Over the past decade, the state has shown immense neglect in acquiring aerial firefighting assets, leaving Cyprus vulnerable to wildfires today.
Despite the imminent danger of wildfires, the government has only recently decided to acquire 10 aerial firefighting aircraft, but even this purchase will take up to five years to materialize.
If the procedures decided a decade ago had been followed, the state would now have three additional privately owned firefighting planes available year-round.
The Audit Office addressed this issue in November 2021, conducting an administrative audit to examine the effectiveness, efficiency, and economy of the measures implemented by the Forestry Department regarding wildfire prevention.
The findings are deeply concerning, as three years later, Cyprus finds itself not only in the same position as before but in a worse state, with the Forestry Department having only one of the eight primary resources it should possess.
According to the Audit Office, the state has shown significant negligence in acquiring aerial firefighting resources.
Despite studies submitted in 2014 and 2016, a new Technical Committee recommendation was implemented in 2020, offering a temporary solution through service procurement for a specific period. This decision lacked documented evidence, such as cost analysis and practices from other countries.
It is noted that leasing aircraft is a common practice in many countries facing wildfire issues.
Based on the recommendation adopted by the Council of Ministers in 2020, the estimated cost for procuring the services of two firefighting aircraft for six months each year in 2020 and 2021 amounted to €2,813,748.
When considering the cost of procuring helicopter firefighting services from 2019 to 2021, totaling €7,140,312, the total cost of these procurements reaches €9,954,060.
The Audit Office maintains that if the state had followed the Technical Committee’s recommendations in 2014 or 2016, it could have permanently met Cyprus’s firefighting needs by now, acquiring three firefighting aircraft and hiring necessary personnel.
This approach would have provided Cyprus with three additional owned firefighting aircraft year-round, or alternatively, personnel could have been trained alongside private pilots during leasing periods.
The Director of the Forestry Department expressed to the Audit Office that since the procurement of firefighting aircraft services had not been tested before, it couldn’t be evaluated against the options of purchasing or leasing firefighting aircraft. However, the Audit Office’s observation necessitates the hiring of Aircraft Operators, a task that the Director mentioned is not straightforward.
Moreover, the Director highlighted that during the last hiring process in 2021, out of three positions, only two candidates met the qualifications, and in the 2016 hiring, one pilot was dismissed due to inadequacy in aircraft navigation.
He also informed the Audit Office that efforts are now underway to ensure the proper functioning of the Aircraft Unit.
The Audit Office continues to uphold its opinion, reinforced by the inclusion of procurement alternatives for firefighting aircraft in both the 2022 budget proposals and the National Recovery and Resilience Plan 2022-2026.
Additionally, a comprehensive evaluation of procurement options should have been included in the terms of reference for the New Technical Committee, which unfortunately was not conducted as part of the study.
The report also notes that the Forestry Department included in the 2022 budget proposal allocations for acquiring two aircraft: one through purchase, to replace the existing Thrush 550P aircraft, and one through leasing.
Additionally, the National Recovery and Resilience Plan 2022-2026 proposes the acquisition of another firefighting aircraft through leasing.
The Audit Office’s recommendations emphasized that if the budget proposals for 2022 and the National Recovery and Resilience Plan 2022-2026 are approved for the purchase and leasing of firefighting aircraft, the Director of the Forestry Department should immediately take the necessary actions for the timely implementation of investments.
This is to ensure that firefighting aircraft are operationally available as soon as possible.
Furthermore, the Director was urged to initiate actions for the construction, as soon as possible, of additional landing strips in carefully selected locations. This is in line with the recommendations of the respective Technical Committees, aiming to achieve the strategic goal of conducting patrols with aerial assets and parking at points close to forests.
The goal is to enhance the capability to detect and initiate the suppression of a fire within the first 30 minutes, crucial for containing environmental damage and firefighting costs.
The Director of the Forestry Department informed the Audit Office that since 2020, there has been a permanent arrangement of aerial assets in Larnaca, Akrotiri, and Paphos, and since 2021, at the new firefighting airbase “Mamari.”
Additionally, he mentioned that the department has been conducting aerial patrols with loaded aircraft over the past decade. As a result of these actions, the time taken to detect and initially respond to a fire by aircraft is within the first 30 minutes.
