In a creepy letter, a resident of the province of Famagusta asks for the obvious from the Minister of Labor, Welfare and Social Insurance. The letter states that the special plan to support the unemployed does not include July, leading him to a dead end, while despite the constant efforts to find a job, and despite his dignity, due to the financial situation in the province of Famagusta he is forced to live in tragic financial situation.
The letter was sent to the Minister of Labor, Welfare and Social Security, with a notification to the Social Welfare Service, the MPs of the province of Famagusta and to the media.
For the publication of the letter in the media, the sender wishes to remain anonymous, as he mentions that there are other people who are experiencing worse days than him.
Read the shocking letter as it is:
To: Minister of Labor and Social Security
Common: Social Welfare Service, Famagusta Province MPs, Various Mass Media
I am sending you this letter regarding the Special Unemployment Support Plan. The fact that the Special Unemployment Support Plan does not include July, combined with the fact that I have not been able to find a job so far, has led me to a dead end. I have made several efforts and sacrifices to find a job without result. While I have been working since I was fifteen, I have been taking out social security since I was nineteen, now I am in my first year as unemployed because of covid-19. Unfortunately, due to my great misfortune to end my unemployment in July, I found myself without income for three months and now I am in the fourth without any other solution.
I am in the phase of either I will pay the electricity or I will buy food. The fridge is empty and on the fridge are the bank letters for sale, unpaid water, unpaid electricity and so on. I have no income, no support, I have no family ties or parents or grandparents. This month is the last one I have some income of hundreds of euros in the bank. However, the reasons from the previous months have overtaken me and I have to sacrifice basic human needs in order to endure even the fourth month. Social exclusion was the reason I was able to get here in August. I could not even understand when Lockdown came and went, for me that is my reality.
I have contacted the welfare office since October and they have not seen my case yet. But even if they see it, the money that will be given to me and as far as I know will not cover the months of August-November, but only in November. So the money that will be given to me, all I will cover will be various expenses. Where to start from. Water; Drift; Doctors? Treatments for my chronic problem? Food? What exactly;
I worked as an adult from the day I was discharged from the army at the age of nineteen until today. For twenty years I have been in the workforce, either seasonally or year-round. For the last fifteen years I have been working for the same company. This year I worked from March to April where the director of the company where I worked for the last 15 years, decided to proceed with layoffs throughout the turnover not to include us in any support program. Why is not something I can answer. So having already paid for my four months of unemployment since the winter period, my unemployment benefit ended on July 22nd.
I have not had any other income since. I have tried to find a job in the other provinces of Cyprus, as due to the fact that the province of Famagusta has been severely affected, due to the fact that it relies mostly on tourism and so all my efforts to secure a job were in vain. I have given various interviews in the province of Larnaca and Nicosia. Even if I knew that the salary I would stay would be quite minimal due to the distance, since the fuel for my transportation there would be payable by me. Nevertheless, I tried to find a job by spending two hundred euros going to these interviews as I needed a job. So my efforts lasted from June until the end of July but due to the fact that I had no other income I could no longer due to finances to continue looking for work outside the province of Famagusta.
I was saddened to learn that the ministry's decisions were not to be included in the support program for the Covid-19 those who ended their unemployment in July. Clearly this fact puts me in an extremely difficult situation. After three months, with no income, my living conditions became inhuman. The money I have cannot cover my basic living needs. I owe the water, the electricity my house I have a mortgage. I am constantly receiving letters for delays, for disconnection of electricity, for sale of my house and so on. Of course, five hundred euros was clearly not the solution I wanted and the effort on my part to find a job. Even as I write this letter I send CVs, even though I know I will not be able to go to the interviews if and when someone contacts me. Although it was not the solution I would have liked, at least I would have met my basic needs in continuing my job search.
Despite my efforts to find a job, they did not bear fruit. The unpaid bills, my unpaid loan and the money I have left are no longer enough to cover my basic human needs. The most inhuman fact is the situation I am living in at the moment. I have to decide, either I will pay for the electricity or I will buy food. This is literally the downstream I have reached and I do not know what to do. I am desperate. I no longer have the money to have the basic needs of a person, I do not have the money to look for a job and I do not have the money to go to the subsidized jobs that will be announced by the ministry. This means that in the next month the money I will have on me, the money I will have in the bank will be zero.
So in a nutshell. Madam Minister, I need the approval for the special unemployment insurance to support the unemployed for the duration of my unemployment term until today. Not to live on bonuses, as I show by my actions. The fact that I never stopped working. From my fifteen years until March. I need it to free myself financially, so that if I can not find a job, I can at least go to training programs. As well as the most serious issue, do not have to choose whether I will have electricity or if I will have to eat.
I hope, Madam Minister, that you see my issue in a humane and realistic way and not as someone who wants to take advantage of situations. "
Famagusta.News