‘Untouchable’ civil servant bragged about ‘spending hours at the beach’

A PROBE has been launched into a Greek Cypriot worker at the public works department, who, for the past five years, has allegedly spent most of his working hours out and about at the Larnaca seafront and brags that he is untouchable as his best friend is a political figure, South Cyprus media reported on Thursday.

According to reports, the man was seconded five years ago from South Nicosia to Larnaca, but he rarely ever sets foot at his workplace, preferring to spend his time at the popular beachfront of Phinikoudes or at his wife’s business.

The employee usually shows up in the morning, and after drinking his coffee, he reportedly informs his colleagues he is busy and disappears for the rest of the day. Some days, the reports said, he doesn’t even show up for work citing official business of which his colleagues and his superiors have no knowledge and for which he does not provide information.

The reports said the man often brags to his colleagues that he is untouchable as his best friend is a political figure, very close to a party leader. His Larnaca colleagues said they were forced to report the case to the media after their repeated complaints to their superiors in South Nicosia fell on deaf ears, they said.

The reports said the public works department launched a probe into the man’s conduct only after a newspaper contacted them and brought to their attention the Larnaca employees’ complaints.

A meeting is to take place in South Nicosia next week among heads of departments to discuss how to handle the case, the reports said.