The Fire Service has launched an inspection campaign of the areas along the buffer zone to identify vulnerable spots to ask competent state authorities for the necessary clearing and clean-up work so that houses and buildings in the government-controlled areas are not threatened, Fire Service Spokesperson Andreas Kettis, told CNA, here on Friday.
In his statements to the Cyprus News Agency, Kettis said that after a fire that broke out in the Nicosia district and threatened many properties in the government-controlled areas, “we started a campaign to inspect along the buffer zone, as we are doing island wide at this time in all communities, to identify where there are vulnerable spots and to appeal to the competent state authorities to carry out the necessary clearing of rubbish or brush clearing, so that properties and houses in the government-controlled areas are not threatened.”
Referring to an incident on Thursday when a Fire Service Officer was “arrested” by Turkish occupying “authorities” during an inspection concerning vegetation clearance at the boundaries of the Buffer Zone close to the government-controlled areas and was later released, he said that the Fire Service attempted to do this yesterday.
Kettis said there is a serious issue with fires that start in the occupied areas and spread to the government-controlled areas, as was the case in Nicosia where houses and properties were threatened, and the aim is to inform local authorities and the communities bordering the buffer zone so that the necessary brush clearings and clean-ups are carried out to avoid any threat to the government-controlled areas.
Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkey invaded and occupied its northern third. Repeated rounds of UN-led peace talks have so far failed to yield results. The latest round of negotiations, in July 2017 at the Swiss resort of Crans-Montana ended inconclusively.