EOAs call for independent authority to manage Cyprus water resources

Nicosia, Cyprus. Cyprus needs a single, independent authority to manage its water resources, Nicosia district local government organisation (EOA) chief Constantinos Yiorkadjis told the House agriculture committee on Tuesday.

Water management proposal

Yiorkadjis said the proposal was submitted on behalf of all EOAs during a committee session examining the legal framework governing water resource management.

He said responsibility for managing water was currently divided among ministries.

“At the moment the responsibilities for the management of water, the most valuable asset we have in Cyprus, are scattered among ministries,” he said.

Yiorkadjis has previously said a unified authority should oversee the full water chain, including supply, sanitation, irrigation, resource management, consumer pricing and future infrastructure investment.

Water delivery concerns

The second issue raised with MPs concerned the delivery of water from the water development department (WDD) to EOAs.

Yiorkadjis said water was frequently delivered to points one or two kilometres from the district organisations’ storage tanks rather than directly to the tanks. He said this created additional costs from leaks and the maintenance of infrastructure not owned by the district bodies.

“The district organisations, as financially independent, are forced to add costs and taxes while the state itself saves,” he said. “We demand that the water be delivered to our own tanks.”

Stormwater infrastructure projects

Yiorkadjis said recent severe weather had highlighted the absence of a unified rainwater pipe network, as individual municipalities had historically been responsible for maintaining their own systems before local government reform.

Repair and reinforcement work on the culvert in Digenis Akritas, between Vasilopotamos and Kotsirkas, is due to begin next month at a cost of €2.3 million.

A separate study on stormwater drains between Lakatamia and Strovolos, near the Apoel stadium, is under way, with construction expected to begin early next year.