The General Secretary of AKEL replies to the Minister for Energy

 

24 July 2926, AKEL C.C. Press Office, Nicosia

In a very lengthy post, the Minister for Energy, rather than addressing the power cuts matter and the dangerous situation facing the electricity system, opted for the familiar government tactic. Namely, that everyone is to blame except the government.

Plenty of references to the past, plenty of accusations against the opposition and plenty of self-praise. But nothing about the problems themselves.

AKEL has never claimed that the problems arose overnight. On the contrary, it has repeatedly denounced the misguided decisions, failures and scandals of the decade-long Anastasiades–DISY administration, in which the current President served as a leading figure and Minister.

The Christodoulides government cannot claim to be unconnected to the past, particularly when it continues to pursue the same policies. Nor is it absolved of its own responsibilities. It has been in power for three and a half years; it was aware of the shortcomings, had been warned of the dangers, and yet demonstrated complacency and an inability to tackle the problems and challenges.

Cyprus remains without natural gas, without storage facilities, without reserves and without security of its electricity supply, whilst the cost of these energy disasters is being borne by the public.

The government should stop lecturing AKEL and answer the following questions:

• Does it have a comprehensive plan in place for electricity supply security, and what is it?
• How will it adequately and reliably cover the loss of the enormous generation capacity after 2029?
• When will the project at Vasilikos be ready to receive natural gas?
• What does it plan to do to reduce the cost of electricity?

AKEL submitted specific proposals some time ago, but instead of responding, the government is simply attacking the opposition. The public, however, want solutions, not excuses. They are paying dearly for the government’s incompetence.