Despite the government’s reassurances, there was no coordinated response to the fire which swept Limassol in July, the chairman of the House interior committee, Aristos Damianou said on Wednesday.

He was speaking following the joint parliamentary interior, agriculture and environment committees’ meeting on Tuesday with focus on fire management.

Damianou stated that despite efforts to battle the flames, it was clear that the higher levels of administration had difficulties prioritising the right procedures.

“There was no coordination, despite assurances to the opposite. There was a significant delay in the response time and according to mukhtar reports, village evacuations were not often carried out in an organised and coherent manner, since many residents were put in danger and left to evacuate alone,” Damianou told the Cyprus News Agency.

For his part, the agriculture committee chairman Giannakis Gabriel emphasised that the state must primarily focus on the immediate needs of fire-stricken people and villages, away from bureaucratic procedures, before critisising the government’s response to the fire.

He reported that on January 29, President Nikos Christodoulides announced the purchase of three additional firefighting aircrafts to be added to the fire brigade’s disposal of 11 existing aircrafts.

“All experts agree that the first immediate intervention of flying firefighting equipment as soon as the fire breaks out is of critical importance for its effective response,” said Gabriel.

He noted that on May 5, the agriculture minister had said that the fire brigade has the most powerful fleet and more personnel than ever, as well as a response time of 12 minutes.

“Why did it take 52 minutes for the first water drop from the aircrafts?” Gabriel asked.

Subsequently, Gabriel raised a series of questions, asking who replaced the responsible fire coordinator while he was abroad, and where was the renowned strategic planning.

Finally, referring to Akel’s proposal, he said that each community needs its own generator and fire truck and mentioned the need for increased incentives to replant vineyards and other crops in the affected areas. He also raised the need to support resettlement plans for families in the countryside and proposed infrastructure projects to facilitate rural residents and allowing free grazing in forests.