EVERYONE who saw the unemployed man sobbing in front of the cameras, desperately asking “what can we do, what can we do?” would have been moved. He was taking part in a demonstration outside the finance ministry by labourers, whose seasonal work contracts with the government had been terminated as part of the spending cuts.
“When your child wakes up asking you for a glass of milk and you have none to give, what do you do?” he asked in front of the cameras. “We ask for a plate of food to eat nothing more,” he shouted with his hands raised in the air. The man is a father of five, who apart from losing his seasonal job with the forestry department, also had the big-family monthly benefit he was receiving cut.
The sad truth is that there are many more like him, even though they are not out on the streets protesting. Every week more needy families are turning to charities for food supplies so they could put food on the table. This abject poverty, unknown to Cyprus until a couple of years ago, is set to increase with unemployment on an upward path and the job market shrinking. Long-term unemployment which was never experienced in the past has become a feature of the economy, but unemployment benefit is still only paid for six months.
Even if the government wanted to give benefits for a longer period the funds do not exist. In fact, it is a wonder the state can cover the ever-increasing bill for unemployment benefit. The problem is that the way state funds are allocated, we cannot have a welfare system that supports people in genuine need. This government wasted a lot of state funds on welfare payments, but this was mindless squandering of money rather than an attempt to put a support system in place for the poor.
Admittedly conditions are very different from the time Christofias was mindlessly increasing pension payments and upping student grants. Now there are no funds for the state to support the poorest members of society and they are depending on private charity, which cannot be taken for granted. The only solution is for the state to cut another five per cent from the princely salaries and pensions of all public employees and use the money exclusively to support poor families. It is the only option available and would also be a step towards the fairer society that Christofias wanted.
The taxpayer’s money cannot all be spent on big salaries and pensions for pampered public employees while hundreds if not thousands of parents cannot feed their children.