The Municipality of Larnaca was unaware that the tree-planting organised by the Jewish Community of Cyprus, scheduled for Sunday morning, 23 November, was intended to honour US President Donald Trump, Mayor Andreas Vyras told CNA.
He added that “the information we had was that the Jewish Community of Cyprus would plant 50 trees as part of its social and environmental contribution. They had not mentioned that an event would be held, nor did we know that the tree-planting would take place in honour of the President of the United States, Donald Trump,” he said, noting that “we only saw this in the invitation they sent us”.
Specifically, the Mayor of Larnaca stated: “The invitation noted that the planting of 48 trees, described as ‘symbols of life and hope’, was being held in honour of the President of the USA, Donald Trump, who helped secure the release of the Israeli hostages and the signing of the ceasefire agreement.”
According to the invitation, the tree-planting will take place on Sunday, 23 November at 11:00 a.m. on Ioanni Kakridi Street, outside Vergina Lyceum.
Responding to a related question, Andreas Vyras said that “no permit was granted for a tree-planting event in honour of the American President, and during a phone call with them we mentioned that they should have informed us of this purpose. There have been several reactions to the matter, as we received many phone calls from the public expressing objections and suggesting that there may be protests on the day of the tree-planting.”
The Mayor of Larnaca explained that “they had sent us a letter on 17 October stating that the Jewish Community of Cyprus intended to plant 50 trees in an area designated by the Municipality. The letter also mentioned that they expected the Municipality of Larnaca to give its approval and indicate a suitable location for the planting.”
Mr Vyras clarified that “the Municipality pointed the Jewish Community to the site where the planting will take place — a traffic island located outside Vergina Lyceum, not within the school grounds as stated in the invitation.”
He added that “the Jewish Community informed us that they will not install any plaques at the site.”
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Source: CNA
