Filenews 2 October 2025
The Minister of the Interior, Constantinos Ioannou, had a meeting today with the Community Presidents of the areas of the Limassol District that were affected by the fire of last July in the Community of Pachna. The meeting was attended by the Commissioner for the Development of Mountain Communities, Charalambos Christofinis, the President of the Union of Communities of the Limassol District, Lefteris Pericles, and officials of the District Administration.
Mr. Ioannou stated that the purpose of the meeting was to examine the progress of the implementation of the measures that had been announced for the restoration of the damage. As he mentioned, the general picture is positive, without substantial problems, while the individual issues raised by Communities are being promoted in cooperation with the Prefect for resolution.
Regarding the compensation applications, the Minister informed that 699 applications were submitted on time, of which 540 have already been examined and the beneficiaries were either compensated or informed about the signing of the relevant declaration of acceptance. At the same time, 144 overdue applications have been submitted, the examination of which begins next week.
Regarding fire protection, Mr. Ioannou stressed that by decisions of the Council of Ministers, €1 million were allocated for cleaning in communities around the forests, while an additional fund of €2.1 million was approved for the creation of 200-meter fire zones around the communities. The Community of Lofou has already proceeded with cleanups, while others are in the process of receiving offers. The credits, he noted, will remain available to carry out work in the next period.
In relation to insurance companies, the Minister clarified that the compensations will be paid normally, provided that the citizens have paid the instalments of the premiums. He acknowledged, however, that in some cases the estimates of the insurance companies are lower than the actual damages. For this reason, he recommended that those affected also proceed to a private assessment in addition to ETEK, while in case of disagreement they can submit an objection to the Appeals Committee.
