Don’t Panic!!!

Thursday, February 4, 2010
By Robin Melhuish

The following is a quote from the BBC Website referring to the financial fiasco in Greece. I wonder if lying is genetically transferable?

“This was the problem before. Everybody here in Brussels knew Greece was not being very honest with its economic figures but nobody did anything about it.”

OK, so let’s move on to President Talat’s wonderful quote: “don’t panic!” I fail to see any acknowledgements to the late great Douglas Adams but I fear however that the words are about as useful as those on the cover of  the Hitch Hikers’ Guide to the Galaxy. They didn’t stop the world being destroyed by Vorgonian Builders for a Hyperspace Bypass.

I think a little inward looking would convince the erstwhile President that the real threat to the economy is not some irate GC with lots of financial backing, but is instead his own countrymen who allow honest people to be dispossessed of property bought: a) in good faith, b) whilst abiding by all the rules laid down by the government and c) sticking to the letter of the contract.  Then, in spite of this, finding that it is perfectly legal for the seller to mortgage the property after the sale has been registered and then when the builder refuses to pay sells the property lock stock and barrel from under the hapless purchaser’s feet.

Don’t Panic? The Cyprus Problem thingy doesn’t worry me but the method of property purchase in the TRNC does. Simply for two reasons. One the complete and utter lack of safeguards for the buyer and two the collapse of all and any government office set up to deal with the issues, for example the long dead PCO/PIO. In the light of the failure of the PCO whilst under the Deputy Prime minister’s auspices I wonder now if the Immovable Property Commission is not only the place for GCs to get their property back but perhaps we should send to it all the scandalous abuses of the property sales issue in North Cyprus.

Trying to analyse the situation. I come to the personal opinion that the “island mentality” has been tainted by many hundreds of years of occupation by forces from outside the Island, be it Phoenicians, Venetians, Brits, French, Turks, Greeks, Egyptians or whoever. The national sport has become “rip off and deceive” only now it has become so ingrained they don’t know they are doing anymore. Mass therapy in ethics and honesty? Maybe the EU will fund that? I think I’ll apply for a grant.

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This entry was posted on Thursday, February 4th, 2010 at 4:49 pm and is filed under Cyprus Problem, Property. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.