SOME sections of this society will never learn. Despite everything Cyprus has been through over the past month, and everything that is yet to come, semi-government organisations (SGOs) still want to have their cake and eat it at the expense of everyone else.
On Monday, the Cyprus Telecommunications Authority (Cyta) and Cyprus Ports Authority (CPA) criticised the troika’s demands to come up with €1.4 billion through SGO privatisations, saying they believed they could use their own resources to cover the amount demanded by the troika as part of Cyprus’ bailout agreement.
Cyta chairman Stathis Kittis said Cyta and other SGOs could commit themselves to pooling resources to come up with a certain amount every year in order to collect over the next eight to ten years up to €2 billion to cover the €1.4 billion requested by the troika from privatisations. This was echoed by CPA chairman Chrysis Prentzas.
What they seem to fail to understand here is that as far as the troika is concerned, privatisations are a must for Cyprus, not just about selling them off to raise money but because they are bloated, inefficient and endemic of the ‘me, me, me’ culture that pervades the public service in general. It’s hard to forget how much was budgeted for chairs for EAC Paphos staff.
The MoU with the troika clearly states that international lenders want Cyprus’ SGOs to conform to international best practices.
What these SGOs did not exactly make clear to deputies on Monday was how they were going to come up with the €1.4 billion that would allow them to remain untouched by the troika.
In the case of Cyta, the CPA, and also the EAC, the only way to make more money is off the backs of consumers and businesses. Essentially they want us to pay for them to carry on working in the style to which they have become accustomed.
They might argue the consumer/taxpayer would not be affected but judging by a telling incident last week, it is clear what they think about the people who have been carrying them all these years.
Limassol dock workers rejected a proposal for a 50 per cent cut of their 14th salaries. Really? Does anyone in the private sector even remember what a 13th salary looks like, let alone a 14th? If these people are not willing to give up half of half a month’s salary, which is a perk in the first place, what hope is there?
The MoU also provides for scaled salary cuts in the public service from 0.8 per cent up to 2.0 per cent for the highest paid. In the private sector people are taking salary cuts of up to 40 per cent in some cases.
There are a lot of bitter pills to swallow in the bailout deal but the privatisation of the SGOs has got to be the least painful for the majority of the Cypriot population. The SGOs need to come back down to earth, preferably with a bang.
