Akel MP Argentoula Ioannou has called for state intervention over the reported living conditions of a grandmother and her grandson living in a container without water, electricity or a bed.

Ioannou raised the issue in a Facebook post accompanied by video footage, saying the family had lost their home and property after a bank foreclosure and were now living among stacked shipping containers.

“Since last Thursday, they [the government] have been informed about these images of destitution involving a grandmother and grandson,” Ioannou wrote, accusing authorities of failing to act despite being informed of their situation.

She said the pair were living in squalor with only a few belongings in a container on a plot of land.

Ioannou said a dilapidated structure on the site had effectively been turned into a bedroom.

The MP called on the deputy social welfare minister to visit the site and see the conditions for themselves.

“Come, deputy minister, and let me take you down the dirt road leading to the containers,” she wrote, describing it as “the road of misery”.

She said the grandmother and her grandson had been waiting for state assistance since last year.

Ioannou also lambasted what she described as official inaction, writing that the welfare state should “show some sensitivity” and “at the very least, be ashamed”.

In a further reference to the reported conditions, she claimed the site was affected by rats and mosquitoes and urged officials visiting the area to wear protective clothing.

The authorities had been informed of the family’s situation a week before Ioannou’s post, according to her account.