‘Crooks let off the hook’ in Paphos sewerage scandal

All members of the Contractors Council should face criminal charges for negligence in failing to properly carry out their duties, Paphos Mayor Phedon Phedonos charged on Wednesday.

Speaking during a heated House ethics committee hearing, he pointed the finger to Transport Minister Alexis Vafeades telling him he was partly to blame for the scandal.

A Paphos criminal court decision in 2014 found the Sapa case was rife with corruption and bribes involving mayors and public officials, after companies offered millions to land contracts with the Paphos sewerage board.

The Contractors Council however recently dropped the probe against its members. As such, they are now free to apply to government tenders.

‘Taxpayers paid €34 million’

Akel MP Irene Charalambides said “the message we get is that every crook will find refuge in the tolerance of those who want to let them get away with it. This is a disgrace of institutions and oversight bodies.”

Two mayors and four councillors were convicted for €1.5 million in kickbacks and another €2 million in undisclosed kickbacks, Phedonos said, which resulted in gross overpayments during the first and second phases of the Sapa project.

The companies involved reaped a cushy €30m, Phadonos added.

“There was a real cost to the taxpayer of about €34m in overpayments to these gentlemen.”

Committee chairman and Disy MP Demetris Demetriou called the whole affair a disgrace.

Too late for justice?

Eight years after companies admitted their involvement in multi-million bribes to public officials, they have been left unpunished from their professional bodies, the House ethics committee heard.

Specifically, the Contractors Council came under fire during the committee hearing, for its decision to drop disciplinary proceedings against companies implicated in the Sapa scandal.

Vafeades who was previously a member of the Contractors Council said he shared the deputies’ sentiment and he planned to submit a bill that would speed up processes.

This will ensure that justice is served, he said.

In 2018, there were 35 hearings at the Council but nothing happened in 2019, Vafeades explained. In August 2021, the new board restarted the case with 17 hearings.

‘Cheap excuses’

Phedonos rubbished Vafeades’ statements, saying that he was likeable enough but he is “one of those that carries a share of responsibility” over the fact that the companies have not been punished.

“It is a cheap excuse that every time the council changes the process is reopened. When you want to bury the case, you start it all over again.”

Auditor-general Odysseas Michaelides sought to nullify the argument that nothing could be done, telling deputies that companies involved in criminal cases can be excluded by the Exclusion Committee from participating in public procurement.

This can be done either on an ad hoc basis or across the board.

Criminal trial

During the trial, officials from at least two construction and engineering companies stated on the record and under oath they had bribed politicians and public officials in order to land contracts with the Paphos sewerage board.

Former Paphos mayor Savvas Vergas and the other defendants had received millions in kickbacks, often handed in suitcases during clandestine meetings held either at the Paphos municipality or the Hilton hotel in Nicosia.

Vergas and former Paphos Mayor Fidias Sarikas had been jailed over the scandal.

Medcon and Nemesis were two of the contractors implicated. Neither the companies nor their officials were sentenced, having got immunity in return for testifying for the prosecution.

Medcon is currently still listed with the Contractors Council. Its licence is valid, and the company has ‘A’ status – meaning it can bid for a public works contract regardless of size.

Nemesis is no longer listed on the council’s registry under that name.