The President of the Refugee Committee, Nikos Kettiros, announced in a written statement that the Parliamentary Committee will meet next Wednesday, December 28 to consider the two Bills concerning the management structure of the Ministry of the Interior and the abolition of the positions of the Director of the Care Service Rehabilitation of Displaced Persons (YMAPE) and the Turkish Cypriot Property Management Service and then, on the same day, they will be brought to the Plenary.
“In yet another case, the Parliament will intervene, on our own initiative, so that the huge problems that have been created by the Government and the Ministry of the Interior's insistence on changing the management structure of the Ministry a few days before the presidential elections will be corrected at least to the last “, says Mr. Kettiros.
He clarifies that despite the initial procedural objections from the Directorate of the House of Representatives, he contacted the President of the House to whom he explained the problems that have been created by the Government's decision to first promote the abolition of the positions of the Director of YMAPE and the Service Management of Turkish Cypriot Assets and subsequently to promote amending bills for the two agencies.
As a result of our intervention, an extraordinary session of the Refugee Committee has been set for next Wednesday, December 28 to examine the two Bills and then, on the same day, they will be brought to the Plenary, continues Mr. Kettiros.
According to Mr. Kettiros objective conclusion is that this whole situation has been created “with the sole responsibility of the Ministry of the Interior because it prioritized other issues than serving the displaced”.
Mr. Kettiros also states that while the zeal of the Minister and the Government is limited to the pre-election appointment of additional directors in the Ministry “Government Settlements have been abandoned, the elderly and people with disabilities continue to be trapped on the floors of their apartment buildings”, with the Ministry “refuses to undertake any initiative to address the danger experienced by residents in 43 apartment buildings have been judged here and three years inappropriate”.
He also formulates the position that if the Ministry had shown half the zeal for these daily problems, perhaps the refugee world would not have experienced this “ten-year setback” in refugee policy.
