MOTORISTS snaked in long queues at petrol stations across the island last night ahead of today’s indefinite strike by petrol station owners demanding a freeze in new licences until new legislation is implemented to regulate the market.
The operators’ association said it was left with no other choice after numerous discussions with authorities yielded no results. The association argued it was promised by the government that stricter restrictions on acquiring new licences would be introduced so as not to flood the market, but that these have not been implemented.
“There was no other option but to proceed with the decision to shut down all filling stations from Friday, January 4,” the association said. “Our demand is for a freeze in licences until new regulation and criteria for the operation of fuel stations are approved by parliament.”
The strike started on Wednesday in the Famagusta area where operators are furious over the creation of new stations in their area.
They claim that if things continue as they are, the number of garages could rise significantly and that their businesses face ruin with the increased competition.
However, it wasn’t quite clear yesterday whether the island-wide strike, starting today at 6am, where not even self-service machines will be operational, was called to protest against the oversaturation of the market- with claims that the number of existing petrol stations is already 35 per cent more than necessary- or because a number of stations were allegedly issued licences irregularly.
Head of the Petrol Station Owners’ Association Stefanos Stefanou yesterday clarified that the owners were not against new licences per se, given that they operate in a free market open to competition, but that they oppose licences being issued to petrol stations that allegedly do not meet all the requirements.
Operators are calling for more restrictions to control the number of stations being established.
The association’s honorary chairman Pambinos Charalambous referred to the new licences issued in recent years, saying: “We are not saying we don’t want any new petrol stations to be constructed – it is a free market.
“These new petrol stations should be constructed based on new regulations, stricter criteria, just like the ministries of commerce and interior have promised us, but the legislation is still not in effect,” he added.
A licence awarded for a new petrol station on the Paralimni-Ayia Napa road prompted the initial strike in the Famagusta District, which caused chaos in the south-east of the island with motorists forced to drive to Larnaca to fill up their tanks.
Paralimni mayor Theodoros Pyrillis yesterday said his municipality was not responsible for the town planning permit, adding that if the relevant state services revoke the licence then the local authority will follow suit and cancel its building permit.
“The municipality does not control town planning. There was a licence given for this particular petrol station and since the departments responsible approved its construction, the municipality could not object. The licence was not issued against regulations,” he said.
Pyrillis criticised the operators’ association for choosing to launch an island-wide strike today, two days after Famagusta operators went on strike.
The people and economy of Famagusta should have been given some respite from the strike before launching a nation-wide strike, he argued.
According to senior town planning officer Makis Chrysostomou around five to six licences applications are submitted per district each year.
In Famagusta, there are currently 18 operational petrol stations, a further six under construction and two or three applications for new licences pending evaluation, said Chrysostomou.
He argued that in the last two years, stricter rules have been implemented on issuing licences, with the association’s views taken into consideration.
Chrysostomou referred to the 2011 amendments to the local town planning zones that will be implemented, introducing even tougher criteria for obtaining a licence.
“Based on the previous criteria, a petrol station could be constructed 500 metres away from another one, but now there has to be a distance of 1000 metres. Also, petrol stations cannot be constructed close to schools or within 200 metres of a populated area.” he said.
Interior Minister Eleni Mavrou told the Cyprus Mail last night that she has arranged a meeting with the association for this morning at 9am when she will explain the government’s position.
“I will inform them of changes that have been made. If they want, they might be satisfied,” she said.
“We had a meeting two months ago, and they raised the issue of not issuing new licences. We explained we cannot do that. At the same time, we explained we would pass new procedures for the local town planning zones that would provide more stringent requirements for getting a licence,” said the minister.
“These changes have been made. Cabinet approved last week all the local town planning zones for all districts which will be published in the official gazette today,” added Mavrou.
Regarding the claims that some licences were given despite the application not meeting all criteria set, the minister pledged to carry out a thorough investigation into all such allegations given to her by the association, and either re-examine the licence in question or if need be revoke it.
Asked why the meeting with the association had to wait until after the strike started, Mavrou said many services and departments were involved in issuing licences, requiring some time to coordinate and consult before approaching the operators.
Regarding the mad rush by motorists queuing to fill their tanks before the strike, the minister said: “I don’t agree that people should be troubled in this way, with a little good will we could solve the issue.”
On the operators’ demands, she said: “You cannot intervene in the free market through town planning. There is no way to interfere in the operation of businesses, not just petrol stations, but also bakeries, kiosks, the lot. What you can do is regulate them and we’re doing that with the local town planning zones.”
Speaking on the main news show on CyBC last night, Stefanou hinted that he could call the strike off after the meeting with Mavrou if their demands are met.
