Dozens of road offences were reported in the Polis Chrysochous area over the past two weekends, many of them involving minors on motor vehicles. They came despite stepped-up police campaigns and the death of a 16-year-old motorcyclist a few days ago.
One official involved likened efforts to tackle young people’s offending on the area’s roads to “throwing eggs at a wall”. The figures continue to trouble police, local authorities and the community. The teenager died while riding an unregistered racing motorcycle.
DIKO Paphos parliament member Chrysanthos Savvides registered the issue for discussion in parliament last week. He also raised the understaffing and limited operational capacity of Polis Chrysochous police station.
Savvides asked to be briefed on the station’s current staffing, its establishment posts and vacancies. He also asked what immediate measures the state intends to take to strengthen policing in the area, and on what timetable. He raised road safety too, particularly after the fatal crash involving the 16-year-old.
He said he had asked for further strengthening of prevention and policing to be considered, with particular emphasis on protecting young drivers and vulnerable road users. The safety of residents and visitors, and the effective prevention of road deaths, require adequate staffing, a real police presence and systematic checks, he added.
