POTATO farmers have not always been such an aggressively militant group. In the 1980s and early ’90s, when the Cyprus potato was highly popular in European markets and they were making large amounts of money, they bothered nobody. Their only complaint against the state was probably the excess tax they had to pay. The wise ones invested their money in hotels and holiday flats, while others built luxury homes and bought expensive cars for their families.
In the last few years things have not been going well for them for a variety of reasons, the most important being the competition from lower-priced potatoes produced in other countries. So now that profits have fallen and future prospects for their crop are poor, potato farmers want the state to offer them a golden handshake – that is to compensate for taking early retirement.
This outrageously ridiculous demand was rejected on Monday by agriculture minister, Timis Efthymiou, causing a group of farmers to walk out of a meeting in protest. Efthymiou said that if about a thousand farmers wanted to leave the job, demanding between £50,000 and £100,000 each, the cost to the taxpayer would be £80 million. But if they were demanding £10,000 each, would their demand be any more justifiable?
Surely the minister should have explained that any compensation is out of the question, without trying to blame the EU for his negative stance. He should have made it abundantly clear that the government was not prepared, on principle, to discuss the demand. What other group has ever been treated in this way? When the clothing industry was grinding to a halt because of changing market conditions were business owners compensated by the state?
Potato farmers are a spoilt and selfish group of people who believe they are owed a good living by the taxpayer. They were receiving subsidies of up to £5 million a year which will be increased to £12 million this year but are still not happy. Now they are shamelessly resorting to blackmail in order to extract compensation from the state, promising to cause maximum disruption. In December 2002, they blocked Larnaca Airport with their tractors and invaded the runway, disrupting 17 flights.
Now they have been threatening even greater disruption if their compensation demand is not met! Last week they planned to drive their tractors to the airport to lobby President Papadopoulos on his return from New York. They did not go ahead with the plan, but it was an illustration of how their self-interest is placed above everything else.
It is the state that has made them behave in this obnoxious way. For too many years governments have been pandering to them, giving in to their blackmail. This lunacy has got to stop and it is up to government to make it clear that there will be no compensation, no matter how much disruption the farmers cause with their tractors.
