Sick leave costing EAC €5 million

SICK LEAVE taken by workers at the Electricity Authority of Cyprus (EAC) cost the semi-government organisation over €5 million in 2009, the Auditor-general’s EAC report has shown.

Furthermore, an audit into the matter showed that there were actually sick notes signed by paediatricians.

Auditor-general Chrystalla Yiorkadji’s report was discussed at yesterday’s House Watchdog Committee, where MPs found that the EAC may be making good progress in tidying up its finances and internal affairs – the SGO has already noted a €5 million (or eight per cent) decrease of its annual budget – but there are still a number of issues that need to be resolved.

One such issue is the large sums offered to EAC staff in the form of scholarships for their children.

“We need some order,” said EDEK’s George Varnava. “Around €5 million was spent on the EAC staff’s sick leave in 2009, with sick notes by paediatricians being accepted. We also need to put an end to the fact that the organisation is giving large sums in the form of scholarships for workers’ children, when is some cases, their finances exceed €120,000 a year.”

DIKO’s Angelos Votsis said the key to resolving the problem would be to decrease the amount of time EAC workers are allowed off sick. “The EAC allows 12.57 per cent of the working year for sick leave, when CyTA (Cyprus Telecommunications Authority) allows eight per cent,” he pointed out.

Committee Chairman, DISY’s George Georgiou, said the report clearly showed that the EAC was one of the tidiest SGOs, though there were still some discrepancies.

“With this in mind, the Committee will continue to observe the EAC’s operations and intervene so that we can put an end to these discrepancies,” said Georgiou.

It was also heard that around €1.5 million worth of electricity was stolen in 2009, some by the occupied areas.

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