With the expectation shared by all participants, namely the Ministry of Agriculture, organised farming organisations and the farmers’ group 'The Voice of Farmers,' that an outcome acceptable to all will be reached on the issue of foot‑and‑mouth disease, a meeting is being held today at the Ministry of Agriculture under Agriculture Minister Maria Panayiotou. The aim is to discuss the sector’s problems in their entirety, address the concerns of those protesting and prevent further mobilisation plans.
Ahead of today’s meeting, scheduled for 1.00 pm, the Ministry of Agriculture has made it clear that there will be no deviation from established protocols. Specifically, the lifting of the measure requiring the culling of all animals in units infected with foot-and-mouth disease will not be discussed. At the same time, the president of the group 'The Voice of Farmers; said that no agreement has been reached between the two sides and that all issues raised, including culling, loan freezes and compensation levels, remain open.
Road blockades and protests
Tensions persisted yesterday, 24 hours before the critical meeting, as a group of farmers not affiliated with the above-mentioned organisation, joined by local residents of the Paliometocho area, blocked roads using tractors. They were protesting against the decision by the Veterinary Services to transport culled animals from other areas, 12 kilometres away, for burial at the site. Police intervention was required to reopen the roads.
According to the farmers, this practice violates European Union protocols and regulations. They argue that existing protocols stipulate that infected animals should be buried close to the farm of origin to minimise the risk of disease spread. At the same time, they criticised the method used to transport the animals, accusing the Veterinary Services of practices that could facilitate the spread of the virus.
As alleged yesterday, with photographic material sent to media outlets, the transport of animals between areas is not permitted and the required cleanliness protocol for the vehicles was not followed. They claimed the trucks arrived in Paliometocho dirty and uncovered at the top, resulting in blood and faeces spilling onto the ground. According to the same photographic material, the competent services carried out on‑site disinfection of the vehicles.
Veterinary Services explanation
Veterinary Services director Christodoulos Pipis explained yesterday that the decision was taken because a large-capacity pig unit is located next to the cattle unit in Paliometocho, which was found to be positive last Friday and houses 160 animals. He said the pig unit needed to be protected. He also noted the presence of nearby boreholes, some of which have contracts with the district local authority to supply water to the population or are intended for that purpose.
