Financial assistance to fire struck to start Monday

Financial assistance for those affected by large fires earlier this summer will start being dispensed from Monday, deputy government spokeswoman Niovi Parisinou said.

Immediate assistance was deemed necessary for those whose properties were lost or damaged by the devastating fires in Tala on June 26 and the mountainous areas of Larnaca and Limassol on July 3, where it burned some 55 square kilometres of land and killed four people.

As the interior ministry’s grant has reached the Limassol, Larnaca and Paphos district administrations, immediate one-off payments to those affected are expected to begin on Monday, Parisinou said.

At the same time, she said that the deadline for the agriculture ministry’s financial assistance plans for affected farmers is on Tuesday, adding that payments are expected to begin this week.