The General Auditor’s Report on the privatization of the Port of Limassol is damning for the government

Statement by A. Fakontis, member of the C.C. and AKEL MP

AKEL C.C. Press Office, 4th May 2017, Nicosia

The General Auditor’s report on the privatization of the port of Limassol is damning for the Anastasiades government, as it unfortunately confirms the scandals and malignancies on the part of the government and ruling forces, which AKEL had pointed out and highlighted all through the process of the Port’s privatization.

It is obvious that privatization has damaged the interests of Cyprus, its economy and society. The Auditor-General, inter alia, notes that the government has concluded contracts on terms that are damaging to the state and public finances. Initially, the responsible Ministers were declaring that over a period of 25 years the state would have revenues of up to € 2.1 billion from the privatization, and today that amount is limited to € 666 million. The Report also confirms AKEL’s allegations of a huge increase in port charges and the promotion of private rather than the public interest.

We also consider as unacceptable the fact of the Minister of Transport personal involvement in the Tender Committees, but also his extraordinary haste and rush to launch the tenders without the approval of the relevant documents by the Legal Service. He also chose to ignore the proposals and comments of the Legal Service and the Legal Counsel of the Republic of Cyprus, before taking decisions and signing the contracts, which does not safeguard the public interest. Indeed, the government and ruling forces chose to replace the Special Tender Board given that the final decision to award the tenders was made by the Council of Ministers.

In the Anastasiades government’s eagerness and zeal to privatize the commercial work at the Limassol Port and give public wealth and property to private interests, it has imposed enormous costs on the Cyprus economy at a time when the President of the Republic – indeed in writing too – had made the pledge during the 2013 pre-election campaign that he would not privatize profitable semi-governmental organizations.

AKEL requested, from the very first moment of the publication of the Auditor General’s Report, the waging of a disciplinary inquiry within the Ministry of Transport and its mission to the Attorney General to investigate the possibility of criminal responsibilities. The responsibilities of the government and ruling forces are grave and they must assume them promptly and not through communication tricks and games to try to convince us that everything is going well. The Minister of Transport must at long last assume the political responsibilities assigned to him and resign.

The people are now aware what the word “I Pledge” means to the government and ruling forces, but also of where their ideological obsessions are leading our country to.