The Ministry of the Interior has taken a series of measures and actions to fill last year's gaps that became apparent last year during the deadly fire in Mountainous Limassol, with an emphasis on those considered to be high risk.
A proposal is already being prepared to the Council of Ministers for the approval of an amount of €2 million. to be used to clean communities of dry grass and vegetation, thus creating a fire strip of 500 meters, while the fire-affected communities and others adjacent to forests will be equipped with a double-cabin fire truck.
According to information from the Ministry of the Interior, after last year's fire in Mallia and the weaknesses that appeared both in informing the residents and the communities themselves to take the necessary measures to protect them, the following have been done or are in the process of being implemented:
• A decision was taken to increase the sponsorship to the community councils from 50% to 80% for the purchase of a fire truck and about 30 additional requests have already been approved since September. 17 of them concern fire-affected areas.
• A proposal has been prepared to the Council of Ministers to grant a grant of approximately €2 million. to the community councils to carry out cleanups within a radius of 500 meters around the perimeter of their communities. The process was not delayed, but will be done consciously within April - May so that the cleaning has added value and is as close as possible to the summer season.
• A circular has been sent to the community councils since last month to carry out the cleaning of plots within the communities that is their responsibility.
• Instructions have been given for the formation of teams by provincial administrations, which will carry out inspections within May in high-risk communities, in order to confirm that the cleanups have been carried out within the communities, as well as the award of bids for the cleanups around the perimeter through the above sponsorship.
Also, the safecy application has been upgraded to inform citizens immediately in case of an evacuation need, while at the same time an immediate information system has been created by sending a message to all community leaders in an automated way, for the implementation of the "Polyvios" plan until the arrival of the members of the Civil Defense.
At the same time, the annual training on the "Polyvios" plan has started in the communities and the goal is for all districts to be at 100% by the end of April (Nicosia and Paphos are at 50% and the rest of the provinces are already at 80%).
In an effort to have constant contact with communities when there is no signal on the mobile phone (something that became apparent last year), the delivery of radios to high-risk communities has been launched, which will be completed by the end of April, as well as training them for their use. Through these radios, there will be direct contact with the Civil Defense for instructions and guidance. The Ministry of the Interior has also prepared a proposal for the lease of chain carriers and other heavy vehicles which will be ready for use during the summer season.
Another measure that is being promoted is the delivery of firefighting uniforms to some communities for use in the event of an incident. The uniforms were given by the Department of Forests to the Civil Defense, while the receipt of the additional order is expected to be given to the other communities considered to be at high risk.
With all these actions, the Ministry of the Interior and consequently the Civil Defense, have covered several issues that were observed last year, while it is pointed out that the communities themselves should take their measures in a timely manner, especially regarding the cleaning of road supports and plots.
