The President of the Republic and the Government as a whole are on the side of the communities of mountainous Larnaca for what needs to be done, after the disastrous fire of July 3, 2021, the Commissioner for the Environment Klelia Vassiliou said on Sunday .
Ms. Vassiliou was speaking at the opening of a photo exhibition about last year's devastating fires that hit eight villages in mountainous Larnaca and Limassol entitled “Before-During-After” which took place today, Sunday, July 3, at Oras Primary School.
The exhibition was co-organized by the Office of the Environment Commissioner and the “Phoenix” Association, in collaboration with the Photographic Society of Cyprus – Department of Limassol, while it will be presented to all the communities affected by the fire.
In her speech Ms. Vassiliou said that “one year exactly after the catastrophic fire – the mega fire, which occurred last year in the area, today is particularly charged. This is what we have to deal with because of the climate crisis, fires that are moving very differently than we remember in the past, because the Earth's temperature is rising, the winds are different and extreme weather events are not helping this effort at all. . The part of prevention and our own contribution to preventing a fire from starting is of enormous importance,” he said.
He added that “through the photographic exhibition, many messages are recorded that have to do with how it seems that the earth is being reborn, but also that some of the pieces have not been affected by the fire, because they were cared for, loved, cleaned, had vines planted in them and it's something that we have to look at again how we bring back again, for biodiversity purposes and to support the land for erosion, greening, restoring biodiversity. All these are issues that are being examined by the Services and are integrated into the new Rural Development program”.
He also noted that “as a government we declare our presence, with the President of the Republic first, on the side of Phoenix and the Communities from the first moment, in absolute and direct cooperation for everything we had to do. It was impressive how the Services worked for the anti-erosion works, which were implemented in record time, since the first of the objectives was to retain the soil, prevent the possibility of flooding and enable the process of regenerating nature to be rationalized ».
A year later, the Environment Commissioner continued, “we see the earth turning green again, there have been several tree plantings in many communities, along the roads, wherever we could intervene, always in a friendly way, because many times, even out of excessive love, it can to make interventions that are not beneficial. We should always be careful and listen to the advice of experts and scientists” he said and noted that all the Services were at the disposal of the area, for the trees and the places where they should be planted and the restoration that should be done with the removal materials and materials that were in the earth.
Ms. Vassiliou also said that “there is a lot that we have planned and still have to do, but I consider it a day of optimism. The President of the Republic, myself, the Ministers and the government as a whole are on the side of “Phoenix” and the Communities of the region for everything that is needed and what else needs to be done”.
For her part, Christina Michael, President of the Phoenix Association, the Initiative Group that was created after the July 3 fires, said that “today is a day with many memories and emotions, since last year on such a day we all lost something, a piece of land, a house and of course four people our villagers. A year later we see people creating through the fallout, hoping and not giving up”.
He added that “the exhibition wants to capture exactly this, that the regeneration and reorganization of the villages must definitely continue with the same intensity and love and through collaborations and specific actions, in the performance of roles and responsibilities to make our areas self-sufficient with focusing on the local people and sustainable development”.
He also stated that the goal of the exhibition is “to give the message that we are still here, trying and reborn from our ashes. We were particularly moved by the impact it had in the world and the embrace of the idea by all the co-organizers, the citizens, the fellow villagers” he said and noted that a total of 300 photos were taken while the Photography Company chose 100 to be presented in the exhibition.
< p class="text-paragraph">Besides, Andreas Iakovou, President of the Photographic Society of Cyprus, Limassol Branch, said that “it was a special honor for us when a delegation from Foinikas asked us to capture the aftermath, but also to collect material from before and during the fire for today's exhibition. The Photographic Society could not not participate because it produces art, photography is art and art produces culture”.
He added that “what the Phoenix is trying to do and the symbolism of the mythical bird, it is the rebirth and we see that several places have turned green. We are and will be next to Foinikas, whenever he asks us to, to help and record points of the area either from the fire-affected areas or from the various Communities”.
Referring to the material gathered, Mr. Iakovou said that “it is enough and it was a difficult choice to choose the 100 photos that clearly capture what we wanted to show, the regeneration and the effort to prevent such evil from happening again”.
The President of the Oras Aristos Miltiados Community thanked everyone who contributed to the organization of the exhibition, “especially the team of Foinikas for the initiative they took, in a short period of time to do everything we can for the surrounding Communities. For us today is a special and difficult day because memories come to each of us”.
Particularly moved and with tears in his eyes, Mr. Miltiados said that “I personally still haven't forgotten it, nor have I gotten over it, I don't know how long it will take for this to happen. We had other fires in the area but we didn't expect what happened, to lose 65 kilometers, it's something that none of the communities thought we would experience something like this”.
Ioannis Pavlou, Head of the Forestry Department in Lythrodontas sent the message that “we must be very careful when we visit the forests because one spark is enough to bring destruction. The fire that broke out in the communities of mountainous Larnaca was the worst and the message must be given that we must be careful”.
He noted that “a fire does not start by itself, while addressing the people who have holiday homes, he said that “they must clean them, take care of them because it is another reason for a fire to start”.
Furthermore, DISY MP Prodromos Alabritis congratulated the organizers of the exhibition and called it “touching the effort made by the community leaders of the region and also the people to revitalize and regenerate their region”.
At the same time, he thanked “all those who contributed to the reconstruction and revitalization of the area by the state machine, the government, the relevant Ministries and also the thousands of volunteers who, with tree planting and other efforts, contribute to the rebirth of the place”.
The exhibition will be hosted until July 8 at Oras Primary School, from 9-7 at the Odos Cultural Center, from 20 – July 26 at the Cultural Center of Eptagonia.
The exhibition will also be presented from August 8 – 14 at the Panagia Chryseleoussa Melini Cultural Center, from 15 – August 21 at the Central Cafe of Akapnous and from 23 – August 29 at Vavatsinias Primary School, while from September 6-13 at the Arakapa Multi-Purpose Hall.
It is noted that copies of the photos will be available for sale at all exhibition hosting points and the proceeds will be allocated to support the “Phoenix” Voluntary Association.
Source: KYPE
