Filenews 9 December 2024 - by Dora Christodoulou
Following the destruction of the Pafos Desalination Plant by the fire that broke out on Friday night, the worrying situation that this disaster now creates in the water balance and mainly in the water supply and irrigation of Pafos is now at the center of the processes.
Representatives of the Water Department, the Ministry of Agriculture, the President of the Pafos EDA, Pambos Pittokopitis and MPs of the district directly speak of a significant impact on the efforts made to address the water problem. The unit destroyed by the fire contributed about 1/3 of the water Pafos needs for its water supply, while in off-seasons, such as the one we are going through, this percentage became even higher, they stressed. Now, plans and strategies are necessarily being adjusted in order to avoid interruptions in the water supply of the city and district of Pafos, they said, with the obvious burden on other sources, such as dams and boreholes.
Today a scheduled meeting with the Water Department is taking place at the Ministry of Agriculture, during which the primary issue to be examined will now be the destruction of the Pafos desalination plant and the actions to be taken in immediate time to compensate for the losses that this disaster creates in the water supply of the district. It is also expected, according to competent officials, that this total destruction will serve as a catalyst for the acceleration of the operation procedures of mobile desalination plants on the island.
This very negative development was also commented by the President of Democracy, Nikos Christodoulides, on Saturday from Pyrgos Tyllirias: Fortunately there are no human losses, he stressed. It was my first concern last night. I immediately spoke with the president of the community, Mr. Kaiser, to make sure there were no casualties. Beyond that, it's a negative development. What I can tell you with certainty, President Christodoulides said, is that we will do everything possible to continue the uninterrupted supply of water. I already spoke with the Minister of Agriculture the same evening, to see what is happening with the mobile units, to run the procedures faster, so that the uninterrupted water supply can continue.
The Minister of Agriculture, Maria Panayiotou, visited the site on Saturday morning and said that the plant's factory has unfortunately burned down, but the accompanying works and infrastructure seem to be in good condition.
He also noted that he is in direct contact with the contractor planning the next day. The contractor is already taking action, Panayiotou stressed, and the state's priority is to continue uninterrupted water supply to the area and the reopening of the unit as soon as possible. For this reason, he observed, we are adjusting the design and examining together with the contractor all possible solutions.
The readiness of the contractor as well as the commitment of the government and especially the President of the Republic to the immediate resolution of technical problems is an important guarantee for the next steps, he said.
