Interior Minister Konstantinos Ioannou acknowledged the shortcomings in the country’s civil defence preparedness, noting that past failures prevent Cyprus from reaching the desired level of readiness. He made the remarks while updating MPs on the recent drone attack on the Akrotiri Air Base and the role of Civil Defence.
“I do not wish to sugar-coat the situation, as the images we have seen in recent days confirm many long-standing issues,” the minister said.
Ioannou reiterated that the need for reorganisation and upgrading of the civil protection framework had been recognised. He added that since 2023, efforts have been underway to improve the system gradually, with the implementation of actions aimed at enhancing response capabilities as quickly as possible.
He further explained, “The civil defence shelter programme was implemented from 1999 to 2013. Agreements were made with property owners or owners of other infrastructure with underground spaces, who voluntarily allowed their use in the event of an imminent security incident. Under this programme, about 30% of the population was covered, a rate that remained steady until 2023.”
Following recent checks on all shelters, it was found that the policy implemented in 1999, which relied on existing private properties and voluntary contributions, had significant weaknesses.
Recognising the need to increase the population coverage from 30%, and facing difficulties due to private property owners’ reluctance to offer their spaces voluntarily, the current Government has taken a new approach. The new methodology, adopted since 2023, prioritises the identification of public spaces, such as municipal parking lots, churches with underground areas, supermarket basements, hotels, and office spaces. While the overall number of shelters may be smaller, the use of larger spaces allows a greater percentage of the population to be covered.
This approach has already increased coverage from 30% to approximately 45%, with ongoing efforts to secure more spaces in combination with other measures. As an example, the Cabinet’s recent decision to grant an additional 5% building coefficient to applications for developments with underground spaces, so part of these basements can be used by Civil Defence as shelters, was cited by the minister.