Filenews 15 July 2021 - by Michalis Hatzivasilis
The Cabinet meeting may have changed from yesterday, which was set for Friday due to the situation with the increase in infections, but the owners of leisure centres complaining about SafePass do not change their decisions.
From tomorrow they begin their mobilizations starting with the closure of the road to Larnaca airport and then they will escalate in the other cities. As the C.G. of the Cyprus Association of Recreation Centres Fanos Leventis told "F", the change of the Ministerial meeting does not change the decisions taken on reaction measures to the implementation of safepass controls. As you know, the owners of catering premises react to carrying out their customers' SafePass checks themselves and have invited Health Minister Michalis Hatzipantella to present a recommendation to the Council of Ministers to change this measure.
Mr Leventis noted that unless there are assurances that the Cabinet will change its decision, we as owners of leisure areas will proceed with the implementation of our decisions, as they were taken last Tuesday. The first measure is to hold a protest event at Larnaca airport, which, he added, is not accidental. From the airport come without control in Cyprus, only by showing a PCR control certificate dozens of tourists and the information that exists is that many carry a fake certificate.
In a post on his personal Facebook account, Mr Leventis himself cites information from Ayia Napa, where recently a group of tourists arriving from Russia included some 30 positives to the virus. In fact, they were limited to hotel rooms until they were taken to the reference hotel, but some, it is alleged, managed to leave the hotel and move around freely.
The Police told "F" that they have no problem not reporting premises owners when they have proven to have asked for a SafePass from a customer and they have not shown them and/or refused to leave the premises. This can be done by recording the incident so that in case of an inspection it can be shown to the police officers.
It is also noted that a group of citizens associated with catering premises mainly in Limassol is planning a protest event outside the Presidential next Sunday at 5.30 p.m.
