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Cyprus in Crisis and Mourning
By Colin & Jane Hill
Please remember Cyprus in your prayers at this time, as the country is dealing with the aftermath of a massive explosion which took place on July 11th. The explosion destroyed the main power station at Mari, and took the lives of 13 people, some of them young people, with 61 injured.
The explosive materials had been taken from a ship bound for Syria coming from Iran two years ago, that was sailing under a Cyprus flag. The explosives were then left '' in storage" outside in the sun in an open field next to the main power station, which provides 50% of the islands power requirements. Of course they were highly unstable and the worst case scenario happened – the power station also went up in smoke and was virtually destroyed. Many homes were also destroyed and the death toll could have been much bigger had it happened later in the day. Since then Cyprus has been in despair, with thousands taking to the streets to demonstrate and vent their anger at the government here. Apparently the government had been warned again and again to do something to ensure the safety of the explosive material. The USA and German governments had offered technical support and help, the offers were declined.
The people are very upset here. Many are demanding that President Christofias resigns, and the blaming and finger pointing is in full swing right now. Last week the President announced his whole cabinet in the government were to be replaced. The estimated cost to rebuild the power station is said to be two billion Euros. Now in the heat of the summer most of the South of the Island is experiencing power cuts and water shortages to homes and businesses. We are experiencing daily power cuts, which is difficult in such hot weather without even a fan for cooling us. These power cuts are giving huge financial problems to businesses as obviously many businesses cannot operate without electricity and sudden cuts are damaging to production processes.
This all coincides with Cyprus’ credit rating being downgraded and the danger of a bailout being asked for as the economy here significantly worsens. In the meantime, the UN is pressing hard for a solution to the Cyprus Peace Talks, and there is some doubt as to how effective these talks will be right now given the president’s preoccupation with these issues in the South.
Can we please ask you to pray with us about our nation, and also to bring this to the attention of your church leaders, so that together as churches, we can pray that God will somehow use this situation to bring ‘good out of the tragedy that has happened’, and that His Name would be glorified.
With our thanks,
Colin & Jane Hill |
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