Cyprus Mail: News Articles in English, 99-07-11

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From: The Cyprus Mail at <http://www.cynews.com/>

July 11, 1999

CONTENTS

[01] Drugs firm to appeal award of tender

[02] Drunk driver hits policeman in bid to escape

[03] Cabaret manager held forproviding prostitutes

[04] Catering firm set to enter CY domainFORMAN Catering Services of Larnaca expects to begin catering to airlines at Larnaca and Paphos airports on Wednesday, cutting into the once-exclusive province of state- owned Cyprus Airways, a Forman managing partner said yesterday.The company, a joint-venture of Transerve Aviation Ltd and MMAF Kallis Ltd, both of Larnaca, will be competing directly with Cyprus Airways to cater to airplanes at the two airports, Transerve Managing Director Pambos Nicolaides said yesterday."We are the first to get government permission to operate a catering service at the two airports,’ Nicolaides said.The unprecedente permission was formally granted on Friday by the Department of Civil Aviation of the Communications & Works Ministry, after Forman passed Health Ministry hurdles, he said."We are competitors of Cyprus Airways, because Cyprus Airways is the caterer for themselves and other airlines. Up to now, it was the sole (airport) caterer in Cyprus," he said."We decided to form this catering unit according to government regulations, and have informed all the other airlines apart from Cyprus Airways, of the service," Nicolaides said."Most of the companies that have shown great interest are chartering companies. Gradually we intend to go to scheduled airlines," he added.Nicolaides said the Forman joint-venture plans to operate from Meneou village, outside Larnaca, and utilise staff of Transerve and MMAF Kallis.Transerve currently handles ground operations for most of the private jets that come to Cyprus, Nicolaides said. Up to now, he added, he used to have to use Cyprus Airways to cater airplanes belonging to his private-jet clients.

[05] Cabaret bombed as owner is chargedTHE NICOSIA cabaret whose owner allegedly attacked a customer on July 2 was again in the news when it was rocked by a blast around 5.05 am yesterday.The Crazy Horse cabaret was closed at the time but suffered damages worth £500 according to police.Bomb squad experts collected evidence at the scene to help with investigations, with police adding that a preliminary probe showed that the home-made bomb which was used in the blast was very powerful.Meanwhile, the owner of the cabaret, Kyriacos Kamouyiaros, his son Ioannis, and another man,Omiros Vassiliou, were formally charged and released yesterday for allegedly attacking a customer - 25 year-old Savvas Antoniou - in the early hours of July 2.Antoniou was taken to Nicosia general hospital for head injuries following the attack.He told police that he had been assaulted by five men who had hit him with a wooden bat and hammers.

[06] Heat-wave action urged

[07] Foul play ruled outPOLICE have preliminarily ruled out foul play in the fire yesterday that caused £13,000 in damage to a Mercedes Benz taxi parked in its Larnaca owner's garage.The fire brigade and police were called to the scene at 3am in Larnaca to extinguish the blaze, which began while the taxi's owner, Kyriakos Vassiliou, was at home.Vassiliou said he started his car in his garage to warm it up, then went back into the house, which is when the fire broke out.Arson and electrical experts called by police to the scene said they suspected a short-circuit in the engine's wiring was responsible for the fire.Vassiliou himself told police he did not suspect any foul play.

[08] More and more Cypriots popping diet pillBy Athena KarseraFIGURE- CONSCIOUS Cypriots have put the island at the top of the list for most widespread use of diet drug Xenical.According to a representative from the pill's importingcompany G.A. Stamatis and Company Ltd, Cyprus holds the third place internationally with one in every 233 Cypriots having tried the fat-consuming pill.George Stamatis said average sales of Xenical hover around 88 boxes per day and that almost 3,000 boxes have been sold since the drug went on the market at the beginning of June.It is meant to be prescribed only to those who are clinically obese.Xenical, however, has also been approved not only to help the overweight slim down but to help successful dieters keep the weight off.It fills the gap in the huge diet drug market left vacant when its amphetamine-based predecessors were pulled off the shelves two years ago after being linked to heart valve defects.It works by stopping the gut from absorbing about 30 per cent of the fat a person eats while trials have shown that the drug can help people lose, on average, five to ten per cent of their body weight.This is usually not enough to get obese people slim but sufficient to bring down blood pressure and reduce the risk of diabetes and other ill effects of obesity.Xenical is available on prescription only in Cyprus and should be used in conjunction with a mildly hypocaloric diet.Taking the drug without supervision is dangerous. If it is taken with a high-fat diet, it can lead to unpleasant side-effects, including hard-to-control greasy diarrhoea.Long term consequences include nutritional difficulties because Xenical, in blocking fat absorption, also reduces absorption of fat-soluble vitamins such as vitamins A, D, E and K, as well as beta-carotene.Xenical costs just over 80 cents per pill and three tablets are the recommended daily intake.

[01] Drugs firm to appeal award of tender

According to a company statement released to the press, G.A. Stamatis and Company Ltd said they would appeal the Central Tender Board’s decision to award the order to Varnavas Hadjipanayis Ltd.

A company source, who preferred to remain anonymous, said the appeal had been made as the G.A. Stamatis and Co. Ltd tender was lower than that of the company which bagged the order.

The source added that the other company's tender had not fulfilled all the other requirements either.

The G.A. Stamatis appeal will be handled by the Stelios Panayides and Company law office, the company’s statement said.

Erythropoetine is used to improve the quality of life for kidney patients undergoing dialysis.

In late June, Health Minister Christos Solomis said a probe would be conducted into how Nicosia General Hospital ran out of erythropoetine and how the Limassol and Larnaca hospitals came to be dangerously low on supplies.

He said the investigation would be carried out by Head of the Medical Service Costas Mallis.

The inquest was decided on after ombudsman Eleana Nicolaou urged a probe in her report on the issue.

Nicolaou examined the issue after a complaint was submitted to her by the New Horizons party. The ombudsman's report said that the Ministry had been slow to secure fresh supplies of the drug even though they were aware of the urgent need to do so.

Nicolaou also noted that the medicine was not available on the private sector.

Its aim is to uncover who was responsible for supplies running out and what measures should be taken.

The minister said an unofficial investigation had been carried from the time the issue first came to light.

Tenders were put out in February with March 19 as the closing date but the contract was only signed on June 15 after the medicine had already run out in Nicosia.

The Health Ministry announced that the hospitals had been resupplied the life enhancing drug approximately a week after supplies ran out and blamed delays in the tender process for the lag.

They said the correct amounts had been obtained and distributed to hospitals and that the government felt no further action on the issue was necessary.

Opposition party New Horizons, however, called for the Attorney-general and Auditor-general to investigate the delay and pinpoint the culprits.

Politis claimed to have received information that government officials had allegedly presented misleading information to the tender committee so that the order would go to a specific supplier.

July 11, 1999

[02] Drunk driver hits policeman in bid to escape

The suspect, Sergi Paraskevas, 36, had been stopped around midnight on the Larnaca-Dhekelia Road for a breath-alcohol test, police said.

Arrested at the scene, Paraskevas, a Water Department employee, was taken to the Larnaca lock-up for booking. There he allegedly struck one of the arresting officers during a purported escape attempt, police said.

In the process, Paraskevas banged into the entrance to the Larnaca Police Station, injuring his eye, and was taken to Larnaca General Hospital, they said.

After hospital treatment and release, Paraskevas was returned to Larnaca lock-up, where he was booked and detained on the additional assault charge, pending further investigation, they said.

July 11, 1999

[03] Cabaret manager held forproviding prostitutes

A second man was arrested but released without charges and a third is being searched for, Ayia Napa police announced yesterday.

The arrests came after immigration police noticed that the `Ideal' cabaret in Ayia Napa was closed on Wednesday night.

On Thursday the police questioned the cabaret's eight female employees to find out why they had not been working the previous night.

The artistes told police that the cabaret's manager, Nicos Kleanthous, 46, had said that they would have the night off without pay and invited them to go for a ride on a boat in Larnaca harbour.

When the women arrived on the boat they were confronted with 20 Greek Cypriot men who demanded that they have sex with them.

The women said that they initially refused but eventually accompanied the men to nearby hotels and were paid for having sex.

Kleanthous was arrested on Friday while the boat owner was also arrested but later released without charges.

The cabaret owner was still at large yesterday afternoon.

July 11, 1999

[04] Catering firm set to enter CY domainFORMAN Catering Services of Larnaca expects to begin catering to airlines at Larnaca and Paphos airports on Wednesday, cutting into the once-exclusive province of state- owned Cyprus Airways, a Forman managing partner said yesterday.The company, a joint-venture of Transerve Aviation Ltd and MMAF Kallis Ltd, both of Larnaca, will be competing directly with Cyprus Airways to cater to airplanes at the two airports, Transerve Managing Director Pambos Nicolaides said yesterday."We are the first to get government permission to operate a catering service at the two airports,’ Nicolaides said.The unprecedente permission was formally granted on Friday by the Department of Civil Aviation of the Communications & Works Ministry, after Forman passed Health Ministry hurdles, he said."We are competitors of Cyprus Airways, because Cyprus Airways is the caterer for themselves and other airlines. Up to now, it was the sole (airport) caterer in Cyprus," he said."We decided to form this catering unit according to government regulations, and have informed all the other airlines apart from Cyprus Airways, of the service," Nicolaides said."Most of the companies that have shown great interest are chartering companies. Gradually we intend to go to scheduled airlines," he added.Nicolaides said the Forman joint-venture plans to operate from Meneou village, outside Larnaca, and utilise staff of Transerve and MMAF Kallis.Transerve currently handles ground operations for most of the private jets that come to Cyprus, Nicolaides said. Up to now, he added, he used to have to use Cyprus Airways to cater airplanes belonging to his private-jet clients.

July 11, 1999

[05] Cabaret bombed as owner is chargedTHE NICOSIA cabaret whose owner allegedly attacked a customer on July 2 was again in the news when it was rocked by a blast around 5.05 am yesterday.The Crazy Horse cabaret was closed at the time but suffered damages worth £500 according to police.Bomb squad experts collected evidence at the scene to help with investigations, with police adding that a preliminary probe showed that the home-made bomb which was used in the blast was very powerful.Meanwhile, the owner of the cabaret, Kyriacos Kamouyiaros, his son Ioannis, and another man,Omiros Vassiliou, were formally charged and released yesterday for allegedly attacking a customer - 25 year-old Savvas Antoniou - in the early hours of July 2.Antoniou was taken to Nicosia general hospital for head injuries following the attack.He told police that he had been assaulted by five men who had hit him with a wooden bat and hammers.

July 11, 1999

[06] Heat-wave action urged

As many as 70 people, mostly the aged and infirm, died last summer when temperatures soared to record heights over an unusually long period of time.

The New Horizons' appeal follows a Health Ministry advisory about how to avoid sunstroke and heat exhaustion and what to do if the symptoms strike.

The party urged the Health Ministry and Welfare and other departments to visit old-age homes, hospitals and clinics, refugee housing and poor neighbourhoods, and inspect their air-conditioning and other cooling equipment for adequacy and functioning, and inform institution staff of heat-wave dangers.

New Horizons further urged the Health Ministry and Welfare Department to cancel vacation leave for all their employees so that home-visits can be made during the hot spell.

It also urged the Water Development Department to ensure a continuous and uninterrupted water supply during days of maximum temperatures, to help prevent heat-exhaustion.

The party finally called for improvements in working conditions in all government offices - though it did not restrict this exhortation solely to the government - where, it said, it had found climatic conditions to be unsatisfactory.

The New Horizons Party, founded by Nicos Koutsou, currently has no seats in House. The opposition party got 1.71 per cent of the votes in the May 1996 elections.

July 11, 1999

[07] Foul play ruled outPOLICE have preliminarily ruled out foul play in the fire yesterday that caused £13,000 in damage to a Mercedes Benz taxi parked in its Larnaca owner's garage.The fire brigade and police were called to the scene at 3am in Larnaca to extinguish the blaze, which began while the taxi's owner, Kyriakos Vassiliou, was at home.Vassiliou said he started his car in his garage to warm it up, then went back into the house, which is when the fire broke out.Arson and electrical experts called by police to the scene said they suspected a short-circuit in the engine's wiring was responsible for the fire.Vassiliou himself told police he did not suspect any foul play.

July 11, 1999

[08] More and more Cypriots popping diet pillBy Athena KarseraFIGURE- CONSCIOUS Cypriots have put the island at the top of the list for most widespread use of diet drug Xenical.According to a representative from the pill's importingcompany G.A. Stamatis and Company Ltd, Cyprus holds the third place internationally with one in every 233 Cypriots having tried the fat-consuming pill.George Stamatis said average sales of Xenical hover around 88 boxes per day and that almost 3,000 boxes have been sold since the drug went on the market at the beginning of June.It is meant to be prescribed only to those who are clinically obese.Xenical, however, has also been approved not only to help the overweight slim down but to help successful dieters keep the weight off.It fills the gap in the huge diet drug market left vacant when its amphetamine-based predecessors were pulled off the shelves two years ago after being linked to heart valve defects.It works by stopping the gut from absorbing about 30 per cent of the fat a person eats while trials have shown that the drug can help people lose, on average, five to ten per cent of their body weight.This is usually not enough to get obese people slim but sufficient to bring down blood pressure and reduce the risk of diabetes and other ill effects of obesity.Xenical is available on prescription only in Cyprus and should be used in conjunction with a mildly hypocaloric diet.Taking the drug without supervision is dangerous. If it is taken with a high-fat diet, it can lead to unpleasant side-effects, including hard-to-control greasy diarrhoea.Long term consequences include nutritional difficulties because Xenical, in blocking fat absorption, also reduces absorption of fat-soluble vitamins such as vitamins A, D, E and K, as well as beta-carotene.Xenical costs just over 80 cents per pill and three tablets are the recommended daily intake.

© Copyright Cyprus Mail 1999

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