Row over public service productivity

PUBLIC SERVANTS’ union PASYDY president Glafcos Hadjipetrou yesterday hit back at EDEK deputy Marinos Sizopoulos’ comments over the public service’s low productivity levels compared to the rest of the EU.

On Monday Sizopoulos revealed the findings of a recent study that found public servants to be over-paid and underproductive.

Speaking during a House Finance Committee session on Monday, Hadjipetrou said that not only did he disagree with the report, but he believed that Cyprus’ public service was on par on all other European states – and a formula to be emulated by others.

Submitting a letter to the committee responding to Sizopoulos’ comments, which were based on a report by the European Commission, Hadjipetrou rejected the study out of hands.

He suggested another study be carried out on the public service’s productivity, while he pointed out that four studies had been carried out in the past, which were not promoted for discussion.

But Sizopoulos stood by his claims, saying that reduced productivity in the public services was due to the way the public system was operating and not to each public servant personally.

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.