Nicosia, Cyprus. Livestock farmers are set to gather outside the presidential palace on Friday to protest the handling of the foot and mouth disease outbreak and to request a meeting with President Nikos Christodoulides. The newly founded association Voice of Livestock Farmers announced the demonstration on Thursday.
Call for talks and compensation
The group’s spokesperson, Stella Petrou, said the association expects the president to agree to receive its members at the palace. The association called for an end to the culling of animals and further sampling, and it also demanded fair compensation for affected farmers.
Petrou said the group wanted a clearer answer on compensation. She said the authorities should fine those responsible for missing animals and compensate farmers for animals that were killed.
She said it now sounded as if farmers would not be compensated and warned that the situation appeared to have gotten out of control. Petrou said the virus had reached Pachna and Paleometocho.
Earlier protests and rising tensions
The association held a protest in Pachna earlier this week and last week to oppose the slaughter and additional testing of animals in a livestock unit that had recorded the first outbreak of the disease in the Limassol area.
Tensions have risen as livestock feeders repeatedly accused the authorities of mismanaging the situation. The tensions peaked when some members of the group allegedly attacked a team of reporters covering the protest.
President’s position
Christodoulides said on Wednesday that he was ready to hold talks with the group and that there would be no second round of sampling.
He said cooperation was necessary to address the issue and added that the authorities were ready to talk with everyone.