Cyprus remains dangerously unprepared for wildfires, Charalambos Theopemptou, chair of the House environment committee warned on Wednesday.

Speaking after Tuesday’s high-level parliamentary session, Theopemptou said the country had failed to learn from past disasters and continues to make the same critical mistakes.

Theopemptou, who is also former leader of the Green Party, made the remarks following a joint meeting of the House environment, interior and agriculture committees on Tuesday, which reviewed the circumstances around last month’s deadly wildfires in Limassol district.

He described the current state of readiness as “tragically insufficient”, criticising the government for repeating promises made in the wake of earlier fires without acting on them.

“We heard the same words back then,” he said, referring to previous fires in Arakapas and Solea.

“We suffered, and we still didn’t learn. If we had taken real prevention measures, we could have avoided the destruction of property. I believe we might have even avoided death.”

Among the failings highlighted was the lack of basic fire prevention work. Theopemptou pointed to unchecked vegetation, a shortage of fire hydrants in vulnerable areas, and the use of wooden electricity poles, which were destroyed in the fires.

He said authorities could have installed metal poles or underground cables instead, a change that might have protected key infrastructure and slowed the spread of the flames.

Theopemptou was particularly critical of the disorganised evacuation efforts during the recent wildfires. Some community leaders acted independently, while others followed incorrect instructions, revealing a lack of central planning.

He called for the creation of a national command centre, run by trained professionals, to coordinate emergency responses and ensure swift, accurate decisions in future crises.

The committee heard that, despite mounting evidence of rising wildfire risk due to climate change, Cyprus has yet to fully implement essential measures. In particular, Theopemptou criticised the delay in rolling out an EU-recommended early warning system, first proposed in 2018. The system, aimed at alerting the public in real time, remains incomplete.

“This shows a lack of seriousness and urgency from the authorities,” he said.

Also present at the meeting were more members from the Green Party. They criticised the government for poor coordination and a failure to take responsibility, highlighting the minister of agriculture’s unclear answers over who is actually leading wildfire prevention efforts. They also challenged the government’s claims, made as recently as June, that Cyprus was “more prepared and strengthened than ever”.

In addition to prevention and planning, the Green Party raised the issue of compensation for fire victims. They argued that homeowners who lost property should be fully compensated, even if their buildings had irregularities, warning that the current policy of partial compensation is unfair to those who have lost everything. They also called for extended housing support for residents left without homes.

The Greens urged the state to take immediate action before the next fire season arrives. With Cyprus facing longer and hotter summers, they stressed that political will, proper planning, and preventative work are urgently needed to avoid further loss of life and devastation.