Strong reactions have been expressed by livestock farmers in the areas of Timi and Anarita in Paphos district over new measures implemented by the agriculture ministry to protect animals from foot-and-mouth disease.

Specifically, the decision to open the roads between Timi and Anarita from 5am and close them from 7am is, according to the farmers, creating serious problems in the daily operation of livestock units.

Farmers state that the measures do not take into account the real needs of their profession, as unit owners should have free access to their facilities at any time of the day.

As livestock farmer Argyro Ioannou said, many animals are currently giving birth, making the continuous presence of owners necessary. She said that under the current measures they may not be able to return to their farms before 11am or even 2pm, something which entails serious losses. At the same time, she questioned who will cover the financial cost of this situation.

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She pointed out that, despite contacts with the agriculture department, the responses they received were limited to “these are the instructions”, speaking of a lack of flexibility.

She also stressed that farmers should not be left “at the mercy of God” and called for there to be no policing during the day, as, she argued, the owners themselves are able to control who enters and exits their units.

According to Ioannou, the implementation of the measures forces farmers to move towards their units “like thieves”, as she put it, while she said oversight should be limited to night-time hours.

She added that livestock farmers themselves were among the first to take protective measures, as they have no interest in the spread of foot-and-mouth disease.

For her part, livestock farmer from Anarita Cleopatra Kyprianou said the measures should mainly target external visitors and not the owners of the units themselves.

As she said, their daily lives have become particularly difficult, putting the viability of their livestock activities at risk.

“You cannot restrict the owner of livestock units,” she concluded.