A THIRD of Greek Cypriots say President Demetris Christofias should resign following an explosion at a naval base a week ago that killed 13 people and gutted the republic’s main power plant.
According to a poll conducted by the country's leading daily, Phileleftheros, 39 per cent of respondents laid the blame personally with Mr Christofias for the failure to store 98 barrels of munitions and explosives safely.
Some Greek Cypriots are outraged by the revelation the Cypriot chamber of commerce had negotiated the purchase of electricity supplies with its counterpart in the Turkish Cypriot north.
Random power cuts and a ban on air conditioners as temperatures have soared to 38-40 degrees have frayed tempers, curbed business hours and prompted thousands of Greek Cypriots to demonstrate at the gates of the presidential palace.
Yesterday's headline in the English language Sunday Mail described the situation created by the republic's most serious peacetime disaster as "A wartime drill without the war."
Outages are expected to continue for months, with predictable negative implications for the republic’s economy. Production, consumption and employment levels are likely to fall in all sectors except tourism, a main money-earner for the country. Hotels, restaurants, cafes, pubs and shops in designated tourism areas are free from power cuts, but facilities outside these areas are suffering from outages, particularly since the electricity authority has not yet produced a schedule to inform customers when cuts are to be made in their localities.
The already high price of electricity will rise, and replacement of the Vassilikos plant could cost more than €1 billion. Former finance minister Michalis Sarris warned that “Public finances will also be dramatically affected, as both indirect and direct tax revenues will fall, while government expenditure will come under pressure as it may have to pay reparations to the victims of the tragedy or claims of insurance companies.” Besides the 13 dead, 60 people were injured and much damage was inflicted on communities near the naval station.
Mr Sarris said the government, already saddled with rising debt, will have to adopt a more ambitious austerity package than the one required to avert the euro zone economic crisis.
The barrels of explosives and weapons on a Russian-owned, Cypriot-flagged ship en route from Iran to Syria were impounded in 2009 by the Cypriot authorities under pressure from the US and Israel. They insisted the shipment violated a 2007 UN Security Council resolution prohibiting Iranian trade in arms.
The US and Germany offered to assist Cyprus in dealing with or transferring the cargo, but the government, dominated by the Communist party Akel, did not wish to alienate Russia, Iran or Syria, allies of the republic.
Nothing was done. Six days before the consignment went up in a 1.5 megaton blast, at least one of the containers was leaking, while others had buckled, raising fears of an explosion. The eventual blast was triggered by a brush fire.