The debate on the latest budget of the Anastasiades government started today in the plenary session of the Parliament and will be concluded next Thursday with the voting procedure.
Before the Parliament, the President of the Ecologists' Movement, Haralambos Theopeptou, raised - through his speech - various issues which he analysed.
Among them, housing policy, animal welfare, the sale of dogs, fireworks, transport - focusing on energy and tyres - and of course the issue of Akamas.
Finally, he also spoke about alcohol and drugs, especially at a young age.
The speech of Haralambos Theopeptos in the Parliament:
"All of humanity is currently dealing with the climate crisis, especially now with the war in Ukraine and the climate summit in Egypt.
A classic example is the energy and climate policy, where we made a commitment to plant 1m trees by 2030, but neither the Municipalities, nor the Communities nor the Land Registry allow anyone to plant.
Basically they left the responsibility to the next government to plant over 140,000 trees a year or about 400 trees every day!
We really feel sorry for future generations as under the Green Deal by 2050 Cyprus will have to absorb as many pollutants as it emits and without trees we will be forced to pay for pollutants.
Within the Green Deal is the package of measures known as Fit for 55 which aims for a 55% reduction in emissions by 2030.
Because I don't think anyone is impressed with our planning, but instead we are last minute, I am afraid we will suffer what happened with the pollutants from AEC where the government for 10 years watched idly as the cost went from a few million to about 200m this year, not caring about the cost to the citizen and poor people.
You can see the higher the cost of generating electricity from AEC, the higher the avoidance costs and the higher the incomes of individuals operating under this arrangement.
The problem coming is that the EU is now discussing extending this system to companies and large buildings. This is why we need to prepare ourselves, get informed, make energy upgrades to buildings, install renewables in buildings and so much more to reduce energy demand.
From a government that does not even meet its obligations under European Directives for energy upgrades of 3% of public buildings annually, I expected no more. A classic case here is of course our energy-intensive hospitals and schools.
I know I expect a lot from a government whose energy policy starts with gas and ends with gas and the very strange interest and promotion of the Euroasia Connector.
Another measure to protect local European industry is that of imposing a carbon tax on cement, aluminium, iron, fertiliser and shipping products when they come from third countries.
In 2035 it will not be allowed to sell new cars that run on petrol or diesel and by then we will have to have car chargers everywhere.
In agriculture we will have changes in the marketing of agricultural products but above all an increase in the production of organic products.
In agriculture we will have changes in the marketing of agricultural products but above all an increase in the production of organic products.
Finally, the measure that will affect our country most of all is the change in fuel taxation, where the tax will be based on how many pollutants are emitted and the end result will be to increase the price of fuel.
And in a country that has no public transport, this burden will again be borne by the citizens. Of course we will have neither coloured oil nor heating subsidies since they are also discussing a ban on fossil fuel subsidies.
Dear colleagues,
Rules of engagement. A few months after I entered my first year at university, the UK government decided to increase tuition fees from around £250 a year to a few thousand pounds a year.
At the time I was working in a clothing factory ironing dresses to cover my expenses and there was no way I could get that much money. So I joined the rest of my fellow students in the demonstrations that were going on all over London, but especially near the Prime Minister's office at the famous No. 10 Downing street in central London.
Once the Students' Unions of the London universities agreed on the day and time of the next demonstration, the university student union would call a meeting to explain, especially to us foreigners, how the police behave in such circumstances and their Rules of Engagement during the demonstration.
What we were told, (and we also read in the police leaflets), was that the police would stand their ground, not caring what we told them, what slogans we shouted or what we sang.
But if someone touched a police officer, or had any other kind of physical contact, the police would respond with whatever level of force they deemed appropriate.
So before a march, the police knew the date, time and place of the demonstration and made sure we knew what the rules of engagement were.
These memories back in the Students Union building keep coming back to me every time I think about the events of February 2021 regarding the police response to the water cannons, the girl's injury and other stories told between youth rallies.
What we urgently need to do is for the police to first define the various scenarios and for each of them to define their rules of conduct, so that both police and protesters know well in advance their limits.
That way the police will behave in a way that no one will blame and people participating in demonstrations and marches will know what the police response will be, depending on their behaviour.
I have had the opportunity to discuss this many times with various officials.
I think it is time to do something about it before we witness bad developments between the police and the demonstrators again. It's nice, it's simple and it works!
Housing Policy. Housing and decent living is an inalienable human right and should be treated as such by the institutions of the state, which is responsible for social policy.
In Cyprus, the skyrocketing cost of buying or renting a house creates conditions that make the right to housing an unaffordable good with serious implications for social cohesion.
The state should have had a comprehensive housing policy many years ago. A housing policy that does not just mean low-interest loans and financing, but a more general plan that looks at the whole spectrum of the issue:
According to official figures, 9,500 births and 6,000 deaths are recorded every year. Based on the above, it is estimated that the population increases by 3,500 people per year from births alone. If we add to this the number of refugees arriving?
Based on the above, how many additional housing units should be available each year? 1000; 2000; Has anyone done any calculations?
And by what standards and values? Is the right number of housing units available on the market?
Are the ones currently on the market aimed at everyone, or are they only aimed at a group of buyers/renters that will bring more profit?
Are social changes, urbanization, human geography, concentrations of educational institutions and the economic data - especially of young people - taken into account?
One of the good practices that we see in several EU countries is that the number of housing units available on the market should be higher than the number of housing units that are currently on the market?
Are social changes, urbanization, human geography, concentrations of educational institutions and the economic data - especially of young people - taken into account?EU is the institution of Social Housing, which in Cyprus comes quite late and on a very limited scale.
The Cyprus Land Development Organisation (LDA) has started the construction of a Social Housing Complex in Larnaca with the construction of 32 houses in total, which will be completed in two years.
The housing problem, however, is bigger and nationwide, affecting young people, the elderly, single-parent families, large families, refugees, the unemployed, young couples, people with disabilities and many other - vulnerable and non-vulnerable - groups of the population.
Unfortunately, we observe that several projects, such as the Cyprus University of Technology in Limassol and the School of Architecture in Faneromeni, are being implemented or announced without any provision for the timely and immediate coverage of the housing needs created.
Beyond student housing, however, the problem is pan-Cypriot and touches a very wide spectrum of society.
Any development today is determined by large contractors and land developers, who are driving the trend for luxury and high-cost apartments and housing, so that there is greater profit in selling and renting them.
That is why a national housing policy is needed, which will prioritise the real needs of all citizens. Much of the funding for housing policy can be drawn from the Recovery and Resilience Plan, which sets out energy efficiency and sustainability criteria.
The State of Housing In Europe 2021, released in March 2021 after the first year of the pandemic crisis, looks at the full range of housing problems in Europe. The report cites many good examples such as those of Wales, Belgium, the Netherlands and France.
The European Parliament, in a resolution in January 2021, called on all EU Member States to take effective action as "more and more people on low and middle incomes in the EU. It also points out that more and more people across Europe are living in unsafe, poor quality and energy inefficient housing."
Inadequate housing, according to Eurofound estimates, is costing the economy. New trends and data, such as the proliferation of short-term rentals like AirBnB and the constant movement of populations, are creating new conditions for housing. No piecemeal policy can solve the problem.
An integrated approach, taking into account needs and going through sustainable development, is needed to be considered effective.
And while this serious housing problem exists, anyone who walks around neighborhoods will confirm that there are many abandoned houses and buildings for reasons that have not yet been investigated.
At the same time on the commercial streets of our cities there are many closed and abandoned stores, closed due to the economic crisis or due to the unplanned licensing policies of the malls.
The reality is that in Cyprus nobody is seriously concerned with improving the situation in the neighbourhoods of our cities as the Dutch do so successfully.
Therefore, and for many other reasons, the abandoned buildings in the cities should be taken seriously in a proper housing policy.
There are many reasons why we should seriously consider how to manage abandoned buildings, especially housing, such as.
3) Very often vacant homes are crowded with people who cause nuisance and insecurity to the residents and can make the construction even more dangerous.
4) It is not right that there are people who need housing and these houses remain vacant.
5) With the constant increase in population the need for housing is constantly growing and the city is forced to expand causing a number of problems.
In Cyprus we have no policy for the management of such cases and we have to consider a number of alternatives.
There are legal issues concerning private property and the protection afforded to it by legislation. The first step should be to identify the buildings and put them on a register so that we can then implement a series of measures.
One such measure is the German practice of additional taxation of property within a residential area that has been unoccupied for more than three years as a measure to put pressure on owners.
The existence of such a register would help Local Authorities to make targeted inspections for dangerous buildings but also with legislative cover to be able to enter the plot, clear the yard and charge the owner as is done with vacant plots.
A more advanced action would be through long-term rentals to repair and use these housing units by the state to house low-income families who now, for example, receive rent subsidies.
This can be done through a Social Enterprise that identifies such buildings and undertakes on behalf of the state to enter into a long-term lease of the building, repair it and then hand it over to the relevant services for use by families in need of housing.
With the construction techniques now available to us it is even easier to repair a building. Solutions exist, but it takes willpower and the outcome can only be positive.
Animal Welfare. You have often heard me sometimes harshly criticise this government, but one thing it has done well is that we now have a good legislative framework for animal welfare.
But that is as far as it goes because unfortunately they do not bother to enforce the laws. Here are two examples below:
Selling dogs. In March 2021, Regulation 95/2021 on the possession and sale of animals was published in the official gazette of the republic.
The truth is that I expected that the implementation of this regulation would gradually solve many of the problems we face in this country with the importation of wild animals.
In Cypriot backyards you will find monkeys, bobcats, snakes, deer and anything else you can imagine as pets.
But what are the main provisions of this regulation?
1) It specifies which animals (pets) one is entitled to have in one's home.
2) Only licensed shops can sell the above species and there are provisions for the operation of zoos. For example, it is not allowed for anyone to advertise pets for sale as is done, for example, now on the internet.
3) Prohibits animals from being displayed at fairs, or offered as prizes in competitions.
4) Specifies in detail the procedure for licensing a pet shop, the operating requirements, and other details of the shop. At the same time, they were given until 2023 to comply with the law.
5) Anyone who owned animals that were not among those allowed when the regulation was passed was given 6 months from last March to register them with the right to keep them until the animal's death.
If Veterinary Services find an animal in a home that is not one of those allowed and is undeclared, they are entitled to move it to another place they deem suitable for the animal. This was recently the case with a bobcat that attacked a child when it escaped, so the animal was taken to a zoo.
But the government should have been running information campaigns since the law was passed and calling on people to register the animals they now own.
They should also be prosecuting those who illegally advertise the sale of dogs and other animals on social networking sites and elsewhere.
In the same month Veterinary Services posted 2 forms (in pdf although I expected them to be electronic) on their website for people to fill in one of which does not include the information required by Regulation 5, but neither has been advertised as being there.
I was expecting the Ministry to launch an information campaign for those who own animals not listed in the regulation to register them, but also after more than a year after the regulation was passed to start implementing it.
Instead we still see various animals being advertised on the internet. The same is the case with Regulation 319 of 2019 for the protection of dogs and cats in breeding kennels, hotels, shelters and temporary shelters.
It has been 3 years since the Regulation was passed and yet, there has not been any information on this either and I do not believe that any provision of the Regulation has been implemented as the internet is full of advertisements for the sale of dogs.
You must all bear in mind that the shelters are in the worst condition they have ever been, especially now that the Coronavirus restrictions have ended and my dear fellow citizens no longer need them as an excuse to go out walking the dog.
The government should have incurred the costs to build the 5 provincial shelters they have been promising for so many years.
The Local Authorities are not taking their responsibilities, the volunteers have now reached their limits, we are full of stray cats and dogs and no one is doing anything substantial.
Dear colleagues, this situation can't go on any longer!
We need a comprehensive policy on strays, build infrastructure, enforce the law with inspections and prosecutions, conduct serious campaigns with sterilizations and help volunteers in shelters until the government together with the Local
Government builds its own.
Fireworks. A huge problem for children with autism, for people seeking peace and quiet at night and our pets is the many fireworks.
We discussed the issue at the Environment Committee and it appeared that no one is getting a licence, the sale is rampant, the mining department cannot respond to the many complaints from citizens and the police are not taking responsibility.
Basically everyone has known about the problem for years but no one undertakes to find a solution and neither do they respond to citizens' complaints with the police and the mining service disagreeing in the Environment Committee.
This too will be left to the next or rather unsolved.
Transport Energy and Tyres
Back in Cyprus we used to have good public transport. Now unfortunately every family has 2 or more cars, because there is no other way of transport.
In 2010, the then government spent a few million to prepare a Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan for Nicosia. We were not interested in other cities since then.
The plan provided for bus routes, bike lanes, sidewalks, smart stops, one-way streets and much more.
Unfortunately, this was only for Nicosia and apart from the oversized buses, nothing important was done in the plan. Just execute a project every few years since the goal is the end of the century. They rebuilt Kallipoleos years ago and now they changed the alignment on Makarios. As I said, we have time until the end of the century.
As for the other cities, the corresponding plan was done in 2020 but there is no violence about that either.
Maybe it is part of the government's social policy to keep car sales, gasoline consumption, insurance and car repairs from falling. Maybe they misunderstood what the Europeans mean by Fair Transit ... I don't know and I really want to know.
But traffic is getting worse every year and Nicosia leads the way. Unfortunately so far the government instead of taking real action on Public Transport in 12 years has just done some one-way streets and started bus routes
The buses they have chosen are bulky, only cover certain areas and are not as frequent as they should be. We have a long way to go.
We now have bus routes in other cities with exactly the same problems. The result is that the vast majority of people use private vehicles, which take money to buy, maintain, insure, buy very expensive fuel and many emissions that make air quality problematic.
We urgently need proper road signage that gives buses an advantage, more frequent and well planned routes with good smart stops, promote bicycles and fix and clean up the sidewalks.
Street trees should be increased, schools should be made all day so that parents don't have to run in their cars to take their children to private school all afternoons.
Students should be able to walk or bike to their schools safely and not need parental grandparents to transport them.
Care should be taken in urban planning that promotes small shops in neighbourhoods so that people do not need a car for their daily shopping.
Based on an EU Directive, we had an obligation 6 years ago to design a policy for the installation of alternative fuel stations. These include electric car charging points, hydrogen and gas stations for liquefied petroleum gas. Unfortunately nothing has been done since then.
But from what I read, there are other European countries that have not met the obligations of the Directive and I am glad that they will now make changes that contain clear obligations.
The promotion of electric vehicles such as electric bicycles and cars, to be effective, needs infrastructure that we have not even touched yet beyond a few charging stations from the Electricity Authority.
This infrastructure is necessary for the owner of an electric vehicle to feel secure that when needed they will be able to charge outside their home.
There are now obligations in the energy efficiency of buildings legislation and we will be closely monitoring its implementation.
And we should all bear in mind that the EU has voted to ban the sale of cars with an oil or petrol engine from 2035 onwards!
But there is also the following paradox.
Because in Cyprus only AHK is entitled to sell electricity, anyone who installs a charger should be allowed to charge for free and cannot charge for it.
And just because we have too many cars, the old tyres we need to handle every year is about 600000 and I think everyone now realises how big a management problem we have.
Akamas
Those who love and care about nature experienced this year the great agony that we always go through in the year before the presidential elections, which is none other than the change of the urban zoning of Akamas.
But this time the government brought very dangerous proposals based on the now familiar rationale of a government that believes that development means building buildings everywhere.
The proposals this time were indeed very aggressive and introduced new conditions such as visiting farms.
This together with the attempts to introduce glamping created terrible concerns among environmental organisations because there are no clear planning zones for either and they would come under the definition of special development which goes basically everywhere.
In summary
And because I don't have any more time I'll summarise:
- The latest research again confirms that alcohol and drugs are very easy to access! Especially for alcohol that no one controls.
We also have too many students smoking hookah in cafes and in public.
We need to take serious action now!
- When the Social Enterprise Bill came to Parliament, no department wanted it.
After years some department was found to be interested.
After years some department was found to be interested. Once the debate started and publicity was given suddenly many people wanted it.
The House made a mistake and gave them the power. I say wrong because for 2 years we have been anxiously waiting for the Regulations to come to Parliament and for the government to announce measures to support Social Enterprises.
Bear in mind that in the EU over 10% of the EU workforce works in Social Enterprises.
Before I close, I would like to express my admiration and this year I would like to say a big thank you to the Non-Governmental Organisations, whose voluntary work fills the huge gaps and shortcomings of the public service.
Many thanks also to the Secretariat of the Environment Committee, Stephanie, Nicola and Antigone, who bear with me but also keep order among the organised chaos I live in.
And finally a huge thank you to the best collaborator there could be, Chrysanthi, the multi-talented Paraskevi and Tonia who, as I always say because that's how it is, make me look much better than I am".
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