Onasagoras
Half a million a month. That’s what the Cypriot taxpayer is shelling out for the floating platform Prometheus, currently anchored, or, if you ask the cynical, stranded, somewhere off the coast of Malaysia.
Asked about this eye-popping monthly bill, the head of the notoriously troubled Electricity Authority shrugged and said, “That’s the least of it.”
Because, sadly, Cyprus is changing, and at breakneck speed… toward the worse.
And there it is. I’m not surviving this without a stroke. Apparently, money grows on trees, because half a million a month is apparently considered mere pocket change, or as we say back in my humble village, peanuts.
In short, with zero hesitation, zero remorse, and zero shame, Mr. Petrou casually informed us, as if nothing serious were happening, that €500,000 a month is small fry compared with other expenses we’re picking up for Prometheus, like fuel and staff. Say what?
Because €5,000 bills are not napkins. You can’t just scoop them up with a ladle and scribble little notes on them. Sweetness.
Now, why a completely motionless platform needs fuel, or why it needs staff, again, motionless, is a question only a merciful God could answer. Risking, of course, dropping dead from the shock when we see the final bill. Dizzy, I keep thinking of the epic lyrics: “Five-thousand-euro bills are not napkins to scoop up with a ladle and write little notes on.”
How it’s possible that nobody’s behind bars for this blazing hot potato, sitting in our hands and, more painfully, in our pockets, is a mystery we may never solve. Maybe the planets are conspiring against us, maybe bribes were pocketed by foreigners or undocumented migrants, or maybe we’re victims of hybrid warfare from another galaxy. I’m sure some wildly creative excuse will pop up again.
As for dear Prometheus, without wanting to play Epimetheus, I predict a very ugly ending. And I fear we’ll be saying "jalla" before it’s over.
Meanwhile, a new poll confirms the last one: DISY is trailing AKEL, not by much, but just enough to set alarm bells ringing in party headquarters, scrambling for that much-coveted rallying of the base. For now, AKEL seems to be doing a better job of keeping its supporters together.
The silver lining for Annita, who probably regrets taking on this scorching hot potato when she took the reins of DISY, is that there’s still room to regroup. But it will require clear, decisive action to win back disappointed supporters. And of course, cases like Syka and Phaedon didn’t exactly help.
