Agriculture Minister Maria Panayiotou on Tuesday visited flood-affected banana plantations near the Paphos district village of Kissonerga.
During her visit, she confirmed that the first estimations regarding the cost of the damage caused by the floods had been completed, and that compensation would be paid to those impacted in December.
“Our ministry’s priority is to offer direct and practical support to farmers. It is my duty to visit farmers who were affected by the weather conditions we saw on Saturday,” she said.
She went on to explain that the money paid out to farmers would be sourced from the government’s risk management plan, and that this will be done “as soon as possible”.
“We follow a specific procedure and methodology to do this right and to be able to compensate everyone to the extent allowed for each crop. We want to be by their side in practice,” she added.
With this in mind, she noted that there had been a delay in her initial estimate of when the money would be paid out, given that she had said it was her aim for cabinet to approve the amount payable within the month of November.
“It appears from our first calculation that this will not be possible. Our goal is to have it done within December, but also to proceed as soon as possible and begin this process immediately,” she said.
She added that it is her aim for farmers “to return to normality as soon as possible”.
Meanwhile, Limassol deputy district officer Elektra Papageorgiou said her office will accept reports of storm damage until Wednesday.
She added that around 80 incidences of damage in the district have been reported so far.
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