Farmers to split Nicosia with their tractors

FARMERS have decided to split Nicosia down the middle on Monday as a sign of protest for not yet receiving their due subsidies.

The farmers said that the government is delaying to return on VAT, that many of them cannot even afford to pay utilities and that they will not allow a fellow farmer to spend Christmas penniless.

They said that they will form a line with their tractors from the presidential palace down to the Finance ministry and from parliament to the Agriculture ministry, effectively splitting the capital.

“They are inexcusable, the crop farmers. We have helped them many times, last year they were the first to receive subsidy payments and this year we will also begin payments with them,” Agriculture minister Nicos Kouyialis said.

He said that the first €12m will be given within the next few days and €24m more in the first week of January, while by January 10 they will be paid their hectare-based subsidies.

Apart from the subsidy, the farmers also want compensation for losses from draught, exemption from direct payment of VAT and exemption from the taxation of agricultural land.

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.