Members of parliament posed dozens of questions to four members of the Cabinet and other officials during a joint meeting of three parliamentary committees, aiming to look into the responsibilities, gaps, mistakes, and omissions in the management of the deadly fires that broke out in Limassol on 23 July.
The four Ministers expressed the need to identify and address weaknesses in firefighting during the 5 August meeting.
The marathon meeting of the parliamentary committees on Internal Affairs, Agriculture, and the Environment, was attended by a total of 79 guests, including the Minister of Interior, Constantinos Ioannou, the Minister of Defence, Vassilis Palmas, the Minister of Justice and Public Order, Marios Hartsiotis, and the Minister of Agriculture, Rural Development, and Environment Maria Panayiotou.
After a minute's silence in memory of the two victims of the fire and the initial statements by the Chairmen of the three Committees and the House President, Annita Demetriou, who chaired the meeting, the members of Parliament, by party, submitted a series of questions to be answered by the Ministers.
“We are not here to judge”
In her opening statement, Demetriou said that “we are not here to judge” but to see what went wrong and not to find ourselves unprepared again.
She also expressed everyone's gratitude to the Fire Service, the Police, the members of the Civil Defence and the Forestry Department, as well as to the volunteers who fought the fire.
Minister of the Interior, Constantinos Ioannou, said that the findings of the reports submitted to the President regarding the fires, by four competent authorities, would help identify weaknesses, while also highlighting the important contribution of a team of experts from the US expected to arrive to the island on Wednesday.
He also referred to the decision of the Council of Ministers to create a Civil Protection Mechanism and to restructure the Civil Defence in order to cover all stages of disaster management. He also announced the revision of the POLYVIOS evacuation plan, to clarify certain points and resolve problems.
He added that all suggestions made by MPs and political parties are taken into consideration and adopted to the greatest possible extent. "We are focusing on repairing the damage," he said, noting that 236 of the 295 applications for one-off payments, totaling €1.669 million, have been reviewed and approved so far.
Regarding the consequences of the fire, the Minister of Agriculture, Rural Development, and Environment, Maria Panayiotou, said that 96.11% of private land has been burned, 3.89% of land under cultivation and 0% of state-owned forest.
Three projects worth €25.5 million have been approved
Regarding the support for those affected and the environmental restoration, she said that three projects worth €25.5 million have been approved and are being implemented. She added that payments to more than 700 victims for loss of income for those engaged in agricultural activities had already begun on Monday.
In her statement, the Minister did not refer to the absence of the appointed by the Ministerial Council coordinator for fire issues, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture, Andreas Gregoriou, abroad when the fires broke out. This was pointed out by MPs, who asked her to comment on the matter.
According to Panayiotou, Gregoriou himself had expressed interest in traveling to Australia to represent the Republic of Cyprus at the events commemorating the anniversary of the coup and invasion to Cyprus in 1974. Before his departure, she said, Gregoriou had held all the necessary meetings with the relevant departments to ensure that the necessary measures had been taken before the critical fire season.
He also noted that Gregoriou "never played an operational role. He appointed two senior officials to represent him in his duties at the Ministry”.
Taking the floor, Gregoriou said that his absence abroad at that particular time was due to an official mission in which he represented the Presidency. "My absence did not affect the response of the services in extinguishing the fire in any way. I do not have and cannot have official duties, regardless of the decision of the Council of Ministers," he said, noting that there are operational plans that specify who does what, when, and where.
In turn, the Minister of Justice and Public Order, Marios Hartsioitis, said that since 2023, the level of surveillance of the territory of the Republic of Cyprus using technological means has increased dramatically, including through unmanned aerial systems and the acquisition of technological equipment.
"Weaknesses and shortcomings" had been observed in practice
He added that during the implementation of the plans, "weaknesses and shortcomings" had been observed in practice, which would need to be studied so that corrective action could be taken, noting at the same time that when natural forces were unleashed with such fury, the possibilities for dealing with them completely are limited.
Hartsiotis said that the reports of the services had already highlighted, indicatively and not exhaustively, suggestions that should be studied and measures taken, and called for everyone's cooperation. "Unity and cooperation are paramount," he said.
Finally, Defence Minister Vassilis Palmas referred to the decision of the Council of Ministers in February 2025 according to which the aircraft used in such incidences are not under the Forestry Department's but under the National Guard's responsibility.
Burden of responsibiliy
Chief Fire Officer Nikos Logginis stated that during the management of the fires and afterwards, he took on the burden of responsibility for coordination and was not the coordinator in charge, as the Minister of Agriculture, Maria Panayiotou, had said earlier.
"Under no circumstances could I violate the decision of the Council of Ministers and take on the role of coordinator," he said, adding that he is responsible for coordinating the Fire Service and was therefore called upon to coordinate as a liaison between the services.
His statement sparked a storm of reactions from MPs, who spoke of the Minister's criminal liability for misinforming the House, as she had earlier said that the Chief Fire Officer was the coordinator and that the role of the coordinator, as stated in the decision of the Council of Ministers, which assigned the position to Andreas Gregoriou, was not operational.
During the discussion, the floor was also given to the Chief of Police, Themistos Arnaoutis, who pointed out that reinforcements had arrived from Nicosia, while, as he noted, there were police officers in Lofou to assist in the evacuation of residents.
He added that the police had already taken 65 statements and explained that a criminal investigation was underway, while the investigation on the two victims was pending.
A “unique” phenomenon
Furthermore, the Chief of the National Guard, Georgios Tsitsikostas, spoke of a “unique” phenomenon while referring to the fires, noting that major disasters show the level of organization.
Tsitsikostas said that "the key to dealing with this is fighting the first flames," and assured everyone that "we are much better than last year."
Referring to criticism that aircraft were not flying, he said that there were many aircraft "and they were able to fly and did fly."
The Civil Defence Commander, Maria Papa, said that the evacuations were carried out according to the POLYVIOS plan, under the responsibility of the Ministry of the Interior and executed by the Civil Defence.
She added that "the POLYVIOS plan also includes the role of community council leaders," noting that "they are the first to act in evacuations."
She also explained that Civil Defence has established the role of the first responder, who goes to the field and acts as the eyes of the Service, while admitting that they encountered "weaknesses" in the field.
In a highly emotional atmosphere, the community leaders of the areas affected by the fire in the mountainous region of Limassol gave their own shocking testimonies of what they had experienced, as well as their suggestions, after identifying gaps on their part.
The Parliamentary Committees on Internal Affairs, Agriculture, and the Environment will meet again to discuss the issue at the end of August.
(Source: CNA)
