The water development department on Friday moved to defend itself after receiving criticism from MPs during Thursday’s session of the House audit committee.

It said it has undertaken a “comprehensive programme of projects and studies for the maintenance of reservoirs”, and that this “is reflected in a series of actions”.

Those actions, it said, include “the strengthening of the staffing of the dam safety service, the assignment of specialised studies to experts, and the increase in funds for the dam maintenance budget”.

To this end, it said it has spent “almost €2 million” on maintenance over the course of the last decade, and that it has also allocated over €2.8m between this year and 2027 for “targeted projects, including waterproofing and restoration works, as well as extensive maintenance works”.

“Despite the staffing difficulties caused by what happened in previous years, the water development department has already strengthened the dam safety service and utilises both its own personnel and specialised contractors so that all projects are implemented safely and with expertise”.

It then added that work is “underway” to recruit more people to “strengthen the service, both in terms of labour and scientific potential”.

Additionally, it said, both itself and the agriculture ministry “reaffirm that the safety of the dams is a constant priority and that all necessary measures are being taken to ensure that safety on an ongoing basis”.

“Currently, various maintenance works are in full progress,” it said, adding that “our goal is to compete all critical interventions within schedules and to establish a permanent annual preventative maintenance programme”.

On Thursday, Akel MP Irene Charalambides said Agriculture Minister Maria Panayiotou and her ministry’s permanent secretary Andreas Gregoriou should have attended Thursday’s meeting “to apologise for the situation which arose due to water shortages”.

“What have they done in the last 10 years?” she asked.

Committee chairman and Diko MP Zacharias Koulias, meanwhile, said hat at present, “the situation is indeed dramatic for the dams” and that “today, there is an urgent need to maintain the dangerous dams which are above populated areas”.

“If not, if a dam breaks, we will mourn lives,” he said, before calling on the government, President Nikos Christodoulides, and Panayiotou to “take action immediately”.

Dam safety service head Stella Patsali had told the committee that her service “did not exist in previous years as a result of a hiring freeze brought about by the economic crisis”.

Asked by Koulias about the state of the dam safety service’s staff, she said it needs seven new workers to join its existing team. As such, he asked her to submit a memorandum detailing the team’s needs.