Despite the economic crisis and the difficult conditions due to the pandemic, the National Strategic Development of Mountain Communities is a priority for the President of the Republic, because only through its implementation will sustainable development occur in mountain communities, said the Commissioner of Mountain Communities Costas Hambiarou .
Mr. Hambiaouris, who briefed the Parliamentary Committee on Energy, Trade and Industry today, said that the National Strategy consists of 250 actions and is the first time that such a strategy has been adopted by the Government, something that happened in 2019. These actions He added that they must be implemented within a time frame by 2030. He explained that there are short-term, medium-term and long-term actions and that they hope that by 2023 the short-term actions, which are 140 in total, will be completed.
Indicatively, he stated that in cooperation with the Ministry of Interior, they are proceeding with the planning for the creation of a craft area in Linos and with the Ministry of Justice, they are proceeding with the planning for the construction of a helipad in Linos. He also said that the creation of a Regional Support Center for the Elderly in Fini has been completed, some nursery schools have been completed and the upgrade works of Troodos Hospital are in progress.
Asked how the gap left by the closure of the Co-operation in the mountain communities is being resolved, he said that some efforts are being made to reopen some areas because there is indeed a problem. He noted that they have recorded the situation and forwarded the requests of the residents to the competent departments to advance the issue for its resolution.
The Chairman of the Committee, DISY MP Andreas Kyprianou, said he was very excited and satisfied, since as he said for the first time in the history of Cyprus there is a huge project underway through the National Strategy for Mountain Communities until 2030 with 250 actions to be implemented .
He said that in the Strategy there are three policy axes that concern the economy / production, the way of life of the rural inhabitants, the nature and the environment, with a series of horizontal and integrated actions. He expressed the view that these three pillars will stop astyphilia and lead to the development of the Cypriot countryside.
He noted that the aim is to create handicrafts of agricultural and other products in the countryside to create jobs, to create in the countryside education infrastructure and the development in the mountainous areas of health infrastructure of European level. He added that the goal is also similar infrastructure of road network, electricity, water supply, garbage collection.
“The countdown for the countryside has begun,” he said, expressing satisfaction that the Commission is present in all these actions that will lead to the revival and survival of the Cypriot countryside.
AKEL MP Costas Costa said that the residents of the mountain communities of Troodos and the countryside in general feel that they have been abandoned by the state, since they were essentially left to fight alone to solve their serious problems.
He said that there are no staffed medical centers, incentives to create new jobs, schools are few and far between, there are no offices of essential government services and the suffering for the elderly due to the closure of the Cooperative is unbelievable. He further referred to the outdated and dangerous road network and the abandonment of the villages by their inhabitants.
At the same time, he said that the National Strategy for the Development of Mountain Communities mentions important actions and it is important that some of them have been implemented or paved.
As he said, what the inhabitants of the Troodos communities and the wider countryside need are finally important projects that will solve their multiple problems. Strategies, studies and promises must be translated, as he said, into deeds.
