Lack of protocols blamed for panic after Akrotiri drone strike
Officials on Thursday blamed the absence of emergency protocols for the confusion and panic caused among communities in close proximity to RAF Akrotiri following a drone strike there last Sunday.
Pantelis Georgiou, the mayor of Kourion, remarked that “not even the British expected the attack”.
He was speaking in parliament during a discussion of contingency measures, in the wake of the incident at Akrotiri.
The mayor said his own community “suffered the most” from the ensuing “panic”. He himself was alerted about the incident shortly after midnight.
Sirens were blaring for hours, people were panicking, and no specific protocol was in place, he added.
Moreover, Civil Defence cannot operate within the Sovereign Base Areas (SBA) as it has no jurisdiction there.
Beyond that, the incident has brought to light the lack of shelters but also of early-warning sirens in the area.
Akel MP Aristos Damianou said Cyprus continues to be deficient in matters of civil defence. These include accessibility to shelters, as well as the general state and the numbers of the shelters.
Other issues are the evacuation procedures and cooperation protocols with the British bases, as well as with the operators of the civilian airports.
Commenting on the mayor’s remarks, Damianou said that some people were “caught asleep at the wheel”.
Also attending the discussion was Interior Minister Constantinos Ioannou.
He said the shelters programme got underway in 1999, and by 2023 it covered about 30 per cent of the population – mostly via private initiative.
Since 2023, a review by authorities detected additional public and underground spaces, with the coverage growing to 45 per cent of the population.
Efforts are underway to implement a new nationwide alert system. Until it comes online, authorities will make use of SMS messages and notifications via the SafeCY app.
The minister also said the cabinet recently approved a bill for evolving Civil Defence into a Department of Civil Protection.
Maria Papa, head of Civil Defence, stated that where hostile acts are concerned, the army is in charge. In these cases, her department receives instructions and guidance from military authorities.
Regarding the incident at Akrotiri, she said that the sirens went off, and that a number of civilians had already left the area even before government services engaged.
On the incident at Paphos airport, Papa said her department issued instructions for “a state of alertness” rather than for an evacuation of nearby communities.
The civilian airports at Paphos and Larnaca have their own protocols in place.
Meantime media on Thursday reported that Papa was set to be removed from her post at Civil Defence and transferred to another department on secondment.
Daily Politis said the transfer would happen over the next day or so. The paper said it obtained documents showing that over the years Papa had given her superiors repeated assurances in writing that the situation with the shelters was satisfactory.
In parliament, Edek MP Marinos Sizopoulos asked what requirements apply to shelters in high-rise buildings. Many of the existing underground spaces which double as shelters lack the necessary infrastructure – such as water supply, toilets and other basic amenities.
Greens MP Stavros Papadouris noted that the recent incidents serve as a “wake-up call”.
From the briefing parliamentarians got, he added, it seems that in many instances the actions taken were limited to notifications and alerts.
This was not good enough, he said.