With the manipulations of CTO officials, a sponsorship of € 800.000 was granted to a hotelier without being entitled to the specific amount and when yesterday it was pointed out before the Parliamentary Audit Committee that the money was lost, the chairman of the Board. of the CTO, Angelos Loizou, expressed the position that the money was not lost but simply given to someone else.
The above issue was raised during the discussion of the Auditor General's report on the CTO concerning the year 2016. The case was forwarded to the Attorney General and an investigation is underway.
During the discussion, reference was made to the CTO office in Amsterdam, whose official appealed to a Dutch court that ruled that the Cyprus Tourism Organization should pay him € 96.000. The same official, who appealed to the court when he was fired by the Board. of the CTO, claimed, through the appellate court in the Netherlands, another € 750.000 but, as the president of the CTO said, not a single penny was awarded to the former CTO official.
However, answering a relevant question from MP Annita Dimitriou, he stated that the CTO paid another € 80.000 for legal fees. Now, the Cyprus Tourism Organization has filed a lawsuit in a Cypriot court seeking compensation from the ousted official, commensurate with the money awarded to him by the court of first instance in the Netherlands.
The chairman of the CTO also did not fail to criticize the media because when the report of the Auditor General was released a few days ago, they gave, according to Mr. Loizou, a wrong picture, which resulted in associates of the Organization abroad asking for explanations for professionalism of the CTO, while asking questions regarding the safety of tourists staying in tourist accommodation, hotels, etc. The issue of the security of the tourist accommodation was raised by the Auditor General who had referred to reports of the CTO itself.
Specifically, in a letter of the Organization to the Minister of Interior, dated 15.2.2017, the following was mentioned regarding the large number of unlicensed tourist accommodation:
"The issue is very serious since in addition to the legality of the building, issues of safety and health of visitors and staff of the units are raised, since the illegal building modifications affect fire protection issues, health issues, issues of licensing of swimming pools, etc."
According to the Auditor General's report, 73% of the hotels and 36% of the leisure centers were operating without a license, which carries risks.
Issue with… special routes
MPs strongly criticized the € 7,4 million sponsorship granted in the period 2003-2016 to the Cyprus Car Association (KSA).
The Auditor General clarified that he does not object to the sponsorship, given that it is documented that the institution is being served. If the state considers that broader targets are being served, then it would be better to grant the sponsorship directly from the Ministry of Finance, he said.
MP George Perdikis described the sponsorship of the rally as a huge scandal. The sponsorship started when the minister was a person who was involved in the rally and I wonder why Municipalities that attract thousands of tourists for sports events should not be subsidized and the rally should be granted, he said.
Yesterday, the issue of licenses for the operation of tourist accommodation was raised and the chairman of the Committee, Zacharias Koulias, blamed the Parliament itself, which approved laws that raise obstacles to the issuance of licenses even for insignificant issues.
MP George Perdikis pointed out that with the urban incentives granted by the government, many owners began to build without a planning permit.
MP Irini Charalambidou stressed that we can not allow the operation of premises that may have been made illegal additions, which may endanger the guests. The Auditor General for his part indicated that the state gave the owners the right to obtain approval even with notes in the title deed for performing unauthorized work, but some do not do so either, to secure permission.
The president of the CTO stated that many of the approvals required for the issuance of licenses, concern other services, on which the organization depends. He also said that the handling of applications by government agencies differs from province to province, resulting in non-uniformity which does not help in the issuance of permits.
Finally, he mentioned that the CTO suggested simplification of the licensing procedures so that the phenomenon of many tourist accommodations being presented as illegal is not observed.
The media blamed the president of the CTO
MPs Irini Charalambidou and George Perdikis reacted to the allegations of the chairman of the CTO that the media falsified the Auditor General's Report by exposing the Organization and suggested that journalists write based on the data before them and can not be guided or written by what the CTO considers should be written.
It was also pointed out that the journalists do not copy the report of the Auditor General, but show what they consider to be of interest to the public.
The Auditor General himself clarified that he could not instruct the journalists and the media in general how to present the reports of the Audit Office.