Filenews 31 October 2022 - by Dora Christodoulou
Although some losses are still recorded from illegal connections of premises to the city's water supply system or from losses in parts of the network, however, the situation in the municipal area of Paphos has improved significantly in the last one year after the actions of the competent authorities.
Exclusive information of "F" states that a wide range of illegal activities by businessmen or ordinary citizens in this matter has been drastically addressed, contributing to the rational management of the water balance in the municipality, although the problems have not been completely eliminated. This situation is satisfying to the Municipal Palace, since, as it is pointed out, in addition, the procedures for the "smart water supply" have already been implemented, within the framework of the smart city applications, from which the entire operation of the system will become even safer and "unfriendly" to any fraud.
The investigations carried out by the municipality show that mostly the illegalities were done in intubations before they reached the water meters, an act that allowed the offenders to use water without being charged. Cases of people interfering with the water meters themselves to record fewer amounts of used water were also recorded. A competent source told "F" that even an entire apartment building was found that consumes as much water as a small house consumes on its own.
The municipality's revenue losses from these illegal practices amounted for years to very large sums, according to the same source, which said characteristically that if the water consumed in these cases was normally priced, then an additional revenue of a few hundred thousand euros would flow into the municipal coffers.
Competent officials of the Pafos Municipal Palace stressed, however, that the problem is now being tackled decisively and drastically, having already contributed to the improvement of the situation. They expressed the belief that the continuous actions of the municipal authority towards the implementation of "smart water supply" will contribute to the complete elimination of illegality in the near future.
Crime Round-up
Moreover, as far as the police bulletin is concerned, a new coordinated operation to combat crime and consolidate the sense of security of the citizens, was carried out in the last two days by the Paphos Police. During the long operation, a 28-year-old Greek Cypriot was arrested, in whose possession a large amount of property believed to be stolen was found. In particular, a large number of sanitary ware was identified, which the suspect subsequently admitted to stealing from buildings under construction. In another case, a 34-year-old woman was arrested who was in possession of a small amount of drugs. There were also 50 driver complaints about traffic offences during the same period, of which 16 concerned driving under the influence of alcohol and one under the influence of drugs.
