Gözde AKBEN
Speaking by phone on the Öğlen Ajansı program hosted by Cem Kar about claims that the Turkish Cypriot Electricity Authority (KIB-TEK) would be privatized, El-Sen President Tuluy Kalyoncu said that Kıb-Tek faced a danger as the election period approached. Kalyoncu said, “If we assume that we have a six-month election period ahead of us, Kıb-Tek will be dragged further and further into the mire. The measure of cutting off electricity to consumers who do not pay—the only weapon Kıb-Tek has for ensuring that it collects payments—has been taken away from it.”
El-Sen President Tuluy Kalyoncu also warned that the union could go on an indefinite strike. He said that if their proposals were not accepted, they would decide at a meeting today to begin an indefinite strike at all Kıb-Tek workplaces.
“THE SECTOR IS BEING PRIVATIZED”
Speaking on the program about the economic and financial protocol signed between Turkey and Northern Cyprus, Kalyoncu said: “Under the economic and financial cooperation protocol published in the Official Gazette on January 5, Kıb-Tek is to be split into three during 2010 and 2011, the public sector is not to build any new power plants, and from now on power plants are to be built by the private sector. More broadly, the plan is to liberalize the energy sector, open it to competition and, ultimately, privatize it. They cite ensuring security of energy supply and lowering energy tariffs as the reasons for this.” Kalyoncu said that 30% of the energy produced in the country came from the power plants of Aksa, a private company established in the Kalecik area. He added: “The same type of power plants produced by the same company were also installed at Kıb-Tek, starting in 2006. We currently produce energy under the same conditions as the private sector, and at two kuruş less per kilowatt-hour. Therefore, tariffs will not come down as a result of the private sector entering the market. The private-sector power plants in the Kalecik area experience outages 10 to 15 times a month. Most, though not all, of the partial power cuts that have occurred recently are due to these outages. By contrast, on a monthly basis, there may have been no outages at all at our Kıb-Tek power plants.”
“THEY TOOK KIB-TEK’S WEAPON AWAY”
Kalyoncu also noted that there was a strong desire to privatize, saying: “There have been problems with Kıb-Tek’s collections as a result of politicians engaging in populism in almost every period, and this is also mentioned in the economic and financial cooperation protocol. Kıb-Tek’s inability to collect all the money owed to it also has a significant impact on costs. Kıb-Tek is owed around 400–500 million TL today. We are now heading into an election period, and a new problem has emerged in this regard. The measure of cutting off electricity to consumers who do not pay—which was already the only weapon Kıb-Tek had for ensuring that it collected payments, despite the problems with how it worked—has been taken away from Kıb-Tek.”
“THEY ARE DRAGGING KIB-TEK INTO THE MIRE” Kalyoncu said that another danger awaited Kıb-Tek as the election period approached. “If we assume that we have a six-month election period ahead of us, Kıb-Tek will be dragged further and further into the mire. We cannot accept this. They must abandon this idea immediately. After all this, I do not think it is right to say that Kıb-Tek is not in a sound condition, or to blame it when it is unable to provide a service,” he said. Kalyoncu also said that Kıb-Tek’s management changes in line with changes in government. “In our view, Kıb-Tek’s current board of directors consists of seven people appointed by whichever government is in power, by the political authority. Many people on this board have their own businesses. They run this organization in the time left over from their own work. At times, people with no connection to the sector can also join the board. Most importantly, the board changes along with the government. Kıb-Tek has a turnover of around 400 million dollars. It is a major organization. Its investments require very large sums. Its services are very costly. To ensure continuity in the decisions made in these areas, the structure of Kıb-Tek’s board of directors and the way its members are appointed must change. It should have an independent structure, staffed by professionals who work full-time, know the job and do not change. We believe that if this is achieved, Kıb-Tek can provide this service for the benefit of the community, at minimum tariffs, and do so better than it does now,” he said.
“EL-SEN IS SEEKING SUPPORT”
Kalyoncu said that Kıb-Tek had been stripped of its only weapon: cutting off electricity to subscribers who did not pay their bills. He added that the proposal “we cannot collect Kıb-Tek’s debts, so let’s privatize it” was already looming on the horizon as a result of this process. Kalyoncu also said that El-Sen was trying to take measures to prevent privatization, adding: “Workers are naturally vulnerable when it comes to privatization. Beyond that, we know the harm this situation will cause the community. We will explain these issues to the public in detail. We will organize meetings about them. We will inform the public about the outcomes of similar practices in Turkey and Europe. El-Sen and its members will continue their struggle on this issue to the very end, and they said they would seek the community’s support in this struggle.”
“THEY INTRODUCED AN ARBITRARY MEASURE”
Kalyoncu also noted that there were employees who had been waiting for more than two years to be made permanent at Kıb-Tek, adding that this period exceeded even the legal limit and that he believed the measure was entirely arbitrary. Kalyoncu said: “There are 35 people who were hired by Kıb-Tek in January 2008 through an open recruitment and examination process. In addition, 22 people were hired using the same method on May 5, 2008. In total, 57 people were employed in probationary positions as candidate staff. This probationary period ranges from six months to two years. Under both our collective agreement and the country’s other legislation, this period is limited to two years. Accordingly, based on the assessments provided by the personnel supervisors, these employees were supposed to be made permanent or dismissed. However, despite recommendations being made to confirm our colleagues in their positions, the board of directors decided to extend their probationary periods by another six months, entirely arbitrarily and without any basis in our collective agreement or in any law. We have held various discussions, requested meetings and staged protests over this.”
“WE WILL GO ON AN INDEFINITE STRIKE”
He said that they had contacted the relevant authorities on behalf of their colleagues waiting to be made permanent, but had received a positive response to their meeting requests from no one except the Ministry of Agriculture and Natural Resources. Kalyoncu said: “No one except our minister gave us an appointment. I especially condemn the Ministry of Labor from here. Even though this falls within its area of responsibility and is, moreover, contrary to the law, it did not give us an appointment. Since we are going on strike, we also submitted the legally required notice four days ago. Despite that, we were not given an appointment. We met with our minister and presented our proposal. If our proposal is accepted, we will not strike, but if it is not, we will not accept that. If there is no solution, we will begin an indefinite strike at all Kıb-Tek workplaces,” he said.