In 2016, a fire that raged for four days in the Solea area burned 18,570 hectares of land and destroyed an entire ecosystem of many years, while two forest firefighters lost their lives in the effort to extinguish it.
As it was found out, the fire started from a 12-year-old playing with a lighter outside a holiday home in Evrychou. No one would want to be in the shoes of that child or his parents.
And yet, today, some other children and other parents are responsible for another fire, fortunately much smaller in scale and without loss of human lives. T
he two minors, aged 12 and 13, are said to have caused the fire in Trimiklini while playing with fireworks.
In this particular case, we should look for the moral perpetrators. In April, after a fire in Paphos caused by fireworks set off at a hotel event, the Minister of Agriculture announced the revocation of all permits for the use of fireworks.
“This cannot be happening with these weather conditions,” she said. However, without a change in weather conditions, the revocation lasted only two weeks.
And again, wherever there is a wedding or celebration, fireworks are used.
The Paphos fire was not the first one caused by fireworks, hence the issue had reached the Parliament, with the director of the Mining Department, who is responsible for licensing fireworks, strongly opposing the ban to “not affect our tourist product.”
Ten days ago, MP Charalambos Theopemptou raised various questions about the intention to license the storage of fireworks in an outdoor container, under a tent, in the Agia Varvara area, contrary to the provisions of the Local Plan for the area south of Nicosia.
Despite the reasonable questions and the reactions of the locals, the various competent bodies, from the Fire Service to the Department of Environment, sided – through their representatives in an open discussion on the issue – in favour of licensing.
We should also look for moral perpetrators in the case of the Saittas dam drying up. Activists had been warning for a long time that in the event of a fire, firefighting aircraft would not be able to refuel with water, as they could have done if the dam’s water was not diverted towards Trimiklini to serve private interests.
The investigation into the matter has been completed, but private individuals continue to divert the dam’s water, and the fire showed another side effect of the scandal.
And since adults prefer fireworks and caviar, disregarding nature, why should minors be aware of the consequences?