Cyprus Editorial: Wild, wild west

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Could it get any worse? Cyprus has lost all credibility within the Eurozone because of the government’s inability to implement strict austerity measures to keep public spending in check. The ruling communist Akel party and the party-appointed administration is trying to deflect all the economic woes and wants to trash the banking sector, which it says, is solely to blame for everything. This incompetence and the fear of unions has also shut us out of international borrowing markets, forcing us to resort to lending from Russia and China, quite to the disgust of our “fellow” European member states.
But the poor dealing of economic and infrastructure issues has brought us to the brink of a financial meltdown, which would have forced any normal western democratic administration to resign.
But we are not in the West. A western movie, maybe, judging from the gangland murders in Ayia Napa last week which is the result of another outstanding matter that the government has not dealt with – combating illegal gambling.
Finance Ministry officials and parliament have been bickering over nonsense; whether a 3% tax should be imposed on all online gaming or a 14% levy on winnings. Basically, it’s six of one and half a dozen of the other.
To date, the state has lost millions, if not billions in uncollected gaming taxes, by refusing to introduce one or more casino licenses, while other interests have methodically delayed the regulation of online gaming with mob-controlled casinos closing and opening in neighbourhoods almost on a daily basis.
Instead of demanding that financially-strapped SMEs dish out another 350 euros in a “special company tax”, and six months early at that, just to ensure that a handful of civil servants get their paycheques at the end of June, the government and MPs should have pushed through the gaming regulations and levy collection.
Instead, we are on the verge of losing tourists because the uncontrolled gaming business has pushed gangs to settle their differences in public.