Trouble Brewing up at Customs and Ercan

elko2



Joined: 24/07/2007
Posts: 4400

Message Posted:
08/08/2009 11:16

The government is trying to restrict overtime pay to civil servants which has got out of control recently. Clearence of Customs is almost all done during overtime. If you have a container you get all the paperwork done during office hours and then the officers accompany you to check the contents almost invariably outside working hours i.e. you take the officers first for a meal and then they take their time to check the contents. Even the time spent at the restaurant which you pay for is charged as overtime. One hour overtime during weekdeays is counted as one and half hour and double at weekends. Now for an hour of overtime the government wants to pay 0.68 hour i.e 41 minutes for every hour. So they are refusing to do any overtime and the goods at customs are piling up. Theofficers are not present at check points outside normal office hours, so its free for all.



The system with air control at Ercan is even more serious. They work in rotation but only for 150 hours a month. They normally fill up the quota of 150 hours by the 15th of the month and they work overtime after that. They are going to refuse to work overtime anymore. That means that Ercan will be shut down after 15th August. Impossible to bring in aircontrollers from Turkey becaue even experienced ones need training before they can take over. What a mess.

ismet

smithy


Joined: 17/07/2008
Posts: 5301

Message Posted:
08/08/2009 11:31

Hi Ismet

does that mean any flights arriving at Ercan after the 15th August will not be able to land, ??

sheila

mint1955



Joined: 30/05/2007
Posts: 988

Message Posted:
08/08/2009 11:31

We fly 20th is there anything we can do or are we just going to have to wait and see

SHeila

Washerman


Joined: 19/09/2008
Posts: 2301

Message Posted:
08/08/2009 11:32

Top to bottom reform is what is needed, but I doubt that any government here will ever be strong enough to implelement 'big' changes.

Money needs to be saved, but I doubt that the rank and file are in the mood to give up 'the icing on the cake.'

As long as it is the employees that call the shots, nothing will change.

Remember the miners strike and the 3 day week in the UK - It took a great woman to sort out the mess.

Ismet, is it possible that there may ever be a female leader in the TRNC?

Washerman

joandjelly


Joined: 24/02/2008
Posts: 2953

Message Posted:
08/08/2009 11:33

To be honest, words fail me. I hate to say it but I really think that this "country" should be shut down immediately and taken over in every sense by Turkey. If this is the attitude of the Turkish Cypriots then unfortunately they do not deserve to be autonomous. They really need to wake up and smell the coffee.

andrew4232



Joined: 04/07/2009
Posts: 1543

Message Posted:
08/08/2009 11:35

MM great news i was planned to go back on the 16th !

Brinsley


Joined: 04/04/2009
Posts: 6858

Message Posted:
08/08/2009 11:36

Air traffic control at Ercan is controlled and run by the military, are they going on strike?



Richard

smithy


Joined: 17/07/2008
Posts: 5301

Message Posted:
08/08/2009 11:51

Hi Ismet

Does that mean any flights coming into Ercan after the 15th would not be allowed to land ??

Pipie


Joined: 05/01/2008
Posts: 5499

Message Posted:
08/08/2009 11:52

Why is there attempts on North Cyprus to discourage all to visit, invest , and live there WHY ?

elko2



Joined: 24/07/2007
Posts: 4400

Message Posted:
08/08/2009 11:55

Sheila,

Your guess is as good as mine but my information is from a very reliable source.

ismet

Washerman


Joined: 19/09/2008
Posts: 2301

Message Posted:
08/08/2009 11:55

Smithy, if there is no ATC, they won't be able to take off, never mind land!

Washerman

elko2



Joined: 24/07/2007
Posts: 4400

Message Posted:
08/08/2009 12:00

The government has the power to ban a strike for a certain period but they cannot order anybody to work overtime. Refusing overtime may be a matter for disciplinary action but not a criminal offence like refusing to observe a ban on the strike.



ismet

Bradus


Joined: 25/02/2007
Posts: 2641

Message Posted:
08/08/2009 12:19

Brilliant...........so everyone determined to keep business in the North, will now fly to the South?

Talk about shooting yourself in the foot. Yet they do seem to excel at this.

Washerman


Joined: 19/09/2008
Posts: 2301

Message Posted:
08/08/2009 12:34

Strike action threatened from/after Monday. Twenty six different organisations representing workers in all sectors are aligning themselves. They say proposals for overtime changes etc. must be withdrawn or else protests will begin.

Affected services: power supply, telecommunication, hospital services, rubbish collection and local government

Washerman

cronos


Joined: 26/10/2008
Posts: 2093

Message Posted:
08/08/2009 12:44

Washerman...msg 15



The GC's couldn't have done a better job themselves of crippling the TRNC economy !

elko2



Joined: 24/07/2007
Posts: 4400

Message Posted:
08/08/2009 12:44

Strike action is no problem against a determined government. Union lords spend all the money they collect and don't have any to pay the strikers so they cannot last long. Customs can be sorted out as well. The only problem is ATC who cannot be replaced at short notice for reasons explained in the first message. I understand that out of 40 ATC personnel 30 are members of the union, so I do not know what can be done with the 10 in hand. The new chief there is from Turkey, so he may have something up his sleeve, don't know.

ismet

girne 29


Joined: 06/12/2007
Posts: 1488

Message Posted:
08/08/2009 13:03

Pipie

"Why is there attempts on North Cyprus to discourage all to visit, invest , and live there WHY ? "



They dont discourage. What they do is first encourage tourists, investors etc and then some make sure one wouldnt want to repeat the experience.

Return customers ,return tourists ,return investors .The word "return" does not appear to have much meaning.



Agree with joandjelly, Turkey should do the same as UK did with the Stormont Govt in N.Ireland when it did not function correctly and were wasting taxpayers money.

Turkey should impose direct rule ,bring in the accountants, civil servants, and give the Turkish Tourist Authority total control of North Cyprus tourism.

Put the "Turkish" back into the TRNC.

TimothyCadman


Joined: 13/12/2007
Posts: 1040

Message Posted:
08/08/2009 13:24

Something doesn't add up here with the Air Traffic Controllers.

In one month there are 744 hours maximum in a calendar month.

There are 40 Air Traffic Controllers. If each works 150 hours a month that is 6000 hours; nearly ten times the amount of calendar hours.

So this suggests that if 6000 man hours are fitted into 360 calendar hours then there are at least 16 Air Traffic Controllers on duty in a 24 hour period. There should really only need to 8 maximum working 6 hour shifts then the 6000 hours fits into the month. No need for overtime!

Lilli



Joined: 21/07/2008
Posts: 13081

Message Posted:
08/08/2009 16:28

Girne msg 18 I totally agree. Turkey should now stand up to them.i Have just read the article and some civil servants coffee drinkers and doctors can get 60k pounds a year with this overtime. No wonder they have more cars in the mansion drives than a dealership. Whilst the poor get poorer x

andre 514


Joined: 31/03/2008
Posts: 1163

Message Posted:
08/08/2009 17:01

message 21 a heavy-handed response from a poor chap who is still in denial, as they say

Hector


Joined: 26/08/2008
Posts: 2352

Message Posted:
08/08/2009 19:34

"Strike action threatened from/after Monday. Twenty six different organisations representing workers in all sectors are aligning themselves. They say proposals for overtime changes etc. must be withdrawn or else protests will begin.



Affected services: power supply, telecommunication, hospital services, rubbish collection and local government"



Apart from that and the heat, and the litter, the dog shite and the price of food & drink in the harbour etc...all is well in the island paradise of NC..

rocking


Joined: 05/11/2008
Posts: 421

Message Posted:
08/08/2009 19:55

I absolutely dispair of the TCs. I do hope the Government does not cave into these mad demands. They talk about unemployment, OK stop overtime and take extra staff - but anybody with an iota of sense knows it is a scam. 12,000 tl a month then 12,000 overtime for some medical staff. In 23 years here I have never known the customs people deliver containers before 5 p.m. I know the Finance Minister has been looking at expenditure re Civil Service now they must keep their promises and not give in. I also have people coming into Ercan 21st who have save for a year for this, but this is now over the top. The GCs must be loving this.

Hector


Joined: 26/08/2008
Posts: 2352

Message Posted:
08/08/2009 20:34

The North really is a fantastic gravy train for the TC's. Government jobs available whatever ones skills or training, then set up for life with a pension after a few years. A job that involves dealing with the public means great fun to ensure that everything is as complicated as possible a) to show how important your role is b) to enable as many people as possible to be employed c) to ensure job security & d) enable as much overtime as possible to be available.



They know that whatever happens the Turkish government will bail them out and that the NC politicians are on the same gravy train & related. The new government will no doubt huff & puff to put up a show for Turkey, allow a few strikes but will cave in when bailed out by Turkey.

Hector


Joined: 26/08/2008
Posts: 2352

Message Posted:
08/08/2009 20:35

NOT that I'm cynical or anything like it....

andre 514


Joined: 31/03/2008
Posts: 1163

Message Posted:
08/08/2009 20:37

hector msg 23:



many would agree although I feel "unique but maddening" is a more elegant way of putting it



'course the general squalor cannot be entirely blamed totally and entirely on the blockade,



although the 50% dicount on trnc homes and property probably can be!



I wonder if the other lot ever stops to think how they are encouraging hard-up foreign buyers?

poetryanne


Joined: 23/07/2009
Posts: 18

Message Posted:
08/08/2009 22:00

Oh my goodness.I'm due to fly to Ercan on the 12th August and leave on the 25th.Does that mean we'll be stranded without a flight on the 25th?

cronos


Joined: 26/10/2008
Posts: 2093

Message Posted:
08/08/2009 22:06

Hector...msg 26..."NOT that I'm cynical or anything like it.."



Hahaha....it's OK to be cynical about NC if it is founded on experience.

You list your location as UK.....is your place in the sun just used as a holiday home at the moment?

eager


Joined: 23/02/2007
Posts: 1272

Message Posted:
08/08/2009 22:14

What a dump this place is, seems to do everything to keep people away !!!!

Coachie



Joined: 29/07/2008
Posts: 2135

Message Posted:
08/08/2009 22:24

You pays your money to go and live their then you have to take the bad with the good.Makes England sound like paradise....

girne 29


Joined: 06/12/2007
Posts: 1488

Message Posted:
08/08/2009 22:50

And here's me excusing the lack of a welcoming smile from passport control, by thinking they were so miserable due to the poor wages

ROBIN HOOD


Joined: 26/05/2008
Posts: 238

Message Posted:
09/08/2009 17:04

Just got to look at the manning of the boarder crossings at 3 am, with virtually no traffic. 4 people sitting behind computer screens clicking away merrily, watching . What? You Tube? Ebay? Coronation Street? Certainly not checking ins and outs. Others loitering around in the background strolling from Container to contaier with coffee cups and cigarettes.

It's a known fact that customs don't deliver containers in working hours even the haulage company in Germany told us that. Two people to check. Two separate cars. Organisation. "P*ss up in a brewery comes to mind."

Girne Harbour Ferry to Alanya.Tickets and passports checked by no fewer than 5 people between getting the boarding cards and ording the boat. All in a distance of 50meters. I'm surprised they don't suffocate , `cos theyre standing so close to one another.

ROBIN HOOD


Joined: 26/05/2008
Posts: 238

Message Posted:
09/08/2009 17:08

Little anecdote from last year. Sitting in a café in Karsiyaka (now closed) two guys are talking about work and what to do tomorrow. They are the two designated to paint kerbstones (the black and white thingy) One says to the other, "We can't work tomorrow." "Why?" says the other, "No white paint."

Local authorities who send their spraying lorries around spraying water because they have no money to buy insecticide. No one thinks to leave the sprayer in the garage, save the petrol and the overtime money. It all outward appearances .

Lilli



Joined: 21/07/2008
Posts: 13081

Message Posted:
09/08/2009 17:13

hector you are so right what goes on here at the moment does make UK like paradise. When we get inspections regular at least 8 gun bearing cops. around 7.30 to 8pm check licences etc fill in more paper work. god have you ever seen the amount of paper they uuse . Just go to any bank. Greenpeace would have a field day.. They go away satisfied and I ask why so many. Oh my brother cousin etc. Let them strike and perhaps we shold do the same but they have us over a barrel xxxxxx

MissP


Joined: 14/07/2009
Posts: 19

Message Posted:
09/08/2009 18:08

Its beyond me why any of you live in Cyprus when all you do is bitch about the place!

poetryanne


Joined: 23/07/2009
Posts: 18

Message Posted:
09/08/2009 20:07

It's a known fact amongst the Turkish population that alot of civilians in the Government/council jobs get their jobs via word of mouth from friends or families in there already.It's who you know not what you know in North Cyprus. That's why there are too many people doing very little!

westender


Joined: 14/05/2009
Posts: 328

Message Posted:
09/08/2009 22:39

Don't forget they can get a pension after just 15 years of service and in the UK we may have to work until 70. I think the Cypriots as a whole need to wake up and live in the real world.

elko2



Joined: 24/07/2007
Posts: 4400

Message Posted:
09/08/2009 23:15

Nobody can doubt my credentials as a Turkish Cypriot and I agree with the sentiments expressed above. We have to get our house in order but only people who promise favours get elected. The honest principled people will never get elected. Turkey is held to ransom and always pays up. Its time they refuse to pay and we can then start behaving responsibly.

ismet

Turtle


Joined: 28/05/2007
Posts: 2669

Message Posted:
10/08/2009 00:04

So Msg37 ?.........Just like the UK then

proger1



Joined: 18/04/2009
Posts: 2919

Message Posted:
10/08/2009 07:58

I realise that I will get masacred here for stating my opinion but I have to say that almost every complaint about the way things are done in NC are comparisons to how things are done in the UK. As valid or justified as they may be they are comparisons. It is not the UK and will never be the UK, I have no intension of ever living in the UK again because it is so corrupt it makes my teeth hurt. I have lived in the middle East for 7 years now and thank the lord it is not the UK either. It is expensive to live in the middle east because you have to pay for everything unless you are a local which I agree with. It is however only more expensive than the UK on a few points: Alcohol and Pork products due to religious standards and housing due to the shortage because everyone wants to be here.

The difference is that they don't charge Tax, why should you have to pay 40% of everything to gain nothing (UK system)

North Cyprus might be a dissapintment to some but it's a lot better than the UK

cronos


Joined: 26/10/2008
Posts: 2093

Message Posted:
10/08/2009 08:45

Proger....msg 41...."I have no intension of ever living in the UK again because it is so corrupt it makes my teeth hurt."



If you were trying to escape corruption then I reckon it's a case of out of the frying pan and into the fire.

proger1



Joined: 18/04/2009
Posts: 2919

Message Posted:
10/08/2009 08:55

You may be right cronos however it is a way of life in NC as it is in many other countries, I guess what I am trying to get at is as I have read several other people post. If you don't like the way things are in NC compared to the UK then why live there. I know most people are probably venting their frustrations but it does get very repetative and we all know that nothing will change by just complaining on the Forum.

The system will either adapt or change as they feel is required and we will have to deal with it.



The way I see it is that the people here are trying to get wghatever they can in order to survive and it sometimes works and sometimes doesn't. The corruption in the UK is the so called leaders using corruption for their own gains.

cyprusairsoft



Joined: 22/06/2009
Posts: 2066

Message Posted:
10/08/2009 12:09

cant see a problem get your arse in a taxi and get on a plane at larnaca or fly into south and avoid all the hassle.



if your that worried about consider other alternatives till its sorted

jacot


Joined: 18/05/2009
Posts: 19

Message Posted:
10/08/2009 17:00

so, what is actually happening?? Does anyone really know or is it all 'rumour' as usual?

No1Doyen


Joined: 04/07/2008
Posts: 16617

Message Posted:
10/08/2009 17:42

Have I got this right. You can fly in and out as long as your entry and exit is before the 15th of the month.



If you fly in before the 15th of the month and your exit date is after the 15th of the month you will not be able to exit until the 1st of the following month.



Right or wrong?

elko2



Joined: 24/07/2007
Posts: 4400

Message Posted:
10/08/2009 17:56

Msg. 45

Jacot wrote: "so, what is actually happening?? Does anyone really know or is it all 'rumour' as usual?"



I think if you read the second paragraph of my original message (msg. no. 1) you can read all the facts. What happens after 15th of August is a matter of speculation, let us say informed speculation. This must not be confused with rumours that abound in Cyprus.



My speculation is that flights will be disrupted at Ercan for a day or so and then they will find ways (democratic or otherwise) to persuade enough people to work the system. If the government is determined enough, and I think they are, they can win this battle. The majority of the population are behind the government.

ismet

Vidal


Joined: 14/05/2009
Posts: 867

Message Posted:
10/08/2009 17:59

Just rang KTHY and their London office say that they are not aware of any problems flying into Ercan this month.









OK before you chorus, I'll do it first...



'well they would say that would'nt they'

jacot


Joined: 18/05/2009
Posts: 19

Message Posted:
10/08/2009 18:26

and I've emailed CTA re my already booked flights as to what is happening. will post any reply I get!!!

Whistler


Joined: 28/07/2008
Posts: 1332

Message Posted:
10/08/2009 19:28

cyprusairsoft. The problem is when you have paid gbp 670 for flights, you dont want to lose that sort of money by going off to Larnaca. We fly out on 14th and hopefully return on 17th. Fingers crossed.

girne 29


Joined: 06/12/2007
Posts: 1488

Message Posted:
10/08/2009 19:28

Proger 1



Do you honestly think that middle eastern countries are better to live in than the UK.If so what ones? ,Saudi Arabia?,Syria?, Yemen?,Egypt?.Jordan?.Libya.?Lebanon.? Would be interesting to see, out of a thousand picked in the street at random ,how many would want to emigrate to those countries .If you lived as an expat in Barain for example, life could be quite good ,how many knew that up to 2001 torture was commonplace.



Overheard a guy ,found out later he was from the World bank, in Addis Ababa Hilton complain about the temperature of his bottle of wine.No doubt he thought his life in Ethiopia was better than in UK,that doesnt mean Ethiopia 84-85 was better place to live than the UK.



Proger....msg 41...."I have no intension of ever living in the UK again because it is so corrupt it makes my teeth hurt."

Never say never, I am sure a few from S.Africa and Zimbabwe who said the same ,now eat humble pie.





What passport do you now have?.

ROBIN HOOD


Joined: 26/05/2008
Posts: 238

Message Posted:
10/08/2009 19:36

Re Msg 44. It's easy to say but the emmigration officers are on strike at the boarder the you egt not rubber stamp on your bit of paper . Then where do you stand?

Brinsley


Joined: 04/04/2009
Posts: 6858

Message Posted:
10/08/2009 19:47

girne 29



Don't be so damn prejudice, what about the emerging force from NZ to the TRNC? Do we not get a look in as you Poms overrun my Country? I have to get away to somewhere, maybe I'll try Outer Mongolia next!



Richard

girne 29


Joined: 06/12/2007
Posts: 1488

Message Posted:
10/08/2009 20:04

Brinsley

Why would anyone want to leave New Zealand?Except to get a decent motor.

proger1



Joined: 18/04/2009
Posts: 2919

Message Posted:
10/08/2009 20:44

I have admittedly had 3 beers Girne but your comments are lost on me, I complain about the corruption now and my choice not to live in the UK ever you then quote Ethiopia 84-85 and Bahrain with an H by the way in 2001 that you could be tortured. My point was merely that the corruption in NC is commonplace and until it is either fixed by the government or not possible to do it will happen. You start spouting off your obvious greater knowledge of history in nigh on a dozen different countries that have nothing to do with either NC or the UK.

All you had to say was you are speaking cr*p Paul and I would have understood, no need to make me feel stupid for not knowing everything.

And in answer to the first question you ask about wather the middle east is better to live in "Yes, a sh*t load better" but you would have to spend more than a week in either country to know that.

poetryanne


Joined: 23/07/2009
Posts: 18

Message Posted:
10/08/2009 21:21

So what's the latest news in Cyprus please? Have the strikes started and is Ercan affected?

Brinsley


Joined: 04/04/2009
Posts: 6858

Message Posted:
10/08/2009 21:26

Msg 54



Seen the size of the women?!



Richard

girne 29


Joined: 06/12/2007
Posts: 1488

Message Posted:
10/08/2009 23:46

Proger1

I gave the examples to show that just because I as an individual am better off in a country does not necessarily mean it is a better place to live in. I have told you I worked in Bahrain(for a lot more than a week)tho Saudi was for only a couple of weeks at a time . However I wouldnt compare it to the UK as I lived a pampered existance .

Agian the example from Ethiopia was to illustrate how the gent probably thought that was a nicer place to live, but that would be only for him.

If you were meaning that for you with the lifestyle that expats can expect,middle eastern countries are better to live in then I apoligise,as you are of course correct. I was comparing general standards of life .

proger1



Joined: 18/04/2009
Posts: 2919

Message Posted:
11/08/2009

No apology nescessary Girne, I am a little biased toward the Middle East group and its not because they are better places to live overall, if they were I would not be moving to NC. My grudge is with the so called british government (I mean so called in reference to the govern part of the title).

Crime is extrordinarily high for such a small community and yet there seems to be no control, the crimes in NC and the ME countries is moral and IMO is an inbuilt system with all who are raised there, do it until you get caught scenario. Crime in UK is physical and personal but they are leniant to the point where criminals don't care if they are caught. I am going off subject, sorry.

The point I meant to make is, there is no get cr*p for free system in ME which means if you can't support yourself and your family you can't be there, why should they support foreigners, the UK system, again IMO is the exact opposite, punish those that strive to better themselves and reward the lazy and foreign

proger1



Joined: 18/04/2009
Posts: 2919

Message Posted:
11/08/2009 00:08

cont.

That is in no way meant to be racist or lazyist (don't know the word for being a biggot to lazy people) but let's face reality, the government of the UK, no matter of colour or creed will give grants to all minorities to "be equal and fair in the eyes of their voting public" to the cost of the tax payer (No, I am not one any more for this very reason) but what does the hard working, honest and fair person get, higher taxes. I strived to get the money together to afford a better house for my family and what did I get, a higher council tax bracket for what, exactly the same services. I have spent more than half of my working life away from my family in order to earn the best that I can get in a competitive market for what, higher taxes, for the same services. I could just become unemployed and still get the same services and also gain free money but my pride will not allow me to do that, so I suppose in the end that is my dilema

proger1



Joined: 18/04/2009
Posts: 2919

Message Posted:
11/08/2009 00:14

Apologies to all for gowing interplanetarily of subject, I hope all gets worked out for the better and it doesn't damage the transport schedules too much before it is resolved, in my experience people try the shams and rip offs on salaries because the basic is not enough to survive but if it is balanced to a point where the overtime is more of a bonus when needed as compared to a need it to survive siuation then it becomes less of an issue.



Power to the people, as long as it doesn't cost me too much. ;-))

ROBIN HOOD


Joined: 26/05/2008
Posts: 238

Message Posted:
11/08/2009 12:22

Just spent 10 TL on my mbile trying to get through to CTA anywhere. after 20 Minutes of try I gave up. Just have to go to the airport and hope. The webpage is no help either the flight number not shown and no available flights to Cologne tomorrow. MAybe someone should actually WORK overtime.

Analyst_CY


Joined: 10/08/2009
Posts: 11

Message Posted:
11/08/2009 12:34

ELKO wrote: "...and then the officers accompany you to check the contents almost invariably outside working hours i.e. you take the officers first for a meal and then they take their time to check the contents. Even the time spent at the restaurant which you pay for is charged as overtime."



You take the officers for a meal? Why? How about them taking you for a meal? Or will they make life difficult if they don't get their "bakshish"? The above demonstrates perfectly the attitudes of those who are part of a failed state.

elko2



Joined: 24/07/2007
Posts: 4400

Message Posted:
11/08/2009 13:01

Analyst,

No country is perfect but we all know the huge back handers paid in south Cyprus but this is not the subject of this thread. Of course you have a different agenda and its so obvious. You go and write on the lunatic assylum, more suitable for you there

ismet

wanderer


Joined: 05/02/2009
Posts: 1653

Message Posted:
11/08/2009 13:20

There was a film made in 1959 by John Boulting staring Peter Sellers and Ian Carmichael

"I'm All right Jack"

It was the comic story of the Unions controlling industry that had been the case since the end of the second world war.

It took twenty five further years for the ridiculous stranglehold to be broken.

Cyprus works/ed on the British colonial model which is something of a worse option of favouritism and patronage of a chosen few which I assume has continued after the departure of Britain

No one to date has stood up and been counted if Barbara Castles in place of strife had been enacted there would have been no Thactcher

As Elcod2 says the South is not immune In the weeks after 7/7 the baggage handlers went on strike on the Friday at Paphos and Larnaca .We were reliably informed that they would be back on Saturday as they never struck on the weekends

Elcod2 You are right someone needs to stand-up to them but with only such a small population no bigger than Leicester it to

cyprusairsoft



Joined: 22/06/2009
Posts: 2066

Message Posted:
11/08/2009 16:26

whistler agreed but if your desperate desperate measures prevail



if not stay and go later date until the heat is off its only money



my mate who has cancer and few weeks to live would love to have the problem of the price of your ticket

her dream was a house in cyprus she has that and to live in it and enjoy it she will never do that now.



lifes short mate its only money

Analyst_CY


Joined: 10/08/2009
Posts: 11

Message Posted:
11/08/2009 16:37

Elko,



Two blacks don't make a white. How many European countries - south Cyprus included - do you think have a system whereby you have to take customs officers for a meal before they will do their duty? Anyone who condones this practice is supporting corruption and unaccountability - two of the big failures of the TRNC.

ROBIN HOOD


Joined: 26/05/2008
Posts: 238

Message Posted:
12/08/2009 15:33

Just got back from Ercan. No sign of anything other than serious overmanning. 6 people in a 9m² office. Copying numbers from the computer screen onto a form to have a stamp stuck on it. (Wouldn't be TRNC without the stamp).

ASked whay do they write the numbers on the form, wehy not print it out? the answer was "no printer". Too expensive???

elko2



Joined: 24/07/2007
Posts: 4400

Message Posted:
13/08/2009 04:28

Why should they have a printer and get things done in a fraction of a time?



My favourite cartoon strip was "Andy Capp", I wonder if it is still going after so many years. He is a lazy so and so and always out of a job. However he has to apply for work shown by the employment office otherwise he will lose the dole. So one day when Andy is about to go for an interview his wife says to him: Andy, you will stand a better chance of getting the job if you shave. He does not take any notice of that but mutters to himself: "Silly woman, I discovered that ages ago". Is there a resemblance to TRNC?

ismet

Quarmby


Joined: 15/09/2008
Posts: 975

Message Posted:
13/08/2009 08:13

Yes, but Andy Capp was cartoon strip!!

Cyprusraider


Joined: 08/04/2009
Posts: 99

Message Posted:
13/08/2009 08:31

And TRNC is not????

Moover321


Joined: 11/04/2009
Posts: 649

Message Posted:
13/08/2009 08:31

For those who think that corruption does not happen in the EU (Analyst-CY) I would ask on which planet have you been living over recent years?



MP's expenses in the UK; EU has not had its account signed off by the auditors for nearly a decade; There is little or any transparency in how the EU spends tax payers money; The ex-President of France is about to be indicted on corruption charges, Ditto in Israel and let's now forget that haven of democratic processes the USA - paying off their cohorts via contracts in Iraq for supporting and illegal war! Itlalian Prime minister's



Need I go on? Okay, then, let's look at the Transparency International report http://www.transparency.org/news_room/in_focus/2006/cpi_2006



or http://info-wars.org/?p=3043



Not exactly bed time reading but clear enough to show how ridiculous the statement made by Analyst-CY.



The corruption in the EU and in the UK may not take the form of a meal with the custom's officer - it is much worse!



Cont'd

ROBIN HOOD


Joined: 26/05/2008
Posts: 238

Message Posted:
13/08/2009 08:32

It's bit like Paddy going to the Job Centre asking for a job. The guy at the job centre looks in a file and says, "I've just the thing for you. Director of the Bank of England, corporate accomodation in Dockland. Rolls Royce with Chauffeur and a Helicopter at your beck and call. Oh yes and a basic of 850,000 GBP a year." "Wow!" says Paddy impressed,"Are you joking?"

"you started it!"

Moover321


Joined: 11/04/2009
Posts: 649

Message Posted:
13/08/2009 08:41

They take our taxes and line their pockets without ever accounting for a single penny! They take backhanders on selling arms to despotic countries who then spawn resistance movements which in turn bring terror to our streets! They pay off large corporation for 'political donations' by granting them contract worth billions if not trillions of Euros - and it is all done with a 'nod and a wink'!



The USA is not much better - how do you think Haliburton got all those Iraqi contracts from the Pentagon? I wonder if Dick Cheney had something to do with it.....! What about Blackwater? Currently being re-investigated by Congress, the same body which 5 years ago praised its 'good work'!



So a quick bite with your custom's officer isn't exactly in the same league!



"Steal a little and they throw you in jail, steal a lot and they make you a king"



To think that corruption is the preserve of non-EU, non-North America is going from the absurd to the idiotic by-passing ridiculous!

Lilli



Joined: 21/07/2008
Posts: 13081

Message Posted:
13/08/2009 10:24

Moover Dick Cheney had more than something to do with it even down the false invoices for millions x

Bertie


Joined: 15/04/2008
Posts: 155

Message Posted:
13/08/2009 11:03

Elko our container is due to arrive in Famagusta at the end of next week if there is a strike any idea if it will just have to sit there, do you think we have any chance of it being released? Also without wanting to encourage panic buying something which we can be very good at in the uk does this mean there may be difficulty with getting goods to the shops as almost eveything comes in by container ships

Thank you for the information about the strike

proger1



Joined: 18/04/2009
Posts: 2919

Message Posted:
13/08/2009 11:50

Just an update, I came through last night with no issues and it didn't look like they were preparing for anything but then maybe that is on purpose. Everything was on time and the passport desks were all manned but ti was midnight so they were probably on overtime.

elko2



Joined: 24/07/2007
Posts: 4400

Message Posted:
23/08/2009 15:38

My latest update is that the air controllers are wall accepting to work overtime and hence no distruption from their side.

The new manager from Turkey seems to be rather shrewd. He announed two vacancies, one for assistant manager and another for supervisor. So none of them want to jeopardize their upcoming prospects

ismet