Cyprus-Forum.com

[zan]

‘People have had enough’
By Charles Charalambous
PASYDY General Secretary Glafcos Hadjipetrou launched a scathing attack yesterday on AKEL MP Aristos Aristotelous, accusing him of producing a survey highly critical of Cyprus’ civil service purely for financial and political gain, and of not having the necessary scientific background to do so.

During an increasingly ill-tempered exchange on a morning show on CyBC radio, Hadjipetrou said:

“When someone uses the letterhead of the House of Representatives, signs himself as Mr So-and-so MP and asks various government ministers to buy a satisfactory number of copies of a knocked-together report, which is not even a book, it’s just a duplicated copy, at €200 per copy.”

He added: “We have asked the Cyprus Association of Opinion Polls & Market Research Enterprises, comprising people who are qualified do these things professionally, to judge whether Mr Aristotelous has the necessary experience and background to carry out a survey which with a few glib phrases rips the civil service to shreds.”

Aristotelous said: “If I carry out one or one thousand surveys, I have nothing to fear, and have nothing to hide. I challenge PASYDY, if it dares, to bring out a survey – not a study as some others do – a survey of what people are saying, and follow up on it. Let them publish it and follow the people’s recommendations to fix things, because people have already had to put up with enough. And if they dare to threaten an MP in this way, just imagine how they would behave towards ordinary people.”

After more heated comments, Hadjipetrou said: “I will be calling on the House Ethics Committee to look into whether an MP can photocopy a knocked-together document and ask for several copies to be bought.”

The 2010 draft budget announced by Finance Minister Charilaos Stavrakis last Friday showed that the total number of civil servants has increased steadily over the last 14 years, from 38,356 in 1995, to 41,199 (2000), to 47,704 (2005) to 51,893 this year.

Aristotelous’ survey was based on the responses of 588 people island-wide to 16 questions, in order to gauge their level of satisfaction with various civil service departments and to identify specific areas of concern.

Many respondents complained of poor personal service, and those who admitted to using bribery or connections – the so-called ‘meson’ – to get a job done at a state department ranged from 64 per cent (Limassol) to 84 per cent (Larnaca).

Overall, Citizens’ Advice Centres, the Road Tax Service and Fire Service were well-regarded, but the police, Land Registry Office, Welfare Office and Town Planning Department rated poorly in most respondents’ view.

Aristotelous brushed off Hadjipetrou’s accusations as “laughable”, and said that despite the PASYDY leadership’s attempt to “distort the facts” and “shut people up over the issue”, the majority of ordinary union members had a different opinion.

“Instead of PASYDY concerning itself with the serious problem of what people – including public employees themselves – are saying about the current situation in the civil service, instead of being concerned that some 30 per cent of civil servants are saying that it takes bribery for the state machine to work, which is an unprecedented thing to hear, Mr Hadjipetrou is trying to sling mud at the researcher”, he said.

Aristotelous insisted that he had sufficient academic background and experience in research, saying that the market survey was “100 per cent scientifically-based”, and “carried out with the help, co-operation and constant supervision by large and reputable polling companies” to ensure that he did not make a mistake.

“The suggestion that I am selling this survey is nonsense,” he said. “I have gone to considerable personal expense over this survey, just like for other surveys, and have not made anything back. Sometimes, instead of absorbing all of those costs, I have found it necessary to ask for some of those costs to be covered. If I were to repeat this survey in the future, then yes I would need some kind of financial support.”

Copyright © Cyprus Mail 2009

[Get Real!]

That’s as interesting as reading one’s horoscope…

[The Cypriot]

Is everyone on the take ?

Everyone, it seems, except you, zan. What are you, a schmuck?

[Nikitas]

My experience, not opinion, is indicative.

I emailed the Nicosia Regional Administration asking how to obtain a birth certificate. They actually replied (living in Greece for 35 years, a written response by a civil service department is a surprise!) with full details.

I did not want to go into the trouble of bank transfers and sent my application with 10 Euro note in the envelope.

Three weeks later I got my two copies of my birth certificates with three 2 euro coins neatly sellotaped together and I kept them and show them to Greek friends.

When I applied for my RoC passport the Consul in Athens picked up the phone and contacted Nicosia as to my citizenship status. He actually PHONED! He did not send me away with peremptory instructions to go fetch a piece of paper or another certificate. Problem solved the application went through and I got my RoC passport.

If this is indicative of corruption Mr Hadjipetrou, then PLEASE tell other civil services how to do it. Believe me, it is an improvement over what passes for efficiency in other countries.