Our priority is the safety of the citizens from the fires in Paphos district, President of the Republic Nikos Christodoulides said this evening, adding that the Republic of Cyprus will acquire something it should have had for years, its own firefighting aircrafts. President of the Republic was speaking at the Larnaca Joint Rescue Coordination Centre (JRCC), where he went immediately after his arrival back to Cyprus from Jordan, and was informed about the efforts to extinguish the fires in Paphos district. In his statements, President Christodoulides said that he was informed "by the Head of the Fire Service and by the three Ministers (Defence, Justice and Agriculture) who were there' noting that the Minister of Justice is on his way to Paphos following relevant instructions. He added that he has spoken with the Minister of the Interior and that recording of all damages has started. 'I have spoken with the Presidents of the four communities that have been affected, the community in Psathi, Houlou, Agios Dim itrianos and Polemi" he said and noted that the situation is not yet under control, that superhuman efforts are being made and that Cyprus has asked for help. President Christodoulides thanked "the Greek Government for responding, the aircrafts are already in Rhodes and tomorrow morning they will be in Cyprus.' 'The same from Jordan, I was there, the King immediately responded to our request, tomorrow morning reinforcements from Jordan will be in Paphos and tonight they will be on alert, groups, in all communities" he added. He also noted that "in some communities we will choose not to let our fellow citizens return to their homes tonight, the safety of the citizens is the priority." "I have spoken, as I said, with the Minister of the Interior, but also with the Head of Civil Defence, so that they can be transferred to hotels" he added and reiterated that the priority is the safety of the citizens." As the President said, he also spoke with "some residents in the Psathi community whose houses, unfortunat ely, have been completely destroyed.' 'I repeat, the competent Services of the Republic are already there to record the damages and the state will immediately respond" he said. When asked whether a solution would be found, so that there would be a permanent large number of firefighting aircrafts, the President of the Republic stated that "it is very important that this fire was spotted by an aircraft of the Forestry Department within the framework of the daily patrol carried out, exactly, to move proactively. I can't confirm that right now, but it appears, based on the information I had from the conversations I told you, that it came from an illegal dumping ground." He also reiterated that '90% of cases, maybe more, start because of humans', indicating that we all have a responsibility to prevent this kind of phenomenon. He added that to extinguish the fire, aircraft that were at the disposal of the Republic of Cyprus were used and that there was an immediate response from the neighbouring states, which h e publicly thanked. Also at Larnaca JRCC, Fire Service Spokesperson Andreas Kettis said that the fire is still not under control and that there are still serious active fronts in very difficult areas such as canyons and other areas where it is very difficult for ground forces to access. Kettis said the prevailing weather conditions were propitious, since at the moment there is no wind and this is predicted to continue throughout the night, assisting efforts to contain the fire. When asked if any communities are currently at risk, Andreas Kettis responded negatively, recalling that several communities were at risk in earlier stages of the fire and fortunately it was foreseen and instructions were given for the evacuation of several communities, specifically the communities of Polemi, Psathi, Kurtaka, Lemona and Houlou. "The evacuation was a catalyst because they were in serious danger," he said, noting that although there are some losses and damage to some houses, dozens of others were protected. In a mess age posted later on X, Kettis confirmed that the Justice Minister is at the fire front. Firefighting aircraft is expected to operate early in the morning, in support of ground forces, he added. Source: Cyprus News Agency