THAT THE petrol crisis has revealed our over dependence on cars will not surprise many on the island.
However, what is surprising is how even a temporary petrol scarcity has impacted on so many areas of peoples’ lives.
An informal survey of readers’ experiences, by the Cyprus Mail has shown how various sectors, such as from tourism, healthcare and education, suffered from a lack of infrastructure or provision for such an occurrence.
A resigned Elita Georgiou from Larnaca described how, without a bus service in operation, an empty tank would prevent her from taking her son to school or getting to work, one hour away. “To be honest whatever the cost we will have to pay. There is no public transport option in Cyprus. Since the government give and all else concerned do not give us any other option, we have to use a car and foot the bill.”
The gap in provisions for tourists was also thrown into stark relief. Rene Lorenz from Paphos said yesterday morning they had a friend arriving later in the day and had no way to collect her from the airport or of taking her around. “She has cancer in the last stadium, and is coming to meet us for the last time. It made me very sad and angry.”
A doctor at the Blue Cross Hospital in Paphos described the effect on patient care. He said they had cancelled around eight appointments earlier yesterday because a lot of patients live in villages.
“Fortunately the petrol stations agreed to supply us, so if there was an emergency, or seeing the patient was a necessity, we can reach them,” he said.
Asked how doctors felt, he said “This created a feeling of insecurity and tension. I think the petrol stations went too far,” he added.
For many people in Paphos, where petrol had completely run out in the few stations that were serving, the crisis also revealed a lot about human nature, bringing out both the best and worst in many people.
One resident described a fight that broke out between two brothers when one caught the other siphoning petrol from the other’s car.
Between Hilton Park and Ayios and Antonis Market in Nicosia, irate drivers furiously barged their way through gridlocked traffic in search of the increasingly scarce petrol yesterday morning. Until the strike was lifted at 2pm the only empty spaces were the forecourts of striking petrol stations.
Away from the cities, the shortage brought some communities closer together. In one case, a lady from Paphos who required chemotherapy in Nicosia had run out of petrol. Friends rallied to the cause, siphoning off petrol and putting it in to one tank in order to reach get there on time.
One hapless Cyprus Mail reporter, stranded in Paphos floods with an empty tank, was rescued by her landlord who arrived bearing jerry cans.
With the rapid depletion of global oil on the horizon, such scarcity is certain to return one day. It remains to be seen whether the government learns from the experience.
