Hiring procedures for some civil servants modernised

FOLLOWING THE resignation of Cyprus’ EU Presidency chief Andreas Moleskis over dubious hiring procedures, the cabinet yesterday agreed to modernise the procedure for hiring hourly wage workers in the public sector to guarantee meritocracy in decision-making.

As of November 1, 2011, candidates invited to interviews for hourly wage employment in the public sector will be able to see their ranking on a list which will be compiled by computer using specific criteria. The list will be made available to candidates.

“The modernisation of this process aims to ensure the fullest possible degree of transparency, objectivity and rational methods of handling referrals,” said government spokesman Stefanos Stefanou yesterday.

There are over 66,000 employees in the wider public sector, including semi-government organisations of which over 8,000 are permanent hourly wage workers, mostly blue collar personnel, whose pay scales are different from civil servants and temporary workers.

Stefanou also announced a cabinet decision to distribute 86 plots of land to refugees in Moni, Mosphiloti, Tremithousa and Anarita.

A further 49 plots in Parekklisia will be given to specific groups of refugees who are living in Turkish Cypriot properties that have not been expropriated by the state, preventing the current inhabitants from securing title deeds, said Stefanou.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.