National Guard food quality “satisfactory”, but waste and staffing concerns remain

The overall picture regarding the provision of meals to conscripts serving in the National Guard is satisfactory, members of the House audit committee said on Thursday during a discussion of the Audit Office’s special report on the matter. Presenting the report’s findings, Audit Office director Akis Kikas said that €10 million is allocated annually to feeding National Guard conscripts, describing the meals as satisfactory in terms of quantity and quality, as well as efforts to avoid waste. “The Audit Office’s assessment is that the food is very satisfactory,” he said. The audit included unannounced inspections and meal tastings at catering facilities and military kitchens, alongside a questionnaire distributed to 1,100 randomly selected conscripts across Cyprus.

Christina Stefanou, representing the treasury’s public procurement directorate, said catering was introduced on a pilot basis in Larnaca in 2018 and Nicosia in 2019, following a defence ministry tender. Military kitchens purchase ingredients through a treasury framework agreement, with spending on raw materials amounting to €3. 3 million. Deputy defence ministry permanent secretary Stelios Kountouris described the overall findings as positive, saying several improvements had already been implemented or were underway. He said an electronic ordering system had been introduced to reduce waste, with encouraging results, while individual dietary requirements were being taken into consideration. Kountouris also confirmed that the recruitment of professional cooks was underway and had reached the evaluation stage. A health ministry representative said menus had been prepared in cooperation with clinical dietitians. National Guard inspector-general Andreas Charalambous welcomed the findings, describing the Audit…