The Pancyprian Association of Professional Events (PASYEPEK) demands that the holding of open weddings, baptisms and other events without restrictions be re-instated again starting September 1st, with the President of the Association, Konstantinos Mosaikos, stating that after the latest decisions of the government, the companies are left hanging and exposed and face the risk of going bust if they continue to suspend work, with the possibility of redundancies opening starting on November 1st.
Speaking at a press conference, Mr. Mosaikos said that with the extension of the restrictions to September 15th instead of their being lifted on September 1st as planned initially, there are about 250 to 280 weddings which were planned before the pandemic with a turnover that was to be between 40 to 50 million euro left “in the air”.
In his statements, Mr. Mosaikos said that after the initial announcement of the government for complete removal of all restrictions on September 1st, if the epidemiological data allowed, the Association had drafted a manual which they handed over to the Ministry of Health and health services, requesting that they are allowed to restart working, from August 16th till the end of August, without restrictions or otherwise as the specific manual was applied following the instructions of the Health Services and the Epidemiological Team.
He continued by saying: “Today, ladies and gentlemen, we are in an unfavourable position having to declare that not only what we asked for has not been heeded, but, arbitrarily and without any substantial or legal justification, the preliminary date of September 1st was transferred to September 15th 2020.”.
Acknowledging that weddings and baptisms have been allowed since August 22, 2020, increasing the number of people entitled to attend wedding ceremonies, Mr. Mosaikos added, however, that “again our state has deprived us of the constitutional and human right to work since the promise that was given to us, that is the complete lifting of measures starting from September 1st as was already announced publicly, is now revoked”.
For his part, Paris Anastasiou on behalf of OEB stated that the Federation considers that companies should be supported, and a way to resume business as usual from September 1st if possible needs to be found or alternatively support to companies in the sector needs to be provided.
Source: Phile news/CNA
