13.10.2023
Eviction orders were issued for a further 25 houses in Pissouri , which had become unsafe for occupancy after years of landslides. Lazaros Lazarou, a community leader, also told members of parliament that while government departments decide how to comprehensively address the problem in the area, drainage works will be carried out as a partial solution.
New research is currently being carried out to find out the exact nature of the landslide. The research is due to be completed in six months.
In Parliament, Director of the Department of Geological Research Christodoulos Hadjigeorgiou said recent research in the area shows “the problem is much more serious than originally thought.”
The department intends to collect all necessary geological data within six months before authorities begin any new projects in the community, known as Phase 2. Elikkos Elia said the six-month period is intended to show whether Phase 2, as previously planned, can continue or whether other corrective work needs to be done.
The geological phenomenon affecting Pissouri is developing in a completely different way than previously thought, as a second problem area has been identified. He stressed that work under Phase 2 will not continue until the situation is properly defined – because acting now based on an incorrect “diagnosis” will not solve the problem.
Later, speaking to reporters, Lazarou said that it had recently been decided to conduct an exercise to remove groundwater and wastewater from the affected area. The community leader stressed the need for the government to support people who have lost their homes and been evicted. Lazarou also criticized the government’s actions, saying that “in an attempt to evade responsibility, for several years government departments claimed that it was the fault of architects and engineers, but it turned out to be an act of God.”
For his part, MP Giorgos Papadouris said the government must do more to help people affected by the landslides. People forced to leave their homes in Pissouri receive a rental allowance of €2,500 per year – not much, especially in the current circumstances.
Since 2012, property owners in the Limnes area of Pissouri have seen gaping cracks appear in internal and external walls, rendering their homes uninhabitable, with swimming pools destroyed and roads buckling and splintering.
Sidewalks, walkways, retaining walls, gutters, water mains and other infrastructure were severely damaged.
