Angry farmers close roundabout (updated)

With the participation of 50 to 60 tractors, farmers from western Nicosia closed the Kokkinotrimithia roundabout on Sunday in protest over the unequal treatment they receive.

The farmers gathered at the Akaki packing house and drove to the roundabout before closing it for 10 minutes at noon.

They said that the government has done nothing to remove the discrimination and unequal treatment they claim they face.

“We appeal to the President of the Republic to take the initiative to settle the problem, as our request is long overdue, and it remains for the state to assume its responsibility,” Yiannos Theodoulou speaking on behalf of the demonstrators said.

He said farmers have exhausted the dialogue and frustrated that while they were told they were right seeing no action felt the only option left to them was to demonstrate.

The protest, he added, was symbolic and lasted only ten minutes so as not to inconvenience people and send the message that “our tolerance will not continue.

The main problem, he said, is the “unbearable” cost of pumping water for irrigation.

He said that with state intervention the cost of irrigation is 17 cents, but for farmers in the region who draw water from private boreholes it amounts to €1, more than five times the cost for others.

Due to the high cost of pumping water, many were forced to leave the profession, he said.

“We hope the President will appreciate our responsible stance not to inconvenience people, to remove injustice so that we are not forced to escalate the measures,” he concluded, outlining these would be made on October 1.