Concrete strikers pour into Nicosia

A CONVOY of about 25 concrete mixers converged on Nicosia yesterday to protest against the implementation of “stifling” controls on the ready-mix industry.

The island’s 60 ready-mix production centres came to a standstill, forcing a halt to work on many construction sites.

The concrete mixers converged on the Works Ministry to demonstrate against the government’s chosen method for monitoring the implementation of strict controls on ready-mix quality.

Neoclis Kyriacou, of the Association of Ready-mix Concrete Producers, described the government’s soon to be introduced monitoring plans as “complicated, time-consuming and bureaucratic”.

Kyriacou said the proposed monitoring method was “too complicated” to explain but would cost the state between £80,000 and £100,000 a year. The association could propose a far more efficient and cost-effective monitoring system, Kyriacou insisted, adding that ready-mix makers were not against the introduction of the new regulations per se.

If the government failed to respond to yesterday’s 24-hour strike “in the next few days” then the association would consider further action, Kyriacou said.

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