The "Voice of Livestock Farmers" organisation has called on President Nikos Christodoulides to intervene to ensure outstanding compensation is paid to farmers whose animals were culled.
The appeal was made by the organisation's president, Neophytos Neophytou, in comments to the Cyprus News Agency (CNA) following Wednesday's protest outside the Veterinary Services offices in Nicosia and Larnaca.
Arrests
During the demonstration, protesters blocked the entrances to the buildings with lorries. According to Neophytou, police arrested three people following a complaint alleging obstruction of access.
Neophytou said there are eight outstanding compensation cases involving discrepancies between the records held by the Veterinary Services and those of the affected livestock farms. He claimed the cases concern large farming operations, accounting for around 27 per cent of the culled sheep and goats and 23 per cent of the cattle that were destroyed. In one case, he said, the farm involved around 6,000 animals.
He added that the Veterinary Services had referred the cases to the Legal Service for an opinion.
Neophytou said affected farmers had expected the implementation of a commitment which, he claimed, had been made by the President during an earlier meeting.
'Complete indifference'
"The President instructed that compensation be paid for all animals that were culled and recorded, with any violations to be addressed later through administrative fines," he said. However, he alleged that the instruction had not been implemented and that the farmers remained unpaid. He added that they were also awaiting a response from the Presidential Palace.
Neophytou further claimed that no representatives of either the Veterinary Services or the Ministry of Agriculture met with protesters during the demonstration, describing what he called "complete indifference". He also blamed the Veterinary Services for the delay in processing the compensation payments.
Referring to the handling of the outstanding cases, Neophytou said he had been informed that the relevant files were in the possession of Veterinary Services Director Christodoulos Pipis, who is currently on leave. He further alleged that other officials had been unable to process the cases because, according to his claims, the director had not authorised them to do so.
Discepancies
Neophytou called on the President to intervene once again to ensure the commitment made to affected farmers is upheld. He also claimed that, in some cases, only part of the compensation had been paid, citing one farmer who allegedly received just 10 per cent of the amount due because of discrepancies in the recorded data. According to Neophytou, those discrepancies had long been known to the Veterinary Services and resulted from the incorrect implementation of the relevant legislation.
He also said livestock farms continue to face serious difficulties because of restrictions on the movement of animals. According to Neophytou, overcrowding on farms is leading to daily livestock losses and an increase in miscarriages, and he called on the government to introduce immediate measures to address the situation.
Source: CNA
