Filenews 11 April 2023
At a time when the issue of aerial firefighting means is literally in the air in view of the new fire season that starts in 20 days, a meeting at the Presidential Palace attempted to close a long-standing gap concerning the coordination of the co-competent state services.
At the meeting under President Nikos Christodoulides, it was decided that the general coordination with the aim of timely activation of the existing mechanisms for preventing and dealing with fires, will be undertaken by the Director General of the Ministry of Agriculture, Rural Development and Environment, Andreas Gregoriou. All services will be reported to him and he will inform the ministers who in turn will inform the President of the Republic. The meeting also highlighted the gaps that exist with the many action plans, since each department has its own, and with when each department responds. All this is expected to be eliminated with the assumption of the coordinating role by a person who will now study the suggestions and opinions of all services. Recently, an interministerial meeting was held at which the gaps in coordination became apparent.
Now, the Department of Forests, the Fire Brigade, the Civil Defence, the Game Service and the district administrations will report to Mr. Grigoriou on firefighting issues, so that he can coordinate all efforts so that we do not have a new case of Arakapas or Solias. During the meeting, according to information provided by "F", it was mentioned that it would be better, rather than for each service to inform its minister, to have a coordinator of actions in order to be more ready for fires, which is why a suggestion was made for Mr. Gregoriou.
Yesterday, government spokesman Konstantinos Letympiotis said after the meeting that the existing plans for the prevention and response to fires were discussed and what was decided in the first stage is to assign the permanent secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture, Rural Development and Environment to have the coordinating role of the existing plans. He also said that similar meetings will be held in the near future under the general director of the Ministry of Agriculture in preparation for the summer season.
Mr. Letympiotis clarified that each ministry has submitted specific proposals, which will be put before the general director of the Ministry of Agriculture, who will have the coordinating role, "so that we can proceed with the implementation and evaluation of the existing plans and the means we have." Asked when specific positions are expected from the Ministry of Agriculture in order to have a comprehensive plan, Mr. Letympiotis said that in Cyprus there is a multitude of action plans for the prevention and treatment of fires. "And that's what we want to address by appointing someone who will be responsible for coordinating these plans," he said.
The government spokesman said that "there are plans that deal correctly and timely with fires, but there is an issue regarding the interaction of the competent departments and it is here that the coordinating role comes to address this gap or that delay that may be very important in dealing with fires", adding that "there is also the issue beyond the immediate measures that need to be put for this year and a more holistic medium, long-term planning to deal with but mainly to prevent fires that will need the activation of society as well".
The meeting was attended by the Ministers of Interior, Konstantinos Ioannou, Defence Michalis Giorgallas, Justice and Public Order Anna Koukkidis Prokopiou, Agriculture, Rural Development and Environment, Petros Xenofontos, the Special Adviser to the President of the Republic on Crisis Management and Civil Protection, George Boustras and government officials.
A Receiving Committee was appointed
In the meantime, the Minister of Agriculture, Petros Xenofontos, has appointed the Reception Committee which will carry out inspections on the rented firefighting equipment according to the specifications set and will examine all the necessary certificates to ensure that all the technical terms of the contract are met.
It is noted that following the issue that arose in the Audit Committee of the Parliament through a report of the Audit Office and reports by experts, the Minister of Agriculture decided after a meeting, not to exercise the option to extend the contract for the rental of firefighting helicopters for the years 2024-2025.
During the meeting of the Control Committee, concerns were openly expressed about the safety of firefighting aircraft and the ministry was asked to take initiatives in order to verify that they have the necessary certificates.
