‘We are sending out an SOS for the people in our countryside’

Five communities in the Nicosia district are facing water supply difficulties after the Vyzakia reservoir dried up, the House agriculture committee heard on Tuesday, along with pleas for immediate measures to alleviate the situation.

Disy MP Savia Orfanidou, who tabled the issue, said “we are sending out an SOS for the people in our countryside”.

Orfanidou said the crops were perishing, together with farming.

“We are continuing our initiatives to highlight the serious problem of lack of water in western Nicosia,” she added.

The MPs have also discussed the Xyliatos reservoir and will be moving on to the one in Solea, where the irrigation network will have to be rebuilt, Orphanidou said.

Farmers of the Xyliatos area sent out a distress call earlier this year, warning that their crops were dying and calling on authorities to make arrangements so that water from a nearby artificial lake could be used for irrigation.

In July, experts from the agriculture ministry told the House agriculture committee that the water of Memi lake in the Xyliatos area could not be used for irrigation purposes due to environmental concerns.  

Meanwhile, the water from Solea reservoir is not being fully utilised.

“There is a huge problem in the water supply and irrigation for Vyzakia, Nikitari, Potamiou, Saint Georgios and Koutrafas. We are becoming witnesses of water cuts in Vyzakia. The countryside is slowly dying, farmers are at their limits and need financial assistance,” Orfanidou added.

Akel MP Christos Christofides, who tabled the issue along with Orfanidou, said the district was once again without water, resulting in ruined crops and dying trees.

“The water problem along with the Cyprus problem is the number one national problem. The phrase ‘we solved the water issue’ will stay in history as one more big joke. We have a serious problem and we do not have solutions,” he added.

Christofides called on the agriculture minister and the president to acknowledge the seriousness of the problem and intervene to offer immediate solutions.

Dipa MP Alekos Tryfonides said all five communities were facing serious problems and that the local authorities, despite their efforts, were unable to solve the problem that undermined the quality of life and created arid land.

Vyzakia community leader Eleni Neoptolemou said the reservoirs have dried up and the water in wells has diminished.

“We want to transport water from other reservoirs. We want new wells. We are requesting desalination from the state. We are desperately asking the state to help us,” she said.

Neoptolemou added that “we are 30 years behind other countries regarding the water issue.”