Wednesday, 16 March 2022, Odou
Your Most Reverend Bishop of Tamasou and Mountain, Venerable Priesthood, Honorable President of the Democratic Rally, Honorable Minister, Honorable Fellow Members of Parliament, Honorable Ambassador of the Arab Republic of Egypt to Cyprus, Honorable Mayors and members of the community councils of the region, Mr. President of the Union of Cyprus Communities, Ladies and Gentlemen,
Ezzat Salama Youssef Salama, Maged Nabil Yoynan Ragheb, Samwiel Milad Farouk Elyas and Marzouk Shohdy Marzouk Attia. All young people, peaceful breadwinners, who with honesty and patience worked hard away from their homeland, their loved ones, to provide the necessities of life for themselves and their families...
Emotion, deep sadness and regret are the emotions I feel today, coming to the beautiful village of Odous for the unveiling ceremony of the monument to the four Egyptians who lost their lives in the devastating fires of last July. This monument - a commendable action by the Odos Community Council - is not only a fitting tribute, but also a minimal token of gratitude and remembrance to the unfortunate Egyptian industrialists.
Ladies and gentlemen,
The fire of Saturday 3 July 2021 was the most devastating since the establishment of the Republic of Cyprus. It broke out in the village of Arakapas in the Limassol district and very quickly spread to the villages of the surrounding area (Eptagonia, Akapnou, Ora, Melini, Sykopetra, Odou, Agioi Vavatsinias and Vavatsinias), leaving behind four dead and burnt land, both cultivated and forested, which reached 67 square kilometres. The battle with the flames was uneven and our country experienced another black July. Houses were destroyed, a large number of vehicles were burnt and huge damage was caused to several businesses, greenhouses and other facilities. The firestorm lasted for two twenty-four hours and about 600 personnel from the Forestry Department, the Cyprus Police, the Fire Service, the Civil Defence, the Game and Wildlife Service, the Limassol and Larnaca District Administrations, the National Guard, the community councils of the villages in question and ordinary citizens of the area contributed selflessly to its extinguishing.
Friends,
Apart from the huge ecological destruction and material damage, the greatest sadness, unfortunately, is the loss of four human lives. The Egyptian workers who worked in tomato plantations and were burned alive in the line of duty.
It is with a heavy sense of responsibility that we offer a memorial service for the repose of their souls and again express our sincere condolences to their families, although it is impossible to ease their pain and face the "why" of the unjust loss of their own people. All together today, people and state, with feelings of deep sorrow and grief, we unveil their monument, which will serve as a testimony of eternal memory. May their memory be eternal.
Ladies and gentlemen,
May the painful experience of the fire be transformed into a positive force for change. A change of political vision, so that the environment is put forward as a priority political objective. A change in the behaviour of each individual citizen, who must realise that neither negligent nor deliberate ecological disasters are permitted. As the risk of fires continues to lurk in our country, we all need to focus on prevention and better cooperation between all the bodies and services involved in extinguishing fires. Moreover, the Recovery and Resilience Plan has included a budget for the purchase of aircraft and improved forest firefighting.
I am also pleased to report, taking advantage of the presence of the Ambassador of Egypt, that this cooperation and collective response extends to the state level and we thank once again our friendly country for its readiness to send assistance to extinguish the fire. The relations between Egypt and Cyprus in particular are strengthened as never before with cooperation and bilateral relations in support of addressing common challenges and issues of common strategy and we are particularly pleased with this development, which is why we as the House of Representatives will try to strengthen this effort even more at the parliamentary level.
In closing, I would like to thank the Odous Community Council for the initiative of building the monument and for the honor of having given me the opportunity to meet with you. Such initiatives are a testimony to the ethos, the noble soul, and the feelings of support and philanthropy of our people.
Thank you.
(MB/EXP)
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