Homebuyers’ Pressure Group a spent force?

hbpgFact 1, the HBPG website has been out of action since 23rd August 2009. Fact 2, Marian Stokes is quoted in Cyprus Today (9/12/2009) as saying that “the Government is not talking to us.” Fact 3, despite several requests for information on the most popular Bulletin Board in Cyprus, Cyprus44, she has decided not to communicate about these problems. A supporter defended this action as saying that Marian does not want to align herself with anyone, and that temporarily posting bulletins on Cyprus44 would be doing so.

Her close followers defend her lack of website updates by saying that she is busy, which is true as she has her own property problem to deal with on top of virtually single-handedly running HBPG. Unfortunately this means that she is unable to do the job as effectively as she would if HBPG was run in the way it was set up to run on September 2005; as a committee of six people voted in by those attending the inaugural meeting. The organisation then also had a clearly laid out mission statement which included naming and shaming those in the construction industry whose actions put homebuyers’ properties at risk. This put pressure on these people and also the government of the time who seemed disinterested in property problems.

I personally believe that Marian needs help to run HBPG but I also believe that she will not let go control of it. I actually agree with her in this but I believe there must be ways she can delegate whilst retaining the final say. For example, getting back to the subject of the website, by using software such as WordPress to run the HBPG website she can allocate roles so that no one except herself can actually publish content. Contributors log in to the website and create fully completed material which she could then read, edit and then publish if she wished.

Maybe there are other areas where this approach would work. I believe that HBPG is in the doldrums but not a spent force. I believe it is time to revitalise HBPG and for it to turn face on to a government which appears unwilling to create an environment for buyers to purchase safely. I believe that the two core problems which HBPG should spearhead a solution for are firstly, the rapid processing of permission to purchase and secondly, making it illegal for lending institutions to be able to put a mortgage on property that has already been sold.

Hopefully when the HBPG website comes back it will have such a fresh approach and that it regains the ‘Pressure’ in its name.

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