Statement by AKEL MP Giannakis Gavriel, Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Agriculture and Natural Resources

 

12 October 2021, AKEL C.C. Press Office, Nicosia

The wave of price hikes and increases in essential consumer goods that has recently hit households is unprecedented.

One aspect of the problem is indeed related to the global increase in the price of raw materials, but the second aspect, however, relates to the responsibilities of the government, which are grave to the point of being incompetent.

AKEL has been constantly and pressingly warning that the government’s attempted dissolution of the Cyprus Grain Commission, that ensured our country’s grain sufficiency, would have disastrous consequences for the Cypriot livestock sector and the economy in general. AKEL’s warnings fell on deaf ears…

Not only did the government close down the Grains Commission last March, but it also left our country without any strategic grain reserves, criminally neglecting to implement the legislation it itself promoted to maintain strategic reserves.

The result is that today the livestock sector is facing grain shortages and unbearable increases which are already beginning to affect consumers eventually with huge increases in essential goods such as bread, meat and dairy products.

The government must immediately provide support to all the affected sectors and find ways to import raw materials to address the shortages. It is imperative the silos of the Grains Commission are reopened to create strategic stocks.