The electricity authority (EAC) on Wednesday called on trade unions to act responsibly after facing criticism the previous day regarding its plans to upgrade Cyprus’ electricity network.

Unions had said the EAC had “short-circuited itself” by becoming distracted by “the arrival of natural gas – in how many terms” and “an interconnector, which both the European Investment Bank and the finance minister consider unviable”.

This “short circuit”, the unions had said, “has seriously affected infrastructure projects, both in production and transmission”, while the plans to concentrate energy production at Vasiliko was described as “placing all its eggs in one basket”.

“It seems that the disaster in Mari taught us nothing,” the unions had added, alluding to the 2011 explosion, which saw a large amount of ammunition and military-grade explosives stored at the Evangelos Florakis naval base go up in flames, killing 13 people and eliminating a considerable proportion of Cyprus’ electrical production capacity from the adjacent Vasiliko plant.

The unions as such demanded further upgrades to the Dhekelia power station, describing such upgrades as “a task which must be undertaken”, and warning that delaying upgrades at Dhekelia will force the EAC to “rent temporary production units at a huge cost, which will not birth permanent infrastructure”.

In response, the EAC said it “recognises the right of employees to publicly express their positions, but it recalls that interventions in highly sensitive issues, such as energy adequacy and the security of supply, require responsibility and respect for the institutional roles of all those involved”.

“The public expects documented dialogue, cooperation, and collective commitment to the common mission,” it added.

On the matter of the Dhekelia power station, it promised that upgrades “remain a high priority for the EAC”, and that “technical and administrative steps are already underway”.