By Marinos Pavlikas:
A new wind started blowing in the province of Famagusta. The reason is the revelations of the Larnaca DIKO MP Christos Orfanidis regarding an emerging, as he claims, scandal in the contract signed by the Government with the owner company of the new building in which the Famagusta Land Registry will be relocated.
Aeolus' bag opened yesterday Monday when it was published the letter of the deputy Christos Orfanidis which he sent to the Auditor General complaining of possible misappropriation of public money during the rental of the building that will house the Cadastral Office of Famagusta in Paralimni.
The reaction of the local authorities of the province of Famagusta was immediate. In their letter they sent to the MP Christos Orfanidis himself but also to all the presidential candidates and the political parties, the Mayors of Paralimni, Sotiras and Ayia Napa, the community leaders of Achna, Frenaros, Avgorou, Liopetri and Acheritos, as well as the businessmen-members of Tourism Famagusta Industrial Company sent a strong message in all directions to all those who plot in the province of Famagusta. The letter is addressed to all the candidates for the Presidency of the Republic as well as to all the deputies of the province of Famagusta, as, as mentioned in the letter, the attitude they show by keeping a silent fish proves their inaction.
But yesterday's answer is nothing more than the tip of an iceberg, or rather a volcano that is about to erupt in the province of Famagusta. The relations of the businessmen operating in the province of Famagusta and the local officials with the official Chamber of Famagusta have been disturbed since 2012, when the businessmen of free Famagusta have left creating the Tourist, Commercial and Industrial Company of Famagusta. The reasons for the creation of TEVEA are based on the indifference, as they claim, of the official chamber for the free province, as both its headquarters and its members are based and active in Limassol. There are many times, in fact, that the members of TEVEA have denounced EVEA for undermining the businessmen of free Famagusta, as well as for promoting investments in Limassol rather than in free Famagusta.
Government Services shine through their absence
The controversy that has erupted since yesterday, also stems from the brilliant absence of the Government Departments from the province of Famagusta. District Administration, Department of Lands and Surveys, Department of Urban Planning and Housing as well as all departments of the District Court of Famagusta except the criminal are based in Larnaca with the corresponding inconvenience that thousands of free residents suffer daily.
The tragic consequences of the invasion inevitably led to the relocation of the Departments to Larnaca, but the 43-year absence from the living province, taking into account the rapid growth that has occurred to date, now raises questions about the non-relocation of government departments to their home province.
At the same time, there are many theories for serving the interests of the absence of the Government Departments, since there have been many suspicions that behind the attempt to cancel the transfer of the Land Registry there are officials who refuse to move from Larnaca to Paralimni. Relevant are the protests that were heard many times by the lawyers of free Famagusta for the non-transfer of all parts of the District Court to its headquarters and for the attitude of the Famagusta Bar Association.
The Famagusta lobby and the voters
The battle for the demilitarization of the province of Famagusta that has begun to emerge is expected to pass through various reefs with the instigators of the "revolution" considering their strengths. The constituent factor is the electoral force of the province of Famagusta, since only about 30% of active and registered voters in the province of Famagusta live in the free province. This means that the remaining 70% of Famagusta residents vote mainly on their representation in Parliament or Government with representatives who are likely to focus on their places of residence, such as Limassol, which is the province with the largest number of voters from Famagusta. . The same is true, of course, with the MP candidates themselves, who support, and not unjustly, most of their election campaign where most of the Famagusta voters' pie is located.
The above events are a factor that raises many questions about whether Kokkinochoria has the potential that local officials and businessmen claim they have or whether the guerrilla will be a waste of water in the efforts made.
The future of TEVEA and the Anastasiadis dilemma
Of course, what worries is the future of TEVEA, since the flag of the "pirate" of the province of Famagusta is its transformation into a Regional Chamber, something that was widely requested, but was never satisfied by the Government. The pious desire of the free provincials for the establishment and operation of a regional chamber, is indeed a particularly important request that will be, at the same time, the beginning of the creation of a lobby and a lever of pressure in Kokkinochoria that did not exist until now. At the same time, everyone is aware of the difficulty of satisfying such a request, even if supported by legal rather than political motives.
What is to be born
Of course, the Government's dilemma in this case is partly whether it will satisfy the request and allow the establishment of a regional chamber in free Famagusta. But this action is expected to bring:
- Dissatisfaction of the Famagusta Chamber of Commerce and Industry and important businessmen of the country,
- Legal status in the creation of regional chambers that will open the bag of aeolian for other similar applications,
- Dissatisfaction of a large percentage of Famagusta voters for the apparent division of the province of Famagusta into occupied and free.
On the other hand, if the demands put on the table regarding the future of TEVEA are not met, this is expected to lead to different kinds of reactions:
- The dissatisfaction of a number of more than 30 thousand voters, of which 55,66% (13.634) nominated the Anastasiadis Government during the 2013 elections,
- An emerging new candidate from the province of Famagusta,
- The creation of further dissatisfaction for the marginalization of the free province.
In conclusion, it is beyond any doubt that the province of Famagusta lacks Government Services. The supply of more than 18% of GDP and the important tourism, agricultural and construction industry were after 2013 the lever of restarting the country's economy. The Government, in addition to the remarkable projects worth tens of millions of euros that it has announced, as a continuation of these is expected to focus on making a living in a province that has been deprived of its capital and identity for 43 years. The Government has made a bet with itself that it should not lose and this is none other than the transfer of all Government Departments in the province of Famagusta and perhaps the transfer of AXIK and the Ministry of Tourism where they rightfully belong.
Famagusta.News