Support for the Maronite community is a national goal, of the Maronites who have been interned and resettled, Presidential Commissioner Fotis Fotiou said after the meeting of the Parliament's Refugee Committee. For this reason, there are plans to reopen the school in 2023-2024.
As Fotiou noted, the elementary school operated until 1997-98. "We want to reopen it and the government's goal is to reopen the school in the 2023-2024 school year. That is why we have approved, and are successfully implementing, a support programme for young couples. We want young couples to resettle in Kormakitis. This is the only way we can hope to reopen a school and give vitality to the community," he said.
In addition, he informed that in two or three months the construction of sports facilities and a stadium in Kormakitis, a project worth €450,000, is being implemented, which will help revitalise the community, he said.
The Commissioner for the Presidency also added that many issues related to agricultural and livestock subsidies have been resolved.
The Commissioner for the Presidency also added that many issues related to agricultural subsidies have been resolved. "We feel that we have improved these schemes very much and not to forget that recently the Ministry of Agriculture has announced a scheme where a farmer can be assisted for a craft that is related to rural development," he added.
The president of the Refugee Committee, AKEL MP Nikos Ketteros, said the committee's decision is "to do everything we can to support the Maronite community", adding that there are important problems facing the people there.
One of them, he said, is the request of the residents of Kormakitis and Karpasia to clarify the list of resettled people. "The check must be done and it must be done for everyone," he said, as there are so far no clear and specific criteria regarding the benefits they receive.
Regarding the reopening of the school, Kettiros added that there are currently 20 children in Kormakitis and it is the residents' request that a primary school and kindergarten be reopened.
Furthermore, he said that during the Commission's visit to Kormakitis, officials of the Ministry of Interior saw the building of the Community Council, which has both architectural value and where evening classes for children are held there, which has suffered a lot of damage. "Appropriate studies should be done before work can begin on this building. It is dangerous and cannot continue to host children," he said.
Another issue raised by Ketteros is the cases of Maronite internees who had been allocated a house in refugee settlements or resettled persons who did not have time to get a certificate of tenancy in refugee settlements.
"These houses the state asked to take them back. If possible from interned and resettled people, these very small houses that were given, the state wants to take them back. This thing is unacceptable. We asked the prefect of Kyrenia who represented today and the Ministry of Interior to review the issue. Otherwise we will bring a proposal for a law to prohibit this action by the government. The government should not be allowed to take the houses from these people," he noted.
Finally, another issue raised by the Maronite representatives, according to Kettiro, is the issue of unanswered calls to the Ministry of Social Welfare. "The phones are not being answered and this was raised very strongly by representatives of the Maronite community and the Deputy Minister of Welfare should look into it," he said."
DISY MP, Marios Mavridis said that the survival of the Maronite community is based solely on its four villages, which are located in the occupied areas. "The government's efforts over the years have been to preserve these villages and we thank both the government and the relevant agencies for their support to the Maronites in general."
He noted that the Maronite villages need infrastructure so that people can come back, repair the houses and be able to live there. "So that's where we need to focus, on creating infrastructure and trying to convince Maronites, young couples to return to their villages."
Source: CNA
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