The Association of Agios Athanasios Industrialists has taken the initiative to seek the implementation of measures that will alleviate serious and long-term safety problems faced by one of the most vibrant and developing industrial areas of our country, that of the Municipality of Agios Athanasios. The President of the Association, Vassos Demetriades, stressed to "Entrepreneurial Limassol" that the safety factor is very important in an industrial area that is full of life and in which five thousand employees, all types of vehicles and all kinds of goods are transported.
The main objectives of the Association are the safe entry and exit of the Industrial Area, the observance of safety lanes between factories, the easy access of ambulances and fire trucks, the possibility of immediate evacuation, but also the tackling of the scourge of thefts. For this purpose, the Association recently organized a meeting with the Fire Department, the Police, the Ministry of Industry, the CCCI, OEB, the Civil Defence and the local Municipality.
According to President Vassos Demetriades, the first thing agreed is the installation of a controlled bar at the entrance of the Industrial Area (mainly to deal with thefts), given that the Police are unable, due to staff shortages, to patrol it to the extent required. Regarding thefts, Mr. Demetriades explained that iron is very attractive to criminals who also steal oil from trucks, batteries, catalytic converters, and all kinds of cables, resulting in damage to factories.
"With the barrier there will be control over vehicles entering and exiting, since we cannot prohibit anyone from doing so," he said. An important aspect of the safety problem is the inability for ambulances and fire trucks to enter the area, since the safety lanes are occupied by old cars and containers. In this regard, it was agreed that the Ministry would transfer the responsibility to the Local Authority for the latter to mobilize and remove any blockage of safety lanes.
The Association has approached the Ministry with a request to cover the cost of repairing the fences around the industrial area (where they have been destroyed), a measure that, along with controlling the entrance and exit, "will create the feeling that the area is being monitored", as Vassos Demetriades explained. Important for safety purposes is the creation of the large park on the west side of the Area, by the pharmaceutical company Medochemie, the design of which includes an emergency entrance and exit.
"We fervently want to create the emergency entrance-exit, for which on the one hand the Police and the Fire Brigade will have an access code and on the other hand, in case of emergency, to open so that we can evacuate the industrial area", the Association President said. An important negative development that the Association is trying to reverse is the move of the competent Ministry to claim back plots near the entrance of the Industrial Area that were ceded to the Association with a view to be used for the accommodation of services for those working in the Area.
The Association put this before the House Standing Committee on Industry and it was agreed that the Association will prepare and forward to the Ministry a new design for the Services it intends to develop in specific area. Association plans include the expansion of the Center for the Protection and Occupation of Children of the Agios Athanasios SKE, which operates with great success and the creation of an Area to keep occupied children from 6 to 13 years old, mainly for the summer months when schools are closed; as well as the operation of a restaurant and cafeteria, an Industrial Products Exhibition Area, maybe a gym as well.
