Irresponsibility that must be punished

Opinion fireLarnacanational guard Irresponsibility that must be punished Irresponsibility That Must Be Punished Relevant News Moni fields sell for €55m in Cyprus’s biggest H1 land deal 29 July 2026 Irresponsibility that must be punished 29 July 2026 Communities demand firing range closure following fire, years of problems 29 July 2026 Phileleftheros Editorial 29 July 2026 FacebookXWhatsAppEmailPrintViber Is this even possible? With these temperatures, and after everything we lived through last summer, how can the National Guard possibly decide to destroy ammunition at a firing range? And yet, here we are, living through it again. As has been widely reported, the cause of the fire at the Kalo Chorio firing range was the National Guard’s decision to go ahead with the destruction of ammunition, at a time when weather conditions forbid — and we will keep saying this again and again — any activity of this kind. Other state departments, the Department of Forests among them, repeat this warning daily. And yet some people simply don’t listen. They don’t comply. It has also been reported that residents of Agia Anna and Psevda were warned to evacuate their villages, with authorities forced to resort to ringing church bells, while the CY-Alert message arrived late. In some cases, it never arrived at all. We should note, however, that the Fire Service and other departments mobilised immediately and, despite enormous difficulties, managed to bring the fire under control. This is a serious matter. It is serious because it shows that some people are acting irresponsibly. How can the destruction of ammunition possibly be authorised at a time like this? Defence Minister Vasilis Palmas said it plainly: “I want to express my strong displeasure at the unprofessionalism shown during the destruction of RPG rounds at the Kalo Chorio firing range in Larnaca.” He noted that responsibility has a first name and a surname. And that responsibility for the fire lies with the 70th Engineer Battalion. We will wait for the investigation, which we are told will take ten days. And we will wait for its findings — and above all, for what any attribution of responsibility will actually mean in practice. Those who decided, in conditions of 40 degrees Celsius, to destroy ammunition must answer for it, and must pay a price for it. And even if no fire had broken out, even if homes, property and villages had not been threatened, those responsible for that decision should still have had to answer for it. We watched what happened last year in the Limassol mountains. That fire was deadly and devastating. We are watching what is happening in Spain and France. That is precisely why we cannot accept any excuses. Because there are no excuses. And there is no sense in what has happened here. Subscribe to our Newsletter Latest News Moni fields sell for €55m in Cyprus’s biggest H1 land deal Communities demand firing range closure following fire, years of problems EAC continues smart meter rollout across Cyprus in August Rehabilitation centre licensing gets underway across Cyprus Things to do on Wednesday, July 29 Yellow heat warning in effect today as temperatures reach 40°C Christodoulides hopes for “positive developments” after Guterres dinner Follow en.philenews on Google News and be the first to know all the news about Cyprus and the world.