Providing existing strict measures continue, some workplaces may be opened in May, such as the construction sector, with the consent of the health committees and the health council, Prime Minister Ersin Tatar has said.
“But let us know that nothing will be the same,” Tatar said in an interview with Diyalog TV.
He noted that the need would be to reconsider all areas, including health services, their financial structure, and working conditions, forms of work and education. Recalling that the main sectors of the economy in North Cyprus are tourism and higher education, Tatar said that they may need to add to them the pharmaceutical industry.
Stating that the government is dealing successfully with the coronavirus in the TRNC, Tatar said that the Cabinet decided to take some additional measures in light of the views of the Ministry of Health and the COVID-19 Emergency Council, with the aim of managing the task in the best way and not because the situation is deteriorating.
He reminded that in this context, from midnight on Sunday, travel between districts was prohibited without a serious reason and that the entrance and exit roads to and from Alsancak, Lapta and Karşıyaka were being controlled by the police.
Asked about the progress of the coronavirus in North Cyprus, Tatar said that experts had informed him that there was a steady trickle in the cases of coronavirus, adding that those recovering had been discharged from hospital and were still being monitored at home.
Referring to the citizens’ complaints about the increase in prices in the supermarkets, Tatar pointed out that “now is not the time for profit, it is the time for survival”.
The prime minister also said that two flights from Britain to the TRNC would be held on April 7 and 8, and that these would be the last ones as there would be no more flights.
Tatar recalled the government’s decision to help, to the best of its ability, the citizens of the TRNC and Turkey, who work in the private sector in North Cyprus, and pointed out that in the case of workers from third countries, decisions on the assistance that will be given to them will be made after clarifying how many of them had left the TRNC and how many had remained.
Tatar also said that, as always, Turkey is by their side during this difficult period and that it gives them everything it has. “The talks between the economic delegations are continuing. We have taken our own measures, we are doing what we can and we believe that we will overcome our difficulties with the help of Turkey as well”, he said.
Diyalog
