Due to the growing demand, there are power outages, impending water shortages, problems with Takata airbags, faulty electrical appliances are becoming deadly — and all this seems to be shaping up into a “perfect storm.” Are these coincidences, signs of a broader crisis, or both?

We turned to sociologist and well-known commentator Antonis Raftis to understand why this is happening. We asked if public life in Cyprus suffers from the so—called “last minute syndrome” – that is, whether things have to reach a critical point before someone gets down to business.

“Yes, when it comes to officials and the government, we definitely have a last-minute syndrome. Something bad has to happen before we take action.”

And he starts listing, starting with the fiasco of defective Takata airbags, which are now subject to recall. This has already been attributed to at least two deaths: 24-year-old Kyriakos Oxinos, who died in 2023, and the recently deceased 19-year-old Styliani Giorgalli in October 2024.

“Oxinos’ father had to make a lot of noise before anyone noticed the faulty airbags, even though officials knew about the problem in advance,” says the sociologist. “There is a fear of responsibility, risk aversion, timidity.”

“We have problems with energy supply on our doorstep — does this mean that every year we will have the same problem and we will say the same thing? You have officials who appear on television, warning of possible power outages and so on.… but why didn’t they do anything to prevent it?

The government encourages people to install solar panels, but then they turn off the power to photovoltaic systems. These are the kind of contradictory messages that cause confusion and discouragement.”

According to Raftis, Cypriot officials like to shift responsibilities, they have succeeded in this. This tendency to shirk responsibility, lack of initiative or proactive actions always leads to the same thing — the public pays for the consequences.

Next, desalination. “Think about it,— Raftis says. — We are an island surrounded by water. One would expect us to do a better job with desalination plants than waiting for rain, and whenever it doesn’t rain, we almost panic because the dams are almost empty.” He recalls the presidency of Christofias (2008-2013), when the government resorted to importing water in tanks due to water shortages.

“Prevention is the key, but it’s not there. Therefore, when officials tell us that they may have to cut the water supply in the summer, this is not a measure, but rather a punishment for their own mistakes and omissions.”

Slightly off topic, Raftis recalls how back in the 1970s, bishops prayed for rain when the island was suffering from drought. But wait, the story gets even more interesting because it has a twist: “It often rained shortly after these prayers. Why? Because the priests spoke privately with meteorologists, who told them that wet weather was coming.”

When asked how to better understand the root cause of this inaction, the commentator believes that all governments in Cyprus behave pretty much the same way — one copying the other, the “don’t rock the boat” mentality.

As for the general population, it seems to suffer from the “boiling frog syndrome”: people gradually get used to scandals and incompetence, they become immune to it.

“At the same time, leaving aside officialdom, the average Cypriot is not entirely without guilt. So they will complain all day long about corruption and so on — but at the same time they will seek help from a minister or a government official. This is, of course, contradictory.”

One of the most shocking events occurred recently when a family of five burned down in their apartment in Limassol. They burned down in their house after a fire, which is believed to have been caused by a new electric heater. This has sparked intense debate about electrical appliance safety standards and lack of oversight.

We subsequently learned that faulty electrical appliances caused the deaths of seven people this year, in addition to five in 2023 and four in 2024. In 2025, there were 12 fires due to a short circuit, six due to an electrical device, one due to a heater and one due to an electric stove.

In general, Drushiotis says the following: “In Cyprus, we don’t have the necessary seriousness, the authorities are not doing their job. Problems are solved superficially. The root of the problem is impunity, almost no one is responsible.

Of course, we have after-the-fact admissions about mistakes and omissions, but rarely proper accountability. Without this, there is simply no incentive to take it seriously. And the state as a whole is demonstrating its inability to impose the necessary penalties.”

https://russiancyprus.news/news/society/cyprus-crisis-excuses-repeat/