.
The livestock farmers said until late at night that they would remain at the roundabout until the killing of animals that do not test positive for foot-and-mouth disease stopped, while they said that they would escalate the measures by closing key points such as the airport. On Thursday, they also blocked the port of Larnaca for a few hours.
The protest event that began at 11:00 in the morning at the Rizoelia roundabout was attended by livestock farmers from all the provinces of Cyprus. In a written statement, the Director General of the Ministry of Agriculture, Rural Development and Environment, Andreas Grigoriou, stated, among other things, that the transmission of the virus is largely linked to human activity and movement, and that today's mobilizations and gatherings increase the risk of spread, undermining efforts to contain the disease.
Mr. Grigoriou said that without cooperation and an end to the demonstrations, the dialogue cannot continue, nor can it be ensured that the virus does not spread. Mr. Grigoriou once again appealed to the protesters to end the gatherings.
Source: sigmalive
