Potato farmers plan Monday protest

POTATO farmers are to take to the streets in response to the government’s failure to meet their demands, Panagrotikos Union secretary Kyriacos Hadjiyiannis said yesterday.
Farmers and union representatives met in Xylofagou on Wednesday night, and unanimously agreed to gather their 500 tractors at Ormidhia in preparation for their protest that will start on Monday.

Hadjiyiannis told the Cyprus Mail the potato farmers had grown tired of the government rejecting their demands. “They now feel their only option is take extreme retaliatory measures,” said Hadjiyiannis.

Potato growers have said they will not block the roads with their tractors. They will, however, drive down the roads in a peaceful demonstration, which could cause severe traffic jams.

“It is unknown at this stage where the tractors will drive to. They may reach Nicosia, they may not,” said Hadjiyiannis. Potato growers will begin their demonstration at 9am on Monday and it will only last a couple hours.

“The potato growers have had the final word from the government and do not expect to have any further meetings to discuss their demands,” said Hadjiyiannis. “However, they want to highlight the fact that they will not fade away quietly.”

Potato farmers are outraged at the government, which has said it cannot meet their demands, as they are not in line with EU directives.

“We sent a list of 13 demands to the government and have had several meetings to discuss whether they were feasible. The potato farmers believe they are and must be met, while the Agriculture Ministry have simply rejected them,” said Hadjiyiannis.

The three most important demands, according to the potato growers, were that they receive compensation for leaving the profession, that the government pays off their agricultural debts, which amount to several millions of pounds and that they are also given financial help towards potato production and trade.

The government has repeatedly said it would not respond to threats.

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.