Mystery fire destroys Paphos home
By Bejay Browne
The cause of a raging fire that quickly took hold of a Paphos third floor apartment emitting copious quantities of thick, choking smoke on remains a mystery, according to the tenant, a Syrian mum of four.
Luckily the woman and her four children were not harmed in the blaze.
Firefighters at the scene initially told the woman (name withheld) that the cause of the fire was electrical and started from a wall socket behind the sofa. However, this was later ruled out after investigations found that there was nothing plugged into the socket at the time of the fire, a spokesman for the Cyprus Fire department told the Paphos Post.
“We are still investigating the cause of the fire but it could be from a cigarette. Experiments show that with the right circumstances a cigarette could cause the sofa to catch fire in around 20 minutes.”
However, the woman doesn’t and has never smoked. She said she is at a loss to understand how the fire started.
“My daughter had plugged hair straighteners into the socket earlier in the day, but not at the time of the fire.”
The blaze occurred at around 10pm when the charity volunteer was on the way to a nearby shop, to buy bread and milk for the following morning, leaving her 14-year-old daughter in charge of her younger siblings, who were asleep, for no more than a few minutes.
Before leaving, she informed her 14-year-old daughter that she would be back in ten minutes and to keep an eye on her younger brother and sisters.
Moments after she left, her son, who had woken to get a glass of water from the kitchen, realised there was a fire in the sitting room and alerted his older sister, before heading back to bed, she said.
The quick-thinking teen entered the living room and saw the fire taking hold; she immediately woke her brother and sisters and got them safely out of the building to the street below.
The distraught mum said: “I was only gone for a couple of minutes, I hadn’t even got to the shop and I don’t smoke. How did this happen.”
She added that none of her children smoke and if it takes around 20 minutes for such a fire to take hold, there surely wasn’t enough time, as she had barely left the house and hadn’t even reached the bakery.
The blaze ravaged the apartment in a matter of minutes, the smoke and heat destroying furniture and appliances, leaving a layer of thick, black, sticky soot covering all of the walls, floors and ceilings. Windows cracked and shattered and the aluminium window frame next to the sofa became twisted and bent out of shape in the blisteringly high temperature.
The woman who volunteers with refugees of all nationalities has lived in Paphos for 16 years and is a popular and well-respected member of the local community.
Friends are now hoping to find donations of paint and furniture to help the family.
“I was so shocked all of the furniture from the silting room, including cushions, curtains, the sofas, coffee table, chairs, TV, laptop and kitchen appliances have all been destroyed, and we have been cleaning for days to try and get rid of as much soot as we can. It will all need to be repainted,” friend Paphos artist Mary Chojnowski said.
Paws dog shelter desperate for volunteers
By Bejay Browne
Paws dog shelter in Paphos urgently needs more volunteers according to shelter manager, Matthew Harris told the Paphos Post. Although they have around fifty to sixty people offering their time, a minimum of ten a day is needed.
“Whatever time people can give is great, if they want to come for a couple of hours a week and walk the dogs, or if they want to wash them, or clean out their pens, it’s up to them,” he said.
The shelter in Acheleia in Paphos is currently home to around 150 dogs and puppies and Harris said that number of dogs and puppies being dumped has not slowed. The worst areas are Coral Bay and the Sea Caves in Peyia.
Harris receives at least five calls a day from this area and said that obviously they can’t take every dog.
Founded in January 1985, Paws dog shelter aims to rehome as many shelter dogs as possible and offer them a better quality of life. It will cost around 200 thousand euros to operate the shelter this year.
Harris said that although all of the shelter’s residents are looking for caring homes, two of the longest residents in particular, are desperate for loving homes.
Chester, a Labrador cross, has been living at the shelter since he was a puppy and is now six years old. Harris said that the fun-loving dog likes people and loves the water but is in real need of a human companion.
“He would really benefit from a forever home and he’s calmed down a lot since he’s got older. He likes to play fetch and plays well with the other dogs, and he loves walking on a lead.”
Another of the shelter’s long-term residents, Larry, a five-year-old chocolate brown Labrador cross has also been overlooked.
He was found tied to the shelter gates in 2013 when he was just a puppy and has lived at the facility ever since. He is fully vaccinated and neutered and is a quiet affectionate dog who loves to go on walks, said Harris.
“Larry is quite shy but gets on well with the other dogs. It would be really lovely if someone would come forward and give him a forever home with a loving family.”
If you are interested in giving a dog a home or volunteering at Paws, please contact PAWS via message on their Facebook page, or telephone: 99 683775.
Geroskipou beach-front upgrade is underway
By Bejay Browne
The three new beach bars situated along Geroskipou municipal beach will be completed in the second week of July, according to the local mayor.
Michalis Pavlides told the Paphos Post that the individual kiosks, which will serve drinks and snacks, including alcohol, and will be open every day all year long.
Each new area is around 220 square metres and 80 square metres of each space will consist of toilets, changing rooms and showers.
The first will be created at ‘Riccos’, with the second 250 and the third 300 metres further along the beach.
In the future, the municipality will add another two kiosks along the stretch, they have already rented the space from the government, said the mayor.
“We will go ahead with this in two years, they will be positioned along from where the last kiosk is currently placed,” he said.
The stretch of Geroskipou municipal beaches has the official name of Aphrodite beach and it has a long history, noted Pavlides. The name Geroskipou derives from the classical Greek ‘Hieros Kipos’ meaning ‘Sacred Garden’.
“In ancient times it used to be an extensive area of beautiful gardens, dedicated to the goddess Aphrodite. People used to walk here to make some offering, hence the name.”
Two hundred and fifty indigenous trees to Cyprus will also be planted in the area next month to help provide shade. And a wider project to renovate and reinvigorate the sea front area will also get underway in September.
“We are also going to create other things in the area, there will be a children’s play area, a large new parking area, roads, lights and so on. It will change completely which will be beneficial for both tourists and locals.”
The €2m price tag is being covered by the municipality.
“We wanted to avoid doing any other work during the summer,” Pavlides said.
In addition, six breakwaters have been completed in the sea off the coast at a cost of €3m – the government paid 70 per cent and the municipality 30 per cent, he added.
A study for the next phase of breakwaters which will run from Geroskpiou up to Paphos municipality beach of Ta Bania, has been completed and is now with the environmental department to study.
“We hope they will do this by the end of the year and work on this part of the project may start in 2020”.
The mayor said that the 4,000 to 5,000 or so visitors to the beach at summer peak time weekends will increase to at least 8,000 with the implementation of the upgrades.
“Geroskipou was again awarded two blue flags for our beaches and next year we will hopefully get a third for a newly organised area,” he said.
Grape growers wait for decision on annual grape purchase
By Bejay Browne
Thousands of grape growers from around the island will soon find out if their entire yearly production of indigenous Xynisteri grapes will be bought by cooperative, Sodap, the islands largest winery.
Last year growers protested over the prices being offered for their Xynisteri grapes, an ongoing problem that arose after a glut of the white grape followed the lifting of a partial ban on the indigenous fruit. Previously, Xynisteri was only grown in limited, designated areas.
Marinos Pericleous, Sodap’s sales and marketing manager said that the facility is a cooperative and includes around 10,000 grape growers from all over Cyprus. This means that members expect their grapes to be bought, even if there is an excess, as has happened the last few years. He said that this year is no exception.
“In the last few years the Xynisteri grape production has been far more than we need and indications are that this year will be exactly the same.”
Last year the cooperative’s committee discussed two options to try and solve this problem, he said.
The first option was to buy only what was needed at a higher price, for example the 2016 vintage was priced at 39cents per kilo, the second was to buy it all but at a lower price, so for the 2017 vintage it would be 30cents a kilo. They followed the second option, he said.
“This year, there is no decision yet, but the matter will be discussed this month. We will start to receive grapes at the beginning of August, if not earlier, due to the weather,” he said.
However, Sodap still has grapes left over from last year, in fact the excess quantities are far more than was forecast.
“Even before we take any more grapes, we already have around half a million litres of excess wine and that’s before we even see how much there is from this vintage.”
Pericleous noted that negotiations (with the growers) have to be give and take. Because they are a cooperative, the committee is made up of members from different villages and this can sometimes present challenges, he said.
Pericleous said that Cyprus produce is actually excess, because 8 million litres of wine a year is imported to Cyprus.
“The entire consumption is only around 17- 18 million litres, so a huge chunk of wine available in Cyprus is imported, if this was far less, there would be no problem with our quantity of grapes.”.
Many people don’t even know that Cyprus makes wine and establishing Cyprus as a brand is not an easy thing to do and can’t be accomplished overnight. It would take effort, money and years of consistency, he said.
“If we finally build a name for Cyprus, Sommeliers will look at us seriously and this will help us to export our quality wines abroad,” he said.
Ten thousand kilos of rubbish cleared from Akamas by volunteers
By Bejay Browne
Six years after a British expat couple formed a volunteer beach clean-up team to remove rubbish from remote areas of the Akamas Peninsula they have cleared away more than 10,000kg of it.
“We are now seeing more Cypriots, especially the younger generation joining us, which is great. They are becoming more aware and the media has played a part in that by highlighting extreme conditions to raise awareness of plastic in the sea,” said Neo Chorio resident Keith Watkins, who along with wife Wendy, founded the Akamas Clean-up Team (ACT), in 2012.
The group has just completed their 34th clean-up and will now take a break before starting again in October.
Each event attracts from 10 to 50 volunteers and Watkins is now looking for more people to sign up.
At the last event 16 volunteers, some from Nicosia, turned up to help clean-up an area north of Yeronisos Point and worked hard to collect 44 large bags of rubbish as well as a massive quantity of other odd items from 1,330, of coastline.
Rubbish collected included several fluorescent light tubes, a rug, a large foam mattress, coffee cans, a hessian sack full of rubbish and a full green plastic bag of rubbish.
He said that some people question the point of picking up the rubbish as there will be another load brought in on the next tide, but he said efforts must be made to try and keep the island clean, adding that and there would only be more rubbish next time.
“We are the end of the problem, the solution is elsewhere, such as recycling and looking for alternative materials that are organic and will break down easily and not harm the environment.”
Watkins said this part of the coastline is prone to rubbish deposits from the sea due to prevailing currents, tides, winds and storms, but some of the rubbish had also been left by visitors to the area.
He added that after the clean-up finished, that this section of coast was virtually pristine.
“We are now taking our summer break for a few months and I hope that we have even more volunteers at the 35th ACT clean-up in October.”
For further information or to volunteer: www.facebook.com/AkamasCleanupTeam or email keith.wendy.watkins@gmail.com
Artisans move into Ibrahim’s Khan
By Bejay Browne
A number of artisans and craftspeople have moved into the historic building of Ibrahim’s Khan in Paphos old town, determined to breathe new life into the recently renovated area and encouraging tourists and locals to visit the site.
Municipal officer Doxa Economidou-Barda, told the Paphos Post: “the municipality is very optimistic about reviving Paphos old town, and the Khan will become a landmark for this effort.”
The group have been allocated available units at the stunning building after a drawn out tender process by Paphos municipality and all of the relevant evaluations recently concluded.
The Khan is in the heart of the old town and is newly renovated. Historically, the ancient building was used as an inn and an area where merchants and craftsmen would come together.
There are sixteen units in all, including a restaurant according to Economidou-Barda.
One of the units, ‘The House of Olives’ is being run by Marios Athanasiou,39, who has been involved in making olive oil and relevant products for more than ten years professionally.
“I have around 10,000 organic olive trees and I was looking for the right place to show what I do, and the Khan was the perfect fit,” he said.
As well as selling goods such as organic olive oil, infused oils, olive paste and other items, the artisan will also be holding demonstrations on the usefulness of olive oil, such as how to preserve cheese using olive oil, and making soap on site.
“I will be showing and telling. We have had olive trees in our family for many years and I am very interested in olives and all of their uses,” he said.
Athanasiou said that all of the units will be showcasing traditional or handcrafted products and offer an interactive experience to visitors to the Khan. The artisans also want to offer something different, he said, and will aim to open from 9am to 9pm to encourage people to the area during the evening as well.
The various units include ceramics and pottery, traditional products using carobs, an icon painter, wood carving, traditional Cyprus nuts and fruits, two different jewellery makers, a carpet weaver and a puppet theatre.
“As well as putting on shows, people will also see how to make puppet and be able to buy them,” he said.
Included in the sixteen or so units at the Khan, is a restaurant, coffee shop and traditional bakery.
There is also a theatre space with a stage that will be available to hire, she said.
