Filenews 17 Januar 2021
After 15 days without answers from the competent authorities, on 14/1/21 we were able to meet with the Parliamentary Audit Committee, again asking our key questions, in the face of a reality that for months has left 600 companies and 12000 employees active in the Shopping Centres exposed.
The meeting, which took place in the presence of a representative of the epidemiological team and the President of the Cyprus Medical Association, was requested to investigate the decision to suspend the operation of the Shopping Centres, as well as the criteria that substantiate it, bearing in mind that during the same period shops with premises with dimensions, uses and traffic similar to shopping centres remained open. At the same time, the question was strongly raised about the elements and criteria which make shopping centres have a higher degree of risk, since for as long as they were allowed to operate, measures to protect public and individual health were demonstrably applied, both by the shopping centres themselves and by the shops located in them.
We quote below excerpts from the letter submitted to the Parliamentary Audit Committee.
Since the 13 November decision to suspend the Limassol and Paphos shopping centres, but also since 9 December when the decision to suspend all shopping centres was announced, we have expressed to the P.D., the Speaker of the House, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Health, the Ministry of Health. Finance, party presidents , KEVE, OEV and other relevant bodies our great disappointment and intense reflection on these decisions .
We stressed that from a health point of view, the suspension of the operation of shopping centres will only encourage consumers to shop from specific shops and department stores outside the shopping centres, which is expected to create huge queues and general overcrowding in these areas. We pointed out the obvious , that is, offering more alternatives to consumers would decongest retail spaces , thus contributing to the protection of consumers and the public in general . Indeed, the closure of shopping centres has forced consumers to visit a limited number of shops, resulting in huge queues and incredible overcrowding, both in the shopping streets and in the shops that remained open and especially in department stores.
We also stressed that this decision , in addition to targeting , without any documentation at all , the shopping centres and the businesses they house , would have a huge negative impact on the economy since it would inevitably lead to the bankruptcy of a significant number of small and medium-sized Cypriot enterprises and the unemployment of some 12,000 workers. There is no evidence to suggest that the Shopping Centres have been hotbeds of transmission of the disease. On the contrary, there are too many statements and reports from all members of the epidemiological team that others were outbreaks of spread (concentrations in houses, cafes, workplaces, schools, etc). This is also evidenced by the facts.
At the same time, this unprecedented decision created conditions of unfair competition as all other stores, regardless of area, continued at a very critical time in terms of sales, to operate normally.
It should be noted that the contribution of the Shopping Centres to the revenue of the State is extremely important since together with the companies that house pay to the State on an annual basis the amount of € 140 million ( Value Added Tax €80 million + Corporate Tax and Defence €20 million + Social Insurance, GESY and other related funds €40million).
Unfortunately, despite our warnings to the competent authorities to review the decision to suspend the operation of shopping centres, the decision was not revoked with the result that all the negative consequences for which we were warning would become a reality.
The above, we consider to have been one of the main reasons for the rapid deterioration of the health image of our country. More specifically, when on 11 December 2020 the shopping centres were suspended, the daily cases were around 300-400 and the positivity rate was around 3%. Within 2-3 weeks , where the results of this decision were made public, the number of cases increased dramatically to 600 -700 per day, with the positivity rate soaring above 5%.
It is precisely for these reasons and to avoid similar future decisions, which will have a huge negative impact, both on the health picture and on the economy of our country, that we ask that those responsible answer, even today, the questions we have been asking them since the first day of the decision to suspend the Shopping Centres.
- On the basis of what data and investigations only the operation of shopping centres has been suspended, since they strictly observe the measures against the spread of coronavirus as defined by the competent authorities.
- By what criteria and what data was determined that all other shops , regardless of whether they are department stores , shops on shopping streets or shops within supermarkets , are safer for the public and do not constitute places of increased transmission of the virus ;
- It is noted that some of these department stores, in which they were allowed to operate, have spaces with dimensions, uses and traffic similar to shopping malls. If these stores are considered safe, then why are shopping centres considered to be high-risk areas?;
- Because no other country within the European Union has taken similar measures including the suspension of the operation of shopping centres while at the same time all other shops of any area can operate normally;
- How the decision to suspend shopping centres has ultimately affected the epidemiological picture, given the dramatic increase in cases and the number of people hospitalised;
Unfortunately, the decision of the competent authorities to suspend the operation of shopping centres, apart from being undying, has largely led us to the current dramatic situation we are experiencing, with all the negative effects on all sectors of Cypriot society and economy.
