DISGRUNTLED grape growers say they will descend on the Presidential Palace with their tractors unless measures are taken to alleviate their financial woes.
The growers have been at loggerheads with both the government and the wineries since the beginning of the month over surplus supply.
Successive meetings with government officials and even with the President failed to resolve the dispute, and the farmers are once again warning of drastic action.
On Sunday they cut off one lane of the Limassol-Troodos main road for fifteen minutes to make people aware of their problem and to show they meant business. A strong police presence averted possible scuffles as drivers got caught up in the frustrating traffic jam.
With EU accession, the government can no longer buy surplus produce and dump it, as had been the case in the past. The only compensation farmers can look forward to is per-hectare subsidisation. But grape growers say they are dissatisfied with the compensation offered and feel cheated.
They are also angry at the wineries, accusing them of “provocative behaviour”, such as selective purchasing. Some say that only farmers “with connections” get to sell their goods to the large wineries.
Things could reach a head this week as the grape growers have threatened to block off the street outside the Presidential Palace and to take over winery premises.
The government is fully aware of the consequences of such actions, best demonstrated when potato growers used their tractors and vans to block Larnaca airport earlier this year.
And in June livestock farmers in a convoy clashed with police who prevented them from reaching the Presidential Palace.
Yesterday Minister of Agriculture Timis Efthymiou presided over a broad meeting of the parties involved, but again it proved impossible to broker a deal.
When the meeting was over, the minister reiterated the government’s commitment to aid the farming community, but it was clear the meeting had made no breakthroughs.
The government also came under fire yesterdays from the opposition which accused it of dithering and of “letting the farmers go hungry”.
Efthymiou retorted saying that the present administration had increased financial assistance by £3.5 million.
But farmers’ delegates levelled harsh criticism at the government. “The Ministry is acting like Pontius Pilate, washing its hands of responsibility,” one source said.
