Not even a month has passed since the fire in the Vani area, where we stressed «the urgent need to fully staff the Fire Department of the island, which is isolated from the mainland, with personnel and resources even at the last minute, before a catastrophic fire like the one in 2017. Therefore, we expect from the government of the Southwest and its local executives, instead of euphemisms and statements -which at the same time highlight the complete lack of a plan for prevention and protection from fires- to take immediate measures to strengthen the Fire Brigade of Kythera».
The fires of the last few days have unfortunately confirmed what we had reported. It is characteristic that the fire in its first phase occurred in Pitsinades and followed the same course as the devastating fire of 2017, which had burned 1/3 of the island. In its second phase in the resurgence towards Kypriotiyanika and Mitata, with the change of winds it moved into green, virgin parts, leaving behind ash and debris. Mylopotamos took the most devastating blow from the fire.
Overall the damage is enormous, to the natural environment, to houses, to beehives, to olive trees, to livestock.
The extent, intensity and duration of the fire - despite the heroic efforts of the firefighting forces - tragically reveal the extent of the government's long-standing responsibilities for forest protection, expressed by the lack of a modern and updated fire prevention planning, with the main focus on prevention and the breakdown of the unified response to forest fires and the necessary and appropriate staffing of all services and specialties related to fire management (foresters, foresters, foresters, agronomists, firefighters, rescuers, etc.). Furthermore, the current government of the New Democracy (ND) and the previous ones are responsible for the deficiencies in the road network, the overall infrastructure, the ground fire-fighting equipment, the incomplete or even non-existent fire protection zones and the underfunding of the fire service.
These are the effects of the «green transition» policy and the cost-benefit concept that treats forests as a commodity and turns them into burnt land or wind turbine and photovoltaic parks.
These effects are not dealt with in the «run my little feet» logic that the use of 112 fosters. A striking proof of this is the evacuation from Limniona beach on Saturday afternoon of all those who fled there and were not tourists or holidaymakers, as misleadingly reported in all the urban media. Instead, they had gone there
following exactly the evacuation instructions sent to their mobile phone! Another confirmation of where the selective nakedness of the urban state and the total lack of a plan, which is struggling to cover up its responsibilities through the messages of 112, is leading.
The destruction of our country has a name and it is the policy of all governments that lights the fuse, the selective inability of the state to support the people and leaves our country unprotected. The government of the New Democracy continues its unpopular work, with the backing of SYRIZA, PASOK and the other forces that support the core of its policy. Once again the people have been left in the chaos of the fires. Together with the superhuman efforts of the fire brigades, they fought the battle to save their livelihoods and the environment against the inflammatory policy of the bourgeois state and capital.
The «combustible materials» such as the policy that counts our needs as a cost and weighs human lives, people's property and environmental protection against the «strength of the economy», the interests and profits of large business groups, remain and are here in our country.
Here and now:
-To proceed with the recording of all damages, and to initiate the direct, fulls and unconditional and unconditional compensation to those affected by the fire at 100%
-Upgrading of the Fire Brigade to a Fire Service
- Permanent staffing and full equipment of the Fire and Forestry Services.
-An integrated forest protection and prevention plan under the responsibility of the state.
-Execution of erosion and flood control works immediately, without delays and pretexts.
30/7/2025
