Pafos Live 28 January 2025
Two hundred and fifty banana producers in the area of Pegeia and Kissonerga are affected by the evacuation of the Mavrokolymbos dam, as mentioned at the meeting they held on Monday evening at the Akamas Cultural Center, with the participation of agricultural organizations.
In his statements, Moses Peyiotis, chairman of the Pafos Banana Producers Association Committee, told the meeting that the banana producers of the region want to maintain their crops as they have maintained them for so many years and bear fruit again this year.
He also asked that the government help them in this effort they are making to be able to cope with this difficult situation they are experiencing. During the meeting, Mr. Peyiotis continued, they heard views from banana producers and agricultural organizations in order to set their next steps on track.
We have been, as he said, "banana growers for quite some time and we demand to continue with the quantities (of water) we have had so far so that our crops can survive and bear fruit."
In case they are not given the appropriate quantities of water, then their destruction will occur, adding that these are permanent crops that take time to grow and maintain.
The President of the Pafos HOA, Charalambos Pittokopitis, who attended the gathering both as President of the Pafos District Self-Government Organization and as District Secretary of the Pan-Agricultural Union of Cyprus, said that the aim of the meeting is to discuss the problems faced by banana cultivation after the Mavrokolymbos dam disaster.
Banana cultivation is a crop grown exclusively in the area of Kissonerga, and Pegeia, he added. Therefore, he added, this crop should be supported and banana growers should be treated like all other growers in the city and district of Pafos and Pancyprian. Mr. Pittokopitis said that he understands the criticality that has been observed with the lack of water, but certainly the primary sector and especially banana cultivation must be given special attention by the State.
The deputy mayor of the Akamas district of Pegeia, Andreas Christodoulou, said that in a year of water scarcity, unfortunately, the problem of water leakage from the Mavrokolymbos dam came to be added. Farmers and especially banana producers in the region are facing the huge problem of water scarcity, he said.
Besides, the deputy mayor of Akamas district of Drouseia and deputy district of Panagrotiko Pafos said that they support farmers, adding that banana producers seem to be facing a big problem while the damage has not yet been assessed.
The problem with banana farms is bigger than other plantations because they constantly need water and the weather is against us, he added.
He said the areas served by the Mavrokolymbos dam could be covered by the large Pafos irrigation project, which is connected to other dams, ensuring water supply from the Asprokremmos dam, but the quantities will be small, he pointed out.
If proper irrigation is not done, then he pointed out, the bananas will dry out. Finally, he added that banana cultivation needs enough water and unfortunately the weather conditions do not help, he concluded.
Haris Kasioulis, District Engineer of the Water Development Department, who attended the meeting, said that the recovery horizon of the Mavrokolymbos dam can be determined after the on-site visit of the dam expert, who will assess the damage, in order to propose the appropriate technical solution to address the issue.
Kasioulis said that until this stage it cannot be determined exactly how long this wait will last. For this reason, he continued, the Water Development Department has proceeded with the connection of the Mavrokolymbos project with the large irrigation project of Pafos, which has as its main source of water the Asprokremos dam in order to maintain uninterrupted water supply in the context of the scenario that has been decided long before the dam accident.
Asked about this, Mr. Kasioulis replied that in order for the dam to be inspected, it should be accessible and it should clean and remove the volumes of mud that have accumulated at the base of the tower, which is expected to take place in the middle of next week. "At the moment the volumes of mud that have been swept away by the evacuation do not allow access to the base of the tower where the damage is and due to the rainfall that occurred last week the problem has been magnified," he noted.
