On the west side of the river Ha-Potami, on the slope of the valley that the river formed, you will find the village of Kissousa. It is composed of 8 houses and it only has 6 settlers, the only ones that are left after the obligatory departure of most of them.
The few settlers of the village are determined to stay on their land to remind all of us of our duties towards a village that is on the mountain areas of the island containing Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots. The interests of the English government as well as its local army bases, gave way to the progressive decrease of its population. Just a few decades ago, on the surrounding mountain slopes, you could hear people work at the vines, since their only occupation was the production of grapes and wine.
You could not distinguish who was Christian and who was Muslim. The first ones attended their church, the church of the Saints Sergios and Vakchos and the second ones attended their Mosque. The people lived in prosperity, no matter how difficult the creation of arable land was. They had prosperity because their village was blessed.
It had a river, whose waters never stopped, that crossed the east side of the village, but the most important of all is that the source, or even better the headwaters, that nature made sure to place on the south of the village, was at a distance of only 5 metres from the river bed.
The water of the headwaters, that is estimated at 250 cubic metres of water per hour, despite the extensive droughts, used to irrigated the vines and the olive trees of the settlers. Chemical analysis showed that in terms of quality the water was the best on the whole island.
In 1960, with the establishment of the Republic of Cyprus, the English colonialists, have succeeded to take the headwaters under their control and with great pipes they guided the water 50 kilometres further from its initial point, all the way to Akrotiri, so as to cover the needs of their bases.
Simultaneously, they succeeded to have full control over the source and they prohibited by law (with the acceptance of the Republic of Cyprus) to the residents to use its water. Successive governments ever since have not made sure to find other solutions for the village, resulting to its residents to abandon it.
Today the water of the headwaters that is guided through a great pipe towards Akrotiri, into a torrent that ends up in the sea. The English dug a great reservoir exactly at the outfall of the headwaters, and the water that runs from the aquifers is gathered into it. From there they have placed pipes that take it 500 metres south, where a pumping station is found and from there there are other pipes that take it to the sea.
Nature has made sure that the amount of water of the headwaters is so great that it does not fit into their huge pipes. The water has found other ways to get out on the earth’s surface. If you walk parallel to the river towards north, you will find dozens of sources welling oud.
The existence of the headwaters that could irrigate the greatest part of Limassol all alone, is kept a secret by some. They have even made care sure to spread the myth that the greediness of the settlers of Kissousa made them sell the source to the English government. This is a lie.
Someone has to show some interest and to make sure the headwaters pass on to its legal owners, who are the settlers of the Kissousa village, as well as all the legal settlers of the island.
