President Mustafa Akinci has lashed out at the Ministry of Health for not presenting the epidemiological report on Covid-19 promised weeks ago. Akinci formally requested the report on 23 May.
He pointed out that the Greek Cypriot health technical committee had submitted three “Covid-19 Reports” to leaders, while no reports have been released in North Cyprus.
Addressing the Minister of Health and the government, Akıncı said, “The fact that the Covid-19 Report has not yet been delivered to the Presidency and the Turkish Cypriot members of the bi-communal health technical committee is a serious example of irresponsibility.”
It was announced on Tuesday that the committee will hold its third meeting on the agenda of the report, and that the Turkish Cypriot members of the committee still do not have any reports.
The Greek Cypriot side presented comprehensive reports on three occasions on May 28, June 4 and July 11, however, no comprehensive reports have been made yet from the north.
President Mustafa Akıncı stated that the report had not been submitted despite the Ministry of Health’s commitment weeks ago and as an official request from the Presidency on 23 May 2020.
Akıncı made the following statement:
“The bi-communal Health Technical Committee has been working to improve cooperation and coordination in the field of health for about twelve years.
“These studies are carried out and reported under United Nations facilitation and observation.
“The Turkish Cypriot side emphasised the importance of the two parties’ coordinated cooperation in the fight against the Covid 19 outbreak, as in every period.
“WithIn this framework, on 3 February 2020, the committee met with the participation of the leaders, before the cases were seen on our island.
“In our telephone conversation with the Greek Cypriot leader on 21 May, 2020, the technical committee members on both sides agreed to report to each other at the joint meeting on 1 June 2020, after we agreed to share the epidemiological data from the two sides.”
By way of response, Minister of Health Ali Pilli said that he regretted President Akinci’s comments. He noted that the TRNC had successfully combatted the coronavirus and that the President only had to ask, then he would have discovered that the report would be presented on Tuesday, 14 July.
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