Filenews 15 November 2022
The way for the transportation of children aged three to six by bus, was opened today by the Council of Ministers with the approval of a grant scheme to bus owners for the purchase of child seats and restraint systems.
In his statements after the meeting of the Council of Ministers, the Minister of Transport and Works Giannis Karousos said that the body approved the proposal of his Ministry to create and promote a sponsorship plan for the purchase of child seats and restraint systems for children aged 3-6 years for their transportation by bus.
As is known, he said, after the passage of the Parliament's bill of law, children aged 3-6 years old were practically excluded from travelling by bus, because it is mandatory to use a child seat or a restraint system.
He added that in order to solve this problem, after a discussion with the Road Safety Council, with a budget of €150,000, a sponsorship scheme was created so that the owners of the buses could be subsidized for the purchase of these systems and children of this age could be transported by bus.
"The project has a budget totalling €150,000. €50,000 will be allocated for child seats, which are applied to buses with seats that carry a three-point seat belt, and €100,000 for child restraint systems, which are applied to buses that carry seat belts at two points. For the child seats the sponsorship will be €35 and for the restraint systems the sponsorship will be €75", he said and noted that all the details of the project will be announced next week by the Department of Road Transport.
Paphos Road Transport Department case
Asked to comment on the corruption case under investigation at the Paphos Road Transport Department, Mr. Karousos said that because there is a criminal investigation underway it is not appropriate to give details and information. The Ministry investigates any complaint that comes, he said and recalled that the Ministry has an audit directorate, which essentially controls the entire Government in terms of co-financed programs, as well as other issues related to the control of the Ministry.
The Minister said that at the moment there is a relevant criminal investigation into the case and three people who are suspended, so we should let the investigation be completed. "The services of the Ministry have provided the necessary information and are cooperating as well as the audit directorate and we will await the results," he said.
Mr. Karousos sent the message for zero tolerance on corruption issues, emphasizing that any complaint or information that comes to the Ministry or to him personally, is investigated and passed on to the Police. At the same time, he called on citizens, if they consider that they are not being heard or that any complaints they have made to any department of the Ministry are not being checked, to contact him personally, either through social media or by phone to pass on information to him.
"We are moving forward, we are making any moves we have to make. In the Department of Road Transport a lot has changed, such as the system of booking dates for examination, as we know that some people had abused this system resulting in the sale of examination dates," he said and noted that this issue has been resolved.
He also said they also do not allow driving schools or residents from one province to another to be examined.
"We have statistics, everything is checked so any information that exists is checked, investigated and if we consider that it should go ahead and be reported to the Police, we proceed with the necessary complaints," he concluded.
