There are delays in the payment of compensation to farmers whose crops have been affected by extreme weather conditions and this is due to the fact that we are in a transitional phase of implementing a new system after the abolition of the Agricultural Insurance Organization and its transformation into another system.
The issue was discussed in the agriculture committee with its president Andreas Kafkalias stating after the meeting that the affected farmers are rightly reacting because the delays are long. He pointed out that for damages to citrus fruits from last December no compensations have been paid yet, for damages to deciduous trees from last March to June, no compensations have been paid while both the growers and the potato growers expect compensations from him.
He stated that the excuses submitted to the committee concerned the transition period from one system to another and the various shortcomings in the staffing of the agriculture department and the malfunctions.
DISY's Onoufrios Koullas stated that the problem of the transitional period is perceived and efforts are being made by March 2020 to pay compensation instead of by the end of the year.
He said that compensation is the right of farmers who want nothing more than quick and effective compensation and processing claims on the basis of the loss management fund.
From ELAM, Linos Papagiannis said that there is an understanding of the need of the agriculture department to adapt to the new compensation framework, but at the same time there is an understanding of the demands of farmers and their needs.
George Iliadis, spokesman for Ecoagrotiko, said that the delay in the payment of the sums puts the farmers in a difficult situation because they have no other income and the production is their only livelihood. He said the transition period is causing problems and we are currently discussing delays, software systems, understaffing and workload.
Famagusta.News