Blocked stream bed raises fears of Girne floods
PEOPLE living near Girne’s Hasan Cafer Primary School fear a flood similar to the one that claimed four lives in December could have similar disastrous results in their area due to a blocked streambed and ineffective drains.
Elysium Complex resident Metin Müezzinoğlu told Kıbrıs, the Turkish-language sister newspaper of Cyprus Today, that a local streambed was blocked with mud for a distance of around one kilometre and that drains were filled with rubble that had been washed into them by the last flood.
“I reported the problems to Girne Municipality about a month ago but no action has been taken so far,” he said, adding his concern that an electricity transformer at the mouth of the streambed could also pose a major risk to the area in any heavy rainfall.
Problems have already occurred close to Hasan Cafer Primary School, due to nearby roadside excavations which have left children and parents having to wade through thick mud.
Meanwhile, worried parents of children at Lefkoşa’s Bayraktar Secondary School — which was among the buildings flooded in December — also told the daily that it had been built on a streambed, making it vulnerable in heavy rain. “The area is turned into a lake when there is a downpour and we are concerned for the safety of our children,” said one.
Merter Refikoğlu, president of the Chamber of Town Planners, rejected the suggestion that the school was sited in a watercourse, but said nonetheless there was no excuse for rainwater to collect there when it could be removed through a drainage system. It was also reported that pieces of concrete and other building material had fallen from the roof of Gazimağusa’s Turk Maarif Koleji last Friday, when pupils took to social media to proclaim: “Our school is collapsing.”
Headmaster Yener Cansever responded by saying that only a small section of external render had fallen off and that the children had been in no danger.
“I will examine the damage and do the necessary repairs over the weekend,” he added.
The reported problems come after Serdarlı Primary School was badly damaged when it was struck by lightning.
The building’s fuse box exploded as a results of the increased voltage at about 3pm on December 27, after the children had left school.
Electronic equipment was burned out and electrical cables came loose, leading the school to be closed the following day for repairs.
Head teacher Levent Tezel said plugs and fluorescent lights had exploded, while equipment such as printers, projectors and airconditioning units were all ruined.
“Thank goodness there were no children or teachers in the building; it could have been a horrific incident,” he added.