Sour grapes in vineyard dispute

THE grape dispute took another sour turn yesterday with farmers threatening to chop down their vineyards if their demands are not met.

Last week, the grape growers’ mounting dissatisfaction over a recent government proposal to ensure that wineries accept 50,000 tonnes of grapes, reached boiling point. The growers met at Stroumbi in the Paphos district and accused the government and other farming organisations of serving the interests of the wineries and not their own. The solution, claimed the growers, excluded a section of the growers as they would not receive financial aid, nor would the costs of their farming be covered.

Now the grape saga has reached new heights. DISY deputy Christos Pourgourides struck out against Minister of Agriculture Timis Efthymiou, accusing the government of delaying submitting a request from the grape growers to the European Union. The request, which has been turned down by the European Union, has angered the grape growers, who argue the government’s late submission has cost them, seeing that the wineries need the grapes to be subsidised before taking delivery of them, something which in itself needs EU approval.

An angry Pourgourides told CyBC radio: “The government has first of all delayed the submission of the grape request to the EU and secondly told the public that the request was submitted with plenty of time to spare.”

Efthymiou himself intervened in the talk show, stating that the request was submitted on June 28 and that Pourgourides’ claims were unjustified.

Meanwhile, there was more trouble brewing in the Stoumbi area of Pafos as grape owners began chopping down their vineyards, stating that the wine industry was refusing to pick up the grapes immediately telling them that the grapes will be collected in October, when they will be worthless.