EAC workers strike as gov’t wavers on natural gas supply

Workers at the Eelectricity Authority of Cyprus went on a two-hour strike Tuesday over the Cabinet’s decision about the supply of natural gas to the country and opting for a floating storage platform off the coast at Vassiliko, which will set back all plans by a year to the end of 2010.

Commerce, Industry and Tourism Minister Antonis Michaelides had said earlier that a ministerial committee adopted on Thursday a proposal for the construction of a land terminal for this purpose.
The committee, he said, continues to believe that, under the circumstances, a land terminal is the best solution for the safe storage of natural gas.
“However, knowing that this project is a lengthy process, the government is determined to examine alternative methods to supply the country with natural gas, including floating supply platforms,” the Minister said after the meeting.
He said during at the meeting President Papadopoulos insisted that all participating parties should air their views to have an overall picture of the issues at hand. Also present at the meeting were representatives from the Commerce Ministry, the Law Office of the Republic and the president of the Commission for the Protection of Competition.
Michaelides said the approved proposal will probably be brought before this week’s weekly Cabinet meeting.
The Minister invited all interested parties to study in depth the committee decision and assess the situation before they reach their own conclusions.
He called on the EAC to go along with the government position on the matter and suggested that if they do not, the board of this semi-government organization should resign.
It is expected that the government will invite tenders later on to bid for the construction of a land terminal in Cyprus to provide the country with natural gas, in an effort to meet its obligations to the European Union, which it joined in May 2004.
The terminal is expected to be ready in about seven years.
The three units which EAC now operates using diesel or crude oil are expected to be converted to receive natural gas by 2009 when the fourth unit will be delivered.