IN ANOTHER four-hour session of finger-pointing, conflicting views and accusations, the House Watchdog Committee yesterday continued its evaluation over the procedures followed to bring liquid natural gas to Cyprus.
Former Commerce Minister George Lillikas, along with the previous government’s minister Nicos Rolandis, who was the man that initiated the prospect of using LNG, were among those asked to attend.
Lillikas came under fire by both DISY leader Nicos Anastassiades – who initiated the discussion by calling the government’s handling of the issue as “the scandal of the century” – and AKEL deputy Andros Kyprianou.
The Auditor-general’s report, which showed that significant delays were showed by the current and previous governments in arranging the arrival of LNG, was again the main point of reference.
As he departed the committee around two hours after it had begun, Lillikas blamed the previous administration – and specifically Rolandis – for the delays, citing the Auditor-general’s specification that the former minister had delayed calling for an expert study into building a land terminal for LNG.
“I’m surprised by these comments,” Rolandis later responded. “I started proceedings for liquid natural gas when no other government had even considered it;
“I had to examine the possibilities and see if it was feasible financially to start an expert study.”
He explained that once the expert study was complete, the Cabinet concluded that a land-based terminal to facilitate LNG would be ready by 2007.
“Since this government took over, nothing has been done. As they don’t know what to say about their provocative inertia, they are now saying that I am to blame for this delay that is costing the Republic millions of pounds.”
He added, “Because I decided to examine the matter first within my ministry before calling in the experts, I am to blame for all this?”
Referring to the government’s aim to explore the possibility of building an offshore LNG unit – which is the main point of dispute, as it is believed that expediencies are hiding behind the information provided to the Cabinet for it to reach its decision last May to explore both possibilities – Rolandis repeated that the offshore option was one that hadn’t been used anywhere else in the world.
“Why turn Cypriot citizens into guinea pigs? This experiment has never been tried before, from what I know.”
As Kyprianou told reporters after the meeting, the discussion was a repetition of the numerous previous ones and resulted in one main conclusion: “A vast amount of data submitted to the Committee confirms that the procedures followed for the introduction of liquid natural gas where anything but lawful.”
He added that the questions being raised over the issue were getting more and more intense, and were verging on becoming a certainty.
“The Auditor-general has recorded in detail a lot of issues, which haven’t received a satisfactory response by the government,” said Kyprianou.
“It is clear that a lot of money has been lost due to these delays and Cyprus remains exposed to the EU. We should have complied with our obligations but it now seems that we will have to pay hefty fines.”
??
??
??
??
