President Nikos Christodoulides on Thursday thanked everyone who helped fight the raging wildfires in the Limassol district, stressing that preserving human life was the utmost priority throughout, while pledging financial assistance to those suffering damage to their property.
“Protecting human life is our goal, and these are the clear instructions to all those now operating in this great effort to put out the fires,” Christodoulides said.
He was speaking to journalists in the afternoon while visiting the operations centre in Limassol.
“Since yesterday [Wednesday] we have been dealing with an unprecedented situation,” he added.
“Nothing like this has happened before in the Republic of Cyprus.”
As for the material damage – thought to be extensive – the president promised full compensation from the state. He had already spoken to the finance minister about this.
Likewise those whose businesses were affected would receive financial relief.
The president made a point of thanking all persons who since Wednesday had made “superhuman efforts” in battling the blaze.
He also extended warm thanks to Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Israel, Sweden, Spain and Greece for their swift response in providing assistance.
Asked whether RescEU – the EU’s civil protection mechanism – might have been activated sooner, Christodoulides said it was in fact activated immediately.
The issue was the distance to Cyprus, but also because other European countries have their own fire-related requirements to deal with.
On whether there would be some probe to determine if mistakes were made, Christodoulides sidestepped the question, repeating that “human lives are the prime concern”.
But he did say that an “evaluation” of the situation would be done. Each involved department or agency would make their evaluations, and these would be publicised.
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