Filenews 13 March 2025 - by Michalis Hadjivasilis
The MPs did not even touch on the bill on lampratzies because they consider it unworkable due to the reactions of the local authorities, but a proposal for a law is being promoted that will completely prohibit the lighting of fires.
In this way, even the lighting of a lamp will not be allowed, resulting in a custom being banned. The issue was discussed yesterday by the Legal Affairs Committee of the Parliament, which unanimously condemned the bill that provides for severe penalties of up to 10 years in prison for lighting without a lamp license in case a fire breaks out. In a kind of storm, the municipalities and communities also set fire to the outside, the bill that should be noted went to Parliament in the form of urgency in order to prevent this Easter.
As things stand now, and if a proposal for a law is passed that will be prepared by the Committee on Legal Affairs to comply with the law on lighting fires, lampratzias will be completely banned and a decades-old custom will be extinguished.
As reported to "F" by the Police, if such legislation is passed then they have no choice but to apply the law and anyone who lights a fire for lambratzia will be arrested.
Green MP Charalambos Theopemptou was the first to speak, who mentioned that there is a Stockholm Convention that says it is forbidden to light fires everywhere. "We let farmers get permission to burn. Now we come as a government, to be allowed to light a fire, so there will be a conflict with a local government law and I find that unacceptable. If you go ahead I will denounce you," he said.
AKEL MP Aristos Damianou stressed that with the proposed regulations, although there is a tradition, the executive power comes to legalize illegality. There are provisions for a fire ban and with the bill we allow the lighting of fires, he added.
Justice Ministry spokesman Nikos Chrysostomou explained that an effort is being made with the bill to create a legal framework to preserve tradition and establish procedures for lighting fires, in order to prevent accidents. Strongly opposed to the bill appeared the representative of the Union of Municipalities who said that local authorities do not have the training and means to undertake this work, "it is not our business. A bill has come in and is coming in from everywhere. We can only help, not undertake. The Police must take over and the Fire Brigade must take over," he concluded.
In his intervention, Mr. Chrysostomou clarified that the responsibilities that local authorities take are to give the permit and then to designate a competent person who, in case of violation of the terms of the permit, will inform the Police to intervene. On the same wavelength as the position of the municipalities was the position of the representative of the communities, who said that the sites do not belong to the local authorities to give permission and wondered where they will find the timber to be given to the youngsters.
The representative of the Fire Brigade, Andreas Kettis, referred to the problem that exists every year with the lighting of lambratzias. Citing data to the Commission, he said that in 2020 the Service responded to 83 fires due to the custom of lambratzia, in '21 to 126, in '22 to 168, in '23 to another 235 and in 2024 to 313 incidents.
