The coverage of the pending issue regarding aircraft for firefighting was emphasized by MPs during today's meeting of the Parliamentary Committee on the Interior, in which all services involved in the process of preventing and responding to fires were invited to participate.
As the Chairman of the Committee and AKEL MP Aristos Damianou stated after the meeting, the guests at the Committee gave an image of preparedness, although he noted that “on the ground we will all be judged on our real preparedness.” He expressed satisfaction, however, with the level of response to the latest fires, such as in Farmakas.
"The truth is that the people were security forces and everyone else involved is putting their lives on the line to deal with the fires and we must recognize that," he said, but stressed that more needs to be done.
He initially referred to the requests for personnel and additional equipment. "We believe that the state should respond to these requests and approve them as soon as possible," said Mr. Damianou. Regarding aircraft, he said that "the Republic of Cyprus was very late in equipping our country to deal with fires in terms of aircraft."
As an important issue, beyond prevention and extinguishing, Mr. Damianou also highlighted the issue of restoring the natural and human environment. "Our experience tells us that where and when fires are extinguished, the restoration process, in addition to taking many years at the level of state procedures, is also delayed, which is why we must also look at this dimension, which is very important especially in a state like Cyprus," he concluded.
DISY MP Nikos Sykas, in his statements on the issue in question, recalled that yesterday DISY referred to the issue of water scarcity and drought in a statement.
"While it is apparent that there is operational readiness, we are concerned about how much this readiness and the individual plans can be progressively effective in covering the existing problem," he said.
"After the presentation made by the competent services, I believe that there is readiness and I expect that more sensitivity will be shown in operational capacity, so that we can also manage water shortages," he continued.
"We are confident that within the framework of everyone's personal responsibility, the competent departments, the summer season will find us far from painful fires, without victims and without problems," he concluded.
Source: KYPE
