Farmers fear destruction, demand immediate solutions

Farmers on Tuesday called for immediate compensation and realistic solutions for replacing their livestock after over 30,000 animals have been lost to culling.

Chairman of Panagrotiki farming union Christos Papapetrou said farmers were in a bad psychological state due to the uncertainty of ever recovering from the foot and mouth outbreak hanging over them and that some reactions were understandable.

However, he added, with the May 24 parliamentary elections nearing, many promises were being made.

Papapetrou said compensation concerned three categories; compensation for animals lost, loss of income and replacement of livestock.

The union was demanding that the compensation for animals lost be calculated according to animals’ value on the market.

Some compensation has already been paid for animals culled while the farmers are requesting the procedure is expedited so that full compensation can be given within 90 days.

Papapetrou said that if another part of the compensation was paid in April, as in March, then farmers would at least have an income that would be deducted from the final compensation.

Regarding the loss of income, the union said compensation should begin with the loss of the first animal until the farm reopened.

On the replacement of livestock, Papapetrou said this could be achieved either by importing animals from abroad or purchasing livestock from other farms in Cyprus.

He said the government would be finding animals to import, a promise the agricultural organisations had welcomed.

However, Papapetrou said that countries free of foot and mouth did not have enough animals to send to Cyprus to replace the ones culled.

“Over 30,000 animals have been culled and this number cannot be replaced immediately from abroad,” Papapetrou said.

In any case, it would take three months to properly clean the farms so that they could receive animals, he added.

He said it may be better if farmers made their own arrangements to import animals that would be approved by the Veterinary Services, with the cost ideally covered by the government.