Ombudswoman calls for staff

Ombudswoman, Iliana Nicolaou, called for greater support from the House Finance Committee yesterday in order to cope with increased responsibilities and an increasing number of complaints, which have more than doubled since she first took office.

Nicolaou told the committee she had to ask the Finance Ministry for more staff because of the work overload. In 2002, her office received 1,600 complaints, while this year they are expected to reach 1,700. Nicolaou stressed that when she started out in 1998, she only received 850, but now she gets 15 complaints a day, mainly due to the fact that the public is more aware of its rights, she said.

The ombudswoman has also received a number of complaints from Turkish Cypriots in the Turkish language which are currently being examined.

A number of deputies at the meeting voiced their concern that the Ombudswoman’s office was acting as a court by dealing with legal matters, and highlighted the large number of competences already assigned to her office.

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