In Port News 28/04/2015
Port workers and employees of the Cyprus Ports Authority will go on a 24-hour strike on Thursday in response to the government’s plan to privatise the ports.
The port workers will gather outside parliament, where the Communications and Works Committee is scheduled to discuss port privatisation.
“We – and most of the political parties – demand that the privatisation process is put on ice, since it does not in any way help towards the ports’ growth,” a port workers’ union statement said on Monday.
The unions stress the one-day strike is a first step. “We will wait and see what parliament decides. We cannot exclude further escalation,” they said.
On April 23 the council of ministers approved amendments to the legal framework governing the operation of the Cyprus Ports Authority, paving the way to invite tenders for the privatisation of the ports.
Transport minister Marios Demetriades stated last week the management of the port’s commercial activities will be granted to a private company for a period between 25 and 30 years.
A privatisations progamme, part of the €10bn economic adjustment programme, includes the privatisation of Limassol port, the Cyprus Telecommunications Authority and the Electricity Authority of Cyprus, aiming to garner €1bn by 2016.
