Thousands of visitors to Christmas villages are causing severe traffic problems in the Lefkara area, with one incident last Friday leaving a main road blocked for over an hour and preventing parents from taking their child to a doctor.
Andreas Gavriil, community leader of Vavatsinia, told the Alpha Kalimera programme that responsibility for vehicle management lies with the Lefkara Municipality, according to police.
“On Friday there was chaos. The road was closed for over an hour. We had a case where parents were rushing to take their child to the doctor and couldn’t get through,” Gavriil said.
He said the parents called Police Headquarters but received no response, with officers telling them “why the rush”.
“It’s a shame, because we’re happy to have a Christmas village in our area. It brings activity everywhere. But this situation can’t continue,” Gavriil said.
He raised concerns about emergency access: “If something happens on a road, an accident or something further up at Machairas, how will an ambulance get through, how will a fire engine move?”
The road was closed for 40 to 50 minutes, Gavriil said. He alleged that a security guard told people there had been an accident on the Lefkara-Vavatsinia road, which never occurred.
“This is unacceptable. We had three complaints. Unfortunately we even had a complaint from someone high up in the state,” Gavriil said.
He said there was mobilisation from everyone, including Lefkara Municipality, to reopen the road, but “nothing was done”.
Gavriil called on police to take responsibility.