Housing, Sustainability & The Green Future of Limassol with Edmond Hawila

In this episode of The Farah Shammas Podcast, we welcome Edmond Hawila for an open conversation about activism, politics, sustainability, and the future of Limassol.

We explore Edmond’s journey from business and IT leadership into public service, and what inspired him to run for Parliament with άλμα Party. From affordable housing and traffic challenges in Limassol to environmental protection, transparency, and justice reform, Edmond shares his vision for creating a healthier, more humane, and sustainable Cyprus.

Edmond speaks candidly about community, accountability, communication, and why future leaders must focus on practical solutions that put people, animals, and the environment first.

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A conversation about leadership, activism, and building a more sustainable future for Cyprus. Enjoy the full episode on our YouTube channel, The Farah Shammas Podcast. Click here to watch.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Visionary forward-thinking and compassionate. Edmund Hawila is a parliamentary candidate for Cyprus with Alma, an activist IT professional dedicated to creating a more transparent, sustainable, and people-centered future for Cyprus. Welcome to the episode 9 of the Farish Amas Podcast. Edmund Hawheila.

SPEAKER_02 0:25

I always thought I'd have you on my podcast, and I thought we'd just only discuss veganism. And here we are discussing elections and running for a member of parliament. Congratulations.

SPEAKER_03 0:39

Thank you. Thank you for inviting me. It's really nice to be here with you.

SPEAKER_02 0:43

Oh my goodness. And we've got so much to talk about, and I'm so excited because I know I see you have a long list. I know I've got a long list of things that I hope we'll manage to cover because I think it's particularly important because the elections are coming up. I've had Penelope on as well. There's a lot of candidates out there. A lot of people do get confused. They don't know where to look for the information. And especially for some of my listeners who don't speak Greek and are Cypriot or not as comfortable in Greek and are living here or just want to be involved with this whole process and want to know what's going around. So I think it's really, really important that we have this conversation today. So let's start off by saying for those who might feel a bit disconnected from politics in Cyprus, why does this election mean so much and why is it more than what some people might think?

SPEAKER_03 1:33

Okay. So first of all, thank you for the opportunity to have this in English. Because as you said, most of the content actually is in Greek because most of the people Oh, we're in Cyprus, it's government. Exactly, exactly. So it's a good opportunity for people to listen to the topics in English. And um the elections are very important now because we've got so much corruption. We are seeing all the time all these things coming up.

SPEAKER_02 2:01

And uh well, and the world is just simply in chaos. I mean, it's not just Cyprus, the whole world has gone mad.

SPEAKER_03 2:08

It has it has gone mad, and uh, we've seen now, I don't know if you've noticed, but in uh in Hungary they made a big change for the government. So let's hope that we start to get back again. The world always has ups and downs, right? So I think we are in a point where now we'll start being more with all the internet and all these like influencers and stuff, you see more things coming up. And it's what you said, a lot of people won't go and look for this information. You need to pop up in front of them.

SPEAKER_02 2:39

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 2:40

And uh we're trying to do that now.

SPEAKER_02 2:42

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 2:42

Everyone is trying to, we should be doing that.

SPEAKER_02 2:45

Although maybe people should be looking for information, especially because every vote matters, every vote counts.

SPEAKER_03 2:51

They should, but in Cyprus, especially, we have, I think it's 23 parties now. So each party.

SPEAKER_02 2:56

And what are you telling me? Why do we have so many parties? I mean, we're we're a small island. Why is it that we have so I mean in the UK there's three, you know, you know, maybe fourth will come up.

SPEAKER_03 3:07

I mean, what's I'm not sure how to explain it. Maybe it's ego, maybe we cannot, you know, we are Mediterranean people, we don't kind of compromise easily. Yeah, uh yeah.

SPEAKER_02 3:18

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Every everyone should do our own.

SPEAKER_03 3:21

And that's that's another misconception that people have that when you go into a party, you need to agree with everything. You can't agree with everything. Even between us, we won't agree with everything. And it's okay, you need to see the important stuff.

SPEAKER_02 3:33

And um but life isn't about agreeing with everything, it's about having that dialogue and then finding the best solution within.

SPEAKER_03 3:40

That's what should be. Because what I'm uh I'm saying is that a lot of people see these politicians go into uh the the panels on TV and they start shouting to each other and disrespecting each other, and it's just it's mind-blowing for me, and I think for most of the younger generation that are used to collaboration because we're working differently now. It's not like the olden days where it was different. Yeah, now you know. There's more of a hierarchy. Yeah, yeah. You need a team to work, and that's what the parliament is. It's a team where it's representing people and supposedly it's gonna do good work for the country. And seeing these people just fighting like that, it's just yeah, unnecessary, maybe. Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 4:20

So we were Well, they sometimes you get it when someone's like so extreme on one side and the other person's like, what's the thing?

SPEAKER_03 4:25

But it's changing, you know. Like uh I know Perelobi, I know a lot of people from other parties. We've been together. Uh I was at the Green Party for like 15 years or so. I've left the Green Party now on January. Yeah, that's my next question.

SPEAKER_02 4:37

I wanted to ask you about that. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 4:38

Um I've gone into Alma, it's called. It's a new party from the um auditor general who was um dismissed. Uh, and it was a big uproar from the public because there was so many scandals that he was bringing up, and the system just came and took him out. And it's a big deal now. He's in the European uh uh court trying to uh find out what happened, and uh he had so much momentum from the people that he managed to create a party.

SPEAKER_02 5:07

And what does a party stand for? What is Alma?

SPEAKER_03 5:10

So the basic uh aspect of it is that we want to reform the government. We want to stop the corruption, put some uh basic structures that will avoid corruption from happening and have um efficiency because we don't have it now. You try to go in a in a government service and you try to do a simple thing, and it's so complicated, and no one knows.

SPEAKER_02 5:35

The the simplest thing Well, I think nobody wants to be fired. They all just think, oh, if I just push the paper around long enough, then I'll just keep my job and I'm here. But I know it's so frustrating.

SPEAKER_03 5:47

I'm in the I'm working in a business, right? Uh I haven't been in the public service. I'm in the private sector. I'm in the IT industry actually. And I've been for 20 years in the industry. When you get a position, you have some uh responsibility. You have to take the responsibility. Here we have people avoiding responsibility, not even caring, because they have some, I don't know, someone behind them supporting them.

SPEAKER_02 6:15

Some uncle who put them there, the cousin. Yeah, and they they know no one is gonna get.

SPEAKER_03 6:22

But not all of them get huge salaries, but no one is touching their their job, you know, no one is well quite a lot do, but yes, okay, I I agree.

SPEAKER_02 6:29

No, I mean there's there's a scope of everything. But also what you know, what what infuriates me, and there's some that are obviously that some people and musicians are amazing and they do a great job, but others and they almost have a a viewpoint like I'm doing you a favor by doing this. Well, no, that's your job, and actually it's our money that's paying our taxes that are going into this system that that give you that that money. So it's not, it's you know, let's all be respectful of each other.

SPEAKER_03 6:58

But the problem is that a lot of the um bigger parties they like this system because they can pick up their phone and help someone, yeah. You know, so they get to keep this kind of um clientele at the end of the day. It's not really people trying to help people, you're trying to get voters by helping them by doing your job. Yeah and the the the service, uh the public service doing their job, which they aren't. And we've got so many problems. The biggest problem I find, in my view, is the um the legal system and the police. When someone goes to uh put a deposition in, they quite often ignore them, they push them away. And a lot of things have happened since then. And then we have the legal system having so many delays that no one uses it at the end of the day who is, you know, they know that they're not gonna get anywhere.

SPEAKER_02 7:54

Because I I mean I use a legal system every day, and my husband's a lawyer, and um, you know, as a hotel, I mean we have to rely on this. But who doesn't use it then? In what way?

SPEAKER_03 8:04

So let's say for um someone who got hers at home, yeah, maybe a uh a woman who's hurt at home. If they go to the police, they probably push her away. If if even if she manages to get the the position in, it takes so long for the legal system to do anything.

SPEAKER_02 8:22

Or even if by then she would be uh frightened.

SPEAKER_03 8:25

It could take 10 years. We've we've seen the um the example of this uh um English girl that was in Ayanaba and was raped by 10 uh people or whatever. It's still not done, you know.

SPEAKER_02 8:38

And that was that was a long time ago. Very long time ago.

SPEAKER_03 8:40

And these are very serious things.

SPEAKER_02 8:42

Yeah, and even in the but I heard there was a lot of connections there as well.

SPEAKER_03 8:45

Definitely, definitely.

SPEAKER_02 8:46

That's why.

SPEAKER_03 8:47

So we've got all these issues, and then and in the legal system, everyone knows that it's not a good system. You know, it's not working properly, there's a lot of corruption there as well.

SPEAKER_02 8:58

I think it's the corruption, some of the systems in place. Again, I'm not a lawyer, so I can't really speak for this, but I think a lot of them are they're better than other countries, that's for sure. I think it's maybe one of the one of the good things that was left after the British were here is that we do have quite a structured system that in theory should work well.

SPEAKER_03 9:20

Well, it's quite outdated.

SPEAKER_02 9:21

Uh but unfortunately a lot of our processes are not updated.

SPEAKER_03 9:26

Do you remember when Queen Elizabeth died? We had so many references on her in the legal system. They had to change a lot of laws just because she died. Which means that for so many years no one touched anything. So you see where the the members of parliament are, even with the member of parliament, a lot of the times they don't even go to the meetings, which is a big issue. So then what I want to back give to the people is that they need to check who are they promoting, who are they voting for. You need to find people who are well mannered and they want to work and they want to do it because they want to help, not because they want to take like a position of power.

SPEAKER_02 10:05

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 10:05

This is not a power position, this is a public service.

SPEAKER_02 10:08

Yeah. Yes. Absolutely. So you were a member of the Green Party for nearly 15 years, and um, and then you left and you joined Alma. So, what what was the turning point that made you decide to do that? And also, I mean, more importantly, to run for being a member of parliament.

SPEAKER_03 10:27

So I've run as a member of parliament before in 2021 with the Green Party, and I did really well actually. I almost got elected elections. Oh, well done. I think 100 votes or something like that. Uh but since then, we've done a really good work up to then with a very nice team that we had there. But after that, you know, a lot of the older parties have these kind of egos in them, and they don't allow the newer generation to bring the change. Where we were bringing and making all these uh good reforms and uh bringing up good ideas to people and started looking at us because in 2021 the Green Party got three members of parliament where they didn't before, they never got that before. So we did good work, but after that, they started turning inside themselves and they started pushing us away. And we had one of the members of parliaments uh leave the party, and a lot of the other guys were kind of pushed away. Uh so everyone kind of left from the team that we were working with.

SPEAKER_01 11:29

Yeah, very nice.

SPEAKER_03 11:30

So there was no they came uh before uh before this year and they they asked me to to join them, but I didn't feel that was home anymore, you know. Not many people that we were working with and with and having the ideas and done all this work all these years, you know, we've done so much things. Uh even with uh uh tree plantings, beach cleanups, which are kind of um it's not the main thing, but it's important to show who you are and what you're doing. What you stand for push. Yeah, what you stand for. So they they kind of moved a bit away from it, and the team wasn't there. And I didn't feel comfortable running with them anymore. I did I couldn't feel like I could support that. So I was about to kind of retire from politics, let's say. Uh, but uh Discial Michaelidis, who is the um the guy who started Alma, who was the auditor general, uh, approached me and we had a chat. And what I liked about him is that because he's a technocrat, you know, he was an auditor, he knows how the government works, he knows what needs to be changed and how. So he knows all the processes. And also he understands because that's the main thing I talked about with him. One was the legal system that I think needs to be reformed because you can't have people doing things and not being punished. And the other thing is that with the elections, we just want to give a message to everyone that people don't don't want this corruption anymore, right? We have to break it. This is the parliament, but uh to go into the parliament, you can't really do too much stuff. We already have laws, as you said, we have a lot of laws, but who is enforcing it? It's the government, it's the police, it's the legal system. And that's where we are lacking. So we need to go into government to change that. So the next part, and there is a next part, is not just the the parliament elections, the next part is the presidential elections in 2028, and we want to go there because we really want to bring change, and you can only do that from the government, from the government.

SPEAKER_02 13:31

So let's now rewind a bit and go back and back and talk about you. Yeah, and um, because we've kind of dived into the the top button. We are gonna also go back to this topic, but let's tell everyone who who are you? Who are you? I know that you're a mixed background like me. Yeah, um, let's get into a bit of that, where you grew up. Um, tell us a bit about your life. Let's actually get to know and okay.

SPEAKER_03 13:56

So I was born in Limassol, yeah, back in 1982. And uh my father is from Lebanon, so I have a Lebanese citizenship as well as a Cypriot Libanese uh citizenship.

SPEAKER_02 14:07

But my dad says whenever I used to laugh about my Lebanese passport, he'd be like, This is invaluable to Lebanese because it's useless to anyone else, but to us, it is very important.

SPEAKER_03 14:18

Exactly, exactly. Although I don't have a um a passport, I do have my ID.

SPEAKER_02 14:23

Oh, you don't have it, but you can get the passport either.

SPEAKER_03 14:25

I know, I uh it's just like not worth it.

SPEAKER_02 14:27

Yeah, it is not worth it.

SPEAKER_03 14:29

Yeah, um, yeah. So I grew up in uh in well, I grew up in a lot of places actually. We we started from Larnaca. My father, when he came from uh Lebanon, he was working uh with a company. Uh we were in Larnaca. At some point we moved to Lebanon as well for six months or so. Oh did you? Oh wow, you managed to get back with you, then yeah. It didn't work out. As you know, it was crazy back then, especially especially back then. But then even now, like all these things happening. So they came back. Uh we started living in Limassol, we moved around, so I was never in one spot, so I I was moving around. Um, I um I finished the technical school in uh Limassol in computers, I mean the IT industry for so many years. And uh I wanted to go study at some point. I wasn't so sure. I wasn't very um confident back then. I wasn't a very confident uh young person. Uh so I decided not to I wanted to go to Tomsk in Russia. I found I found the university, it's like very deep. Domsk is like um uh over Mongolia or something like that. It's anyway, I wasn't feeling confident to do it. I like the university and what it offered, but I didn't know the language, I had to study Russian and all that. So I decided to voluntarily go into the army because uh we are baptized as Maronites, uh the religion, and back then say back then, yeah, you break that teams, but yeah, we could not uh we could uh avoid going to the army. But I decided to go really voluntarily.

SPEAKER_02 16:00

I can't believe that you're the only person I've ever heard. I know everyone who tries to get out, yeah, and then you're like, I'll do it.

SPEAKER_03 16:07

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 16:07

I'll take it for the team.

SPEAKER_03 16:09

You know, it was uh it was kind of the fun thing to do before going to the army, a hundred days before going to the army, before turning 18, whatever. All the kids after the schools, you see them with the motorcycles running around the city and doing all the crazy stuff.

SPEAKER_02 16:20

But why did you do that? Did you feel like that that was gonna help you fit in? Did you feel like you're embracing your Cypriot side?

SPEAKER_03 16:27

Did you it was it was uh two things. One was like I wasn't I wasn't uh confident enough to leave the country and go study alone somewhere far, and I didn't want to go to Greece or UK. And I also had in the back of my head the the financial situation of my parents. So I said, okay, what can I do now? I didn't want to break the friendships I have with the with the people I had. So I decided, okay, everyone's going to the army, let's do it, why not? And I did it. I went uh in and um I was in the And it was two years. I didn't do it two years, I did it for nine months.

SPEAKER_02 17:02

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 17:03

And uh after I was that because it was voluntarily? Yes, it was voluntarily, and I could get out anytime I wanted.

SPEAKER_02 17:09

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 17:09

At nine months it became really boring for me, to be honest. Okay, but that's amazing.

SPEAKER_02 17:13

Bravo so.

SPEAKER_03 17:14

Yeah, yeah. So then I started working actually uh in the IT industry, and uh slowly, slowly I got uh I got industry certifications. I'm certified for Microsoft and all that kind of stuff. And now I'm managing um the the Cypress office for uh for a UK-based company, and uh we're doing really well. We're one of the 25 top IT uh suppliers in Europe.

SPEAKER_02 17:36

Well done. It's it's not my field, so I have a jate with Eddie, who also did IT. Yeah, and um yeah, he'll be he'll whenever he talks about IT, my my brain just goes static, it goes shh like nothing. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 17:51

So I'm definitely not along with that. I always had this. I think the IT background also came from this. I always have this, I want to help wherever I am.

SPEAKER_02 18:01

And in IT you're actually solving problems constantly like the IT crowd. Did you ever watch that? Exactly. Have you turned your computer on?

SPEAKER_03 18:08

Yeah, pre-recording stuff. No, we have AI agents, they do that. So yeah, I I also started doing uh volunteering because it felt right for me. So that's how I got into the Green Party and started doing all this stuff. And I'm also a member of a a lot of other NGOs.

SPEAKER_02 18:24

So community is very important to you, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 18:27

It is because it's where we live, right? And you want to help other people. Yeah, it's easy to be able to do that.

SPEAKER_02 18:32

You've always been you've always been here, you've always been in Limuso, you've you know Cyprus. Yeah, yeah, you love it. Um on that note of community, um, I want to touch on both veganism, but also the um, I mean, you have spoken quite a lot in in your posts, in your YouTube videos about a healthier and more humane community. Um, so I want to talk about that. Like, what does that look like in practical terms if you're elected? What does that mean?

SPEAKER_03 19:03

So look, first things first is that we are responsible for ourselves before anything else. So it's what you can do about it. I mean, we can talk about the health system and all that, but if you're not taking care of yourself and you're not watching out your diet and you're not watching out, maybe doing some exercise or not smoking and stuff like that, then you know that things are gonna come down the road. Of course, we want to have a better health system, and we're gonna try and do that because that's another big problem we have in Cyprus.

SPEAKER_02 19:34

I I'm just gonna stop you there because I have I just wanted to check. I have another question that it also ties into this, and it's a question that does come up a lot, and definitely in a lot of my interviews and over the years with Cook Vegan and and different people I've interviewed around the world. That at what part is, I mean, a lot of people say veganism, for example, is a personal choice, and it is, but at what part does, as you said, the responsibility for a healthier, for a kinder world any way that someone wants to put it, it doesn't have to be all the way to veganism, but at what point is that political or environmental, and what what's the role in government in that? So, what should governments do in planning and promoting this? So you're answering, but I want you to tie then in both those questions together.

SPEAKER_03 20:22

Look, there was this quote from Jim Rohn. He said when you are building a city, you can build a beautiful city, but you also need to build a jail because not everyone's gonna follow the rules, right? And uh there's always gonna be people who have a different perception, have different kinds of wants and needs, whatever. Here with uh tying it with veganism and with health, like we've seen for a long time now that everyone who is researched they understand that going into a more plant-based diet is better for you. And everyone can say whatever they want, but the research is there. So that's the first thing. I remember my dad about uh a year ago or so, he had an upper heart surgery. Yeah, and after the surgery he went to the room and they brought him the option for lunch to be either a pork chop or a roll, you know, with the egg and the I'm like, is there a nutritionist here? What are you guys doing? He just had heart surgery. It was so crazy. So no one is actually looking into this.

SPEAKER_02 21:32

This madness, and I'm sorry you brought that up, and I'm very proud, and we are proud because there's Lebanese, the first hospital in the world, is yeah, is the Hayek hospital that said, We're not serving meat here. This is crazy. We're not gonna give someone who's had a heart surgery something that's gonna clog up. And George Hayek, the owner of it, is coming for my event. Sum it up in November. He was one of the first people I contacted. I said, You've got to come and tell us to be a good idea. He's amazing. Yeah. So yeah, I agree. So, okay, tell us more.

SPEAKER_03 22:00

So okay, from from there you need to I I went and asked at the the doctor and I told him, Do you guys have a nutritionist here? They said, No, we just have a company we work with and just bring food. Like, what's going on? Yeah, no one cares. Like they they don't see this kind of because you have to there is there is um medicine where you can fix things, but you need to have prevention as well. Where is the prevention? Yeah, and it's the government's point to do the prevention.

SPEAKER_02 22:28

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 22:28

Um, I'm sure you know about and help promote it, yes.

SPEAKER_02 22:31

So I agree. So it there's a lot about personal choice, personal education. We can all look up the stats and the facts, but at the end of the day, we need the policies there to help us for recycling, for eating healthier, for having you know, funding go into our fruits and vegetables so that we can have things without pesticides and at a reduced cost. Why is meat so cheap? I mean, it's cheaper to feed your kids nuggets and minced meat and crap, basically.

SPEAKER_03 23:00

Instead of a salad.

SPEAKER_02 23:01

Instead of a salad. It's cheaper to go and buy a frozen pizza or I mean there was a I went into Alfamengo the other day with the kids and there's these ready, or Lizzie, I can't remember, these ready burgers in a pack that you just microwave. They were like, they looked like the the toy ones that my kids have in there. And I said, wow, people eat this.

SPEAKER_03 23:22

And it was just uh there was this guy, I don't remember.

SPEAKER_02 23:26

And we need the the subsidies because there's a reason why that's so cheap.

SPEAKER_03 23:30

Definitely. On that point, though, although we need to, you know, there is this plant-based treaty. Have you heard about it?

SPEAKER_02 23:38

It's a in Cyprus.

SPEAKER_03 23:40

No, it's a it's a global thing. Okay, yeah. So they're trying to promote the plant-based thing, and then they get organizations or even cities to to sign it.

SPEAKER_02 23:47

And a lot of cities have, but yeah, many have, and many of uh the cities not only have done it, but they've also got universities involved, and yeah.

SPEAKER_03 23:56

Exactly. So there is already the structure for it.

SPEAKER_02 24:00

And Amsterdam, it's now illegal to advertise to advertise meat, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 24:05

And I was just coming near here and I saw an advert with a with a dead fish saying that we have to eat fish.

SPEAKER_02 24:10

I know. You know, I know, I see it and I cringe. Yeah, you know, it's it's a it's our perception though, because we went into this oh, pregnant women, this is this is what makes us healthy, me and my baby. And it's proven that the mercury in that is not good for you, for especially pregnant women and their child.

SPEAKER_03 24:29

Anyway, the the point is that the the um the legislation needs to change, the perception needs to change, but there is a lot of um conflict in it as well, because you have the farmers, the the the animal farmers, actually, because they they're gonna lose their jobs if you kind of cut it off. You cannot cut it off at that time. You need to help them transition.

SPEAKER_02 24:50

No, it's not overnight, you have to help them transition. Yeah, exactly. I mean, that's what my little book, the The Pig is all about. Oh, it's all about that. Yeah, skew, I'll give it to you now. It's just it's all about um you know the transition that the farmers we they're they're good people, and we instead of killing the pig, why don't you grow flowers or uh you know, there's nuts, there's so many things that you can do.

SPEAKER_03 25:10

Yeah, there is all this like uh permaculture, veganic culture now going on, and you want to go closer to nature anyway. We've proven now that eating the way we're eating for the last, I don't know, eight years is not good for us. A lot of people say, but meat is this and meat is that. Yeah, but your father is like 60 years old and he's got cholesterol and blood pressure and all this stuff, you know, and it's not good for them. And all this cancer is all around. So we've seen that this doesn't work. We need to find a solution. And the problem is with the policies and all this kind of conflict of interest, let's say, with all of that. And we want to help the farmers, the farmers who are growing actually uh vines and fruits and vegetables. We're not helping them, we're helping the animal farmers and the milk producers, and we're not helping the the base of our Mediterranean diet. We talk about Mediterranean diet, but no one is really following. Yeah, I know. You know, and uh all this stuff now happening with the with the illnesses, with all the animals now being killed like that.

SPEAKER_02 26:14

Yeah, all the culling.

SPEAKER_03 26:16

They're not seeing it. A lot of people are not seeing it.

SPEAKER_02 26:18

We have so what's the practical solution for this? Like what could be done?

SPEAKER_03 26:22

So policies need to go there to to be based on science. Yeah, look at the science, look at the data, and do policies that help with that. It needs to be in a transition from schools.

SPEAKER_02 26:34

From schools because if children learn from the beginning.

SPEAKER_03 26:37

Farah, I think you know you have uh kids in school. There are some things that are not supposed to be sold in the school, but they are. They are.

SPEAKER_02 26:45

Well, uh according to ours, because I've questioned them many times, this is what the government allows, and that that's what they'll sell. But we'll get an email, you know, can you make sure your kids have healthy snacks?

SPEAKER_01 26:56

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 26:56

And then our kids can go and buy chips, ice cream, um, you know, sausage rolls, I don't know what. I I'm just like, what? And my kids come home and they're like, you won't believe what we saw today. And and if I ask them, go get something healthy, they're like, there's not, we don't we don't even have the option.

SPEAKER_03 27:13

Yeah. There's nothing. It's just uh and we have the other side of it as well, where we go in the supermarket and we see like a plastic box with the pineapple in it.

SPEAKER_02 27:21

Yeah. Or the banana, or I don't know, or even the pepper. I'm like, what you know, why are you?

SPEAKER_03 27:26

Yeah, so much plastic everywhere. Yeah, it's mad. And you talked about recycling, and um, I'm I'm I'm not a fan of recycling actually, because recycling has failed uh globally. So there are the three R's reduce, reuse, and recycle. Recycle is the last one. And at the moment, only 20% of the plastic we use gets recycled. Yeah, and a lot of people don't know how to recycle.

SPEAKER_02 27:48

For example, well, we still need it, but as you said, the last yeah the last reason.

SPEAKER_03 27:52

You have to do that.

SPEAKER_02 27:53

So we have to reduce it in the first place, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 27:55

Yeah, but like when we stopped having the plastic bags, you you brought here a glass bottle of water. Yeah, you know how many places I go and I see plastic bottles of water?

SPEAKER_02 28:03

Why?

SPEAKER_03 28:03

Yeah, there's no reason you can change it so easily.

SPEAKER_02 28:06

Yeah. Exactly.

SPEAKER_03 28:08

And but people are not doing it.

SPEAKER_02 28:09

They But people do get used to it. That's where policy is important. Like at the beginning, anything from the smoking ban, it was like, no, that will never work. People got used to it. Now you you know, you you can't imagine that people smoke the public. The the the bags, what do you mean we have to carry my own bags? We have to pay for it.

SPEAKER_03 28:27

Other places still, and it's one of the things that people are uh the government is not forcing it at the end of the day. Yeah, yeah, it's a problem.

SPEAKER_02 28:35

Yeah, it's a problem.

SPEAKER_03 28:36

Even if the legislation is there, that's what I'm saying. That even if the legislation is there, you know, to go into the government and force the enforcement. Because we're not doing it. Even a lot of people who come in Cyprus, they are so surprised that everyone just parks on this pavement. It's just madness.

SPEAKER_02 28:51

Yeah. But it's there. Yeah, so policing. But they say there's a problem with the number of policemen that we don't have enough.

SPEAKER_03 28:59

Yeah, but that's not the main issue. Uh since we got there, I want to talk about a bit the transportation system.

SPEAKER_02 29:06

Yeah, I'd love to, please. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 29:08

Lima Sol is crazy with traffic, right? And I think it's the the the car.

SPEAKER_02 29:12

And it's only the last two years, I just can't believe it. We never had traffic. And now suddenly so many people are here.

SPEAKER_03 29:18

So many people came. So many people came. And every house has so many cars. Yeah. Because you don't have an alternative. You don't have an alternative. And we're such a small island. We should have had buses going to all the cities. Lima Sul Nicosia, it's a one-hour drive. In London, I used to go one hour just to go to work in the morning. Come on. And they're not doing it. They're leaving the you know, conflict of interest, as I said before. They're interests behind that for people who are selling cars and I don't know what the gas stations and all these kinds of people. And you are leaving the elderly need to drive, which is dangerous. And they do all kinds of tricks to be able to drive in a very big age. Or you have teenagers that they want to be uh autonomous, but they can't. They have to go around with more dangerous things like all these scooters and the uh and the bicycles, which they shouldn't be dangerous, but they're dangerous because of all the drivers. So it's it's it's another kind of shift that we need to do. And it's all there with data, but the government is not it's looking in the interests instead of Yeah, we have to be more transparent and for the greater good and not we have to be data-driven and look at the reality. And uh, the people who are there now are not. This is the the main issue that we have, and this is why I'm into politics and I want to kind of be, you know, the sting there pushing them like, what are you doing? Why are you doing that?

SPEAKER_02 30:47

Yeah, we need that. We need that. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_03 30:52

Um halfway gone, no?

SPEAKER_02 30:55

We're yeah, we're doing well, we're doing well. Actually, we've covered a lot. So um uh I have a question here for you about communities like the Positive Minds Toastmasters Club. So you were in Toastmasters, um, you know, also in Flora's Club. Yes. Um, you know, you've been in quite a lot of communities, and we've already touched on why community is so important um to you. But I'll I'll just touch on that so people get to know you a bit better. How have all these communities been um important in helping to shape you as a future leader?

SPEAKER_03 31:27

So you talked about Toastmasters and like my hair go down. Because I've been with Toastmasters for like 10 years or so, or maybe more, actually, from when I was in the UK, I started it uh more. And Toastmasters is a global organization that helps people with public speaking and leadership skills. So when you get there to start speaking, you get confident, you start seeing other people speak about so many subjects, you learn a lot. And it's the same with other communities as well. Wherever you go, you start learning things, you meet good people when you go into communities that care and they want to volunteer. This is good people, smart people, usually, who want to have a better community. So these are very important. Although I don't want to, because we've been to the other edge where we see now a lot of these NGOs going and doing uh cleanups in uh different areas of the city and all that. I have a bit of an issue with that because it's like we're we're allowing the government not to do the cleanups they should because we go and do it. And they kind of uh rely on the volunteers at the end of the day. There was the um you were there at the Cyprus Sustainable Tourism thing. Yeah, I was a speaker. I I made the question to the mayor of Llanaga, and he said, you know, it's the people's problem. They should be not be throwing garbage around. It's your city. You need to educate people, you need to you need to find them if they're doing that. And you need to clean. They have to do it, they don't do it. So I don't think it's the attitude.

SPEAKER_02 32:58

I mean, when I've had um friends of mine that visited from England, I remember one specific case. They they couldn't believe it. They went out, they went out. I was busy, a Ciproit friend of mine came and said, Don't worry, I'll take them out. Took them out at the end of the excursion, they got an all got an ice cream, and the separate friend just rolled down. We're talking about someone who has studied, who's a little bit older, who just threw out the paper like that into the street.

SPEAKER_01 33:21

Wow.

SPEAKER_02 33:21

And the ones from England were just like, did we just see this? You know, they couldn't believe it. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 33:28

And do we see it every day? Like I am also um.

SPEAKER_02 33:34

There's some nice ones. But that's art, that's different. Yeah, that one thing is I've got this wall, beautiful, the size of hotels that they said we need to decorate this, bars. That is amazing. That's beautifying our our city, but then there's you know, whatever it is.

SPEAKER_03 33:51

It's with the you know, the football and the things. I mean, that's one of the things that I think uh again comes to politics. They try to separate people, you know? They try to hate each other, and we have this hate, it's them and us. They don't see the community that we're all living in the same place, we're looking at the same things. Why would you go and break uh a light of the street? Yeah, why would you go paint on top of a sign?

SPEAKER_02 34:24

Because I've seen parents, again, in professional settings, who are educated, well-paid people, good jobs, who are saying, Oh, I'm so proud, you know, my children asked for like specific paints, and after the game they're gonna go round. And I'm like, What? Like, and then I I one one woman was like, I went and got uh spray cans, especially from Athens for them. For and then I'm like, What? Can you imagine? Also, that then the kids go and they don't understand that they're damaging something that needs to be cleaned up, that someone needs to go and be paid to clean it up, and who's paying them? The government. Who pays for the government? Their parents who are working, and it's this cycle that they they haven't connected.

SPEAKER_03 35:06

The parent paid for the spray and paid for the cleaning as well, and they don't get it.

SPEAKER_02 35:11

And they don't get it.

SPEAKER_03 35:11

It's it's what we said before: like uh there are some people that are not gonna get it. But I am uh I want to be optimistic that we have more people, yeah. You know, even with your club, we see so many nice people coming into the club. Faras Club is doing amazing work. I uh I really appreciate it.

SPEAKER_01 35:29

Thank you so much.

SPEAKER_03 35:30

And and we see other NGOs as well, like uh I'm at the Friends of the Earth of Cyprus, it's uh Tera Cypria who's doing a lot of work. Uh, it's so many people who want to build a better community, and we need to be part of it, you know.

SPEAKER_02 35:45

Next question.

SPEAKER_03 35:45

You've touched on it, and from politics we need to work on it as well.

SPEAKER_02 35:49

Well, you've always been quite involved in actors, activism. Um, so I have here um what has that taught you about real change versus political promises? Because I mean, you've been involved for years from even environmental protests and volunteering and yeah, friends of the earth. And so we've seen the promises before, or we've heard them discussed before, yeah. But then the reality is that you know, 10 years down the line we're still waiting.

SPEAKER_03 36:18

I've seen uh I've seen a video today of uh another newborn party that they were promising money to people, right? Uh bigger retirements, uh bigger help for rent, and all that kind of stuff. This is not possible through the parliament. This is people who don't understand what the parliament does. The parliament uh does two things one is uh do proposal for renew or change legislation, or they're supposed to be able to um uh check and monitor what the government is doing. These are the two main things that the parliament is doing. They cannot uh actually uh enforce change. This is why I said we need to go into the government. 2028 is the big uh bet for us. Now we're just going into the parliament to help with legislation, and it's the first step where people need to show that they want us because we are there and we have the the knowledge and we have the um belief that we can and we will bring change.

SPEAKER_02 37:24

Although you're willing to do it. I mean, not everybody's willing to give up their, you know, their time and go and be an MP. I mean, it's a lot of time.

SPEAKER_03 37:32

So so that's one thing. We need to be careful what we're promising people. And people also need to understand what they're voting for. What can a member of parliament do? And also a member of parliament cannot bring change on their own. They need to all vote. There are 56 people in the parliament. They need to have majority in your turn for something to pass.

SPEAKER_02 37:51

So and tell us, so as an MP, what does daily life look like?

SPEAKER_03 37:56

Okay. So every Thursday you have the the parliament, uh, the big uh parliament meeting.

SPEAKER_01 38:03

Parliament meeting.

SPEAKER_03 38:04

Yeah, and uh every day there are the committees. There is the transport committee, the health committee, there are different types of committees. So you need to be in the committees and you need to look at what's happening in the country, also financial-wise, but also problematic. What's problematic and what can we do through legislation to fix it?

SPEAKER_02 38:30

So every day, if you're in, if you get elected, every day you'll be in parliament.

SPEAKER_03 38:35

Definitely. Most of the days. I think it's maybe it's not every day, but it's most of the days.

SPEAKER_02 38:39

And your and your your your work that you do?

SPEAKER_03 38:43

So if I get elected, hopefully I will. You say when I get elected. We'll need to we'll need to see with the business how it can work.

SPEAKER_02 38:52

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 38:53

Or if it doesn't, maybe I need to stop. Uh there is a lot of uh members of parliament that do both.

SPEAKER_02 38:58

They manage, they manage to do both.

SPEAKER_03 39:00

A lot of them have their own businesses and uh they can manage.

SPEAKER_02 39:03

They can manage, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 39:04

Uh but uh the the um the meetings in the parliament are not full day.

SPEAKER_02 39:10

Yes, okay.

SPEAKER_03 39:11

But you do need to go and see all these, like with firefighters have a lot of problems. Police, police has a lot of problems. So you need to see all these people who have issues. Maybe they are sending you something, maybe there's something in the um in the recent uh things that have happened, and you need to have a look at, you need to do something.

SPEAKER_02 39:30

And really pay attention, exactly, and do research, not just to be there for the first time.

SPEAKER_03 39:34

Of course, you have help. Yeah, you have the associates which you get help from, and uh there'll be more uh usually the associates are more uh legal oriented, so because you need to be careful with the with how you phrase things uh when you're doing a um a law a legislation. So you need both.

SPEAKER_02 39:51

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 39:52

Yeah. So yeah, I I think you can be flexible with your time, but you need to be there. You cannot become a member of parliament and not be there because we had these issues before. Uh, you know, before now the parliament every Thursday is uh live, recorded, and uh published on YouTube and on um RIC2. Before that, a lot of members of parliament didn't show up, you know. Now they show up because people see them. Yeah, they also you can see them putting up shows they go and they want to speak because they're gonna be published, you know. It's uh you and you need to be people need to.

SPEAKER_02 40:30

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 40:31

Yeah. You need to understand what they're doing. Are they actually doing something uh with essence, or are they or they are they just speaking to speak? You know, show off.

SPEAKER_02 40:42

I love that. Right, I'm going online. We asked on our Instagram for some questions. Let's see, let's see.

SPEAKER_03 40:54

Oh man, I've got to go to I wanted to say that um because I'm a motorcycle rider and I go around, and it's been so many years that we do tree plantings. A lot of the times I go, I remember uh maybe a year ago, I was with a motor bike going to Paphos, yeah, Statos Village. I was, and I saw the trees we planted like a decade ago. And then I started crying in the helmet. It was it was so emotional.

SPEAKER_02 41:24

You see, yeah, you can actually see it.

SPEAKER_03 41:26

You see change, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 41:28

It's amazing. Okay, so this one I like it because uh get normally more from women, but this is from a guy called Mario, and he said, Can you sum up what you stand for in one sentence?

SPEAKER_03 41:42

Okay, one sentence. It's kindness. You need to be kind with the people around you. And I have this quote actually, which I run by it's truth, love, and power. Look at the truth, be truthful with yourself, give love to yourself and to your community, and be powerful enough to say you're to be bold about who you are and what you are represent. Yeah, I think that's amazing.

SPEAKER_02 42:13

Yeah, yeah, I couldn't agree more.

SPEAKER_03 42:16

Truth, love, power.

SPEAKER_02 42:18

Truth, love, power.

SPEAKER_03 42:19

Steve Pavolina. I don't know if you know this guy, he's a really nice uh personal development guy. I've been watching for a long time.

SPEAKER_02 42:26

Edmund, thank you so much. Is there anything else you want to say? I think we've done really well and we've summed up a lot of what's going on.

SPEAKER_03 42:33

I appreciate the the invite. I love spending time with you guys. Maria, thank you so much. Mary, Mary, yeah. And I hope the the people enjoy the chat.

SPEAKER_02 42:44

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 42:44

Feel free to reach out to me. I brought you some flyers. Yes, yes, I'm gonna do it. You know I've got good English and Greek. I don't know if people can see it and stuff. Okay, but you can find me online, you can reach out to me, send me questions, whatever you want. If you want to meet, if you want me to meet some uh some of you or some of your friends, I'd love that.

SPEAKER_02 43:00

You know, perfect. Justice that works, respect for the environment and all animals, zero tolerance of corruption, limbsol without traffic chaos, and housing for all. Number 11, Edmund Hawila. There you go, everyone.

SPEAKER_03 43:14

With Alma. Thank you, Hamilton.

SPEAKER_02 43:17

All right, thank you so much.