Etek calls for Nestor response plan to be tested through exercises

Nicosia, Cyprus. Etek chairman Constantinos Constanti said the newly introduced Nestor response plan should be tested through exercises covering a range of scenarios, following its implementation during a serious accident on the Nicosia-Larnaca motorway.

The justice ministry said the response to Thursday’s crash involving a truck and a private vehicle demonstrated the plan’s philosophy and basic principles in practice.

Complex motorway operation

Nestor was developed after an earlier serious road incident left a motorway closed for about seven hours.

According to the ministry, Thursday’s accident presented a complex test for the new arrangements. The overturned truck was carrying gravel and towing a second articulated trailer, complicating its removal.

Police coordinated the response, while private crews cleared gravel spilled across the road and private cranes were used to remove the vehicles. Traffic was diverted through alternative routes.

Ministry assessment

The ministry said the operation was completed safely and without serious disruption to motorists, attributing this to the immediate mobilisation and coordination of public services and private operators.

Justice Minister Costas Fitiris said a plan should not be tested for the first time during a real crisis, but should first be exercised to identify and correct weaknesses.

“Nestor will not be judged by how good it looks on paper,” he said. “It will be judged by how quickly and effectively the state responds to the next serious incident.”

Following the incident, Fitiris congratulated police, the services involved and private crews, saying the response showed the purpose of Nestor: rapid mobilisation, effective coordination and the safe restoration of traffic with the least possible disruption to the public.