The forestry department on Tuesday sought to downplay revelations of official documents showing that it took the finance ministry six months to respond to an urgent plea for hiring forest firefighters.

The department said they were taken out of context, and insisted that the personnel situation has “greatly improved” over the past two years.

The matter came up after Akel MP Christos Christofides published correspondence between director of the forestry department Savvas Ezekiel and the Public Administration and Personnel Department, which falls under the finance ministry, on social media.

In his first letter to the finance ministry, dated January 9, Ezekiel asked for the approval of 19 positions for forest firefighters and fire wardens to cover personnel shortages due to retirements and resignations.

The letter was tagged ‘very urgent’.

The forestry department is responsible for firefighting in forest areas, while the fire service is responsible for rural and urban areas.

It took the finance ministry six months to approve the request, with official approval given on July 16. The vacancies were advertised on July 31 – eight days after the devastating wildfires that tore through mountainous areas of the Limassol district, gutting scores of homes and leaving two people dead.

In the interim, in April, Ezekiel had followed up with a second letter to the finance ministry, saying that an additional eight positions were needed – 27 in total.

According to Akel’s Christofides, the ministry’s approvals are a case of too little too late – as the earliest that the 27 will be hired is September.

“They asked for forest firefighters for the summer fires, but they got them for the winter season,” Christofides wrote on social media.

And he demanded answers for the delay.

Daily Phileleftheros contacted the Public Administration and Personnel Department, which said the delay was due to a change in hiring practices that came into effect this year.

It explained that until now, people employed at the forestry department could work as forest firefighters on a voluntary basis. They were not contractually obligated to carry out firefighting duties – someone might be hired for a desk job but can then volunteer to switch to firefighting when the need arises.

This year, the hiring process was altered: advertised vacancies specified that the job concerns firefighting.

The forestry department said on Tuesday the issue had been taken out of context, speaking of an attempt to “politically exploit” the recent fires in Limassol district.

On the contrary, it pointed out, “over the last two years major efforts have been made to man the forest firefighting corps…”

It said that since 2024, forest firefighters have increased by 108 following a cabinet decision.

Currently, it noted, the department employs 702 firefighters, “the highest number ever”.