You wonder, is it really possible that in 2025 we’re still discussing whether EAC’s electricity production will be sufficient or if there will be cuts? What era are we living in? At this rate, they’ll start selling us lux (oil lamps).
They certainly know how to inflate our bills. They also know how to forecast consumption to match production accordingly. They knew it during summer heatwaves, and they know it now during cold snaps.
But what do they tell us? That they can’t manage? Well, if they can’t, they should all go home. Every last one of them. Both those governing us and those responsible for electricity. Because citizens pay whatever they’re asked and stay silent; they don’t deserve to be threatened with power cuts on top of everything else.
Is there any chance a citizen could say they’re unable to pay their EAC bill and have it waived? Citizens have a responsibility to pay, and they do so even when it means going without other necessities. Similarly, EAC has a responsibility to supply electricity year-round, not just in spring and autumn.
When you think about what has happened before and what’s currently unfolding around electricity, you can only feel utter disgust.
Natural gas for electricity generation. Floating and land-based regasification units. The terminal at Vasiliko. The cable that will connect us to Greece. The solar panels that were supposed to reduce costs but end up costing us a fortune. The market liberalisation.
And, ultimately, complete dependence on EAC’s production units, some of which they never know whether will work or break down – units the employees call “the old clunkers”.
So you think, perhaps this daily threat of cutting our power if we don’t conserve energy is the biggest con the state has pulled on its citizens. A massive, ongoing scandal with no end in sight.
But is the multiple pension issue any less scandalous? How many years has this fairytale been going on? Everyone publicly agrees it’s a distortion that needs correcting, especially to show respect to citizens, but they never agree on how to fix it.
Meanwhile, some thirty officials – receiving both salary and pension, or double and triple pensions due to their previous positions – continue to enjoy these benefits come hell or high water.
Among them, the President of the Republic himself and the Finance Minister. This alone is provocative, but let’s not make it personal, as it’s a matter of principle, a matter of ethics, of political integrity.
There are twelve legislative proposals from parties and MPs in Parliament, and the day before yesterday they became thirteen because the government submitted its own bill. With different ideas. Pensions to become gratuities.
That is, instead of receiving monthly payments, officials would get everything in a lump sum upon leaving office. For future multiple pension recipients, not current ones. The current recipients will continue to twist our minds.
The joke is that the government bill brings mayors, community leaders, Commissioners and others into the mix.
Fair enough, the parties have shown they reject the government plan, but the question is simple: If they’re so keen to fix these monstrous privileges, why are there twelve proposals in Parliament? For years on end!
They’ve been trying to regulate this since the 80s. By now they should have all sat down together to submit one proposal, vote it through and close the matter. The excuses about constitutionality are laughable.
They’ve changed the Constitution whenever needed, for many other reasons, so let them change it now before voting. Unless they prefer to vote and wait for their law to be rejected as unconstitutional. That’s also one way to continue the charade.
And it wouldn’t be the first time.
