Cyprus Mail: News Articles in English, 00-04-05

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From: The Cyprus Mail at <http://www.cyprus-mail.com/>

Wednesday, April 5, 2000

CONTENTS

[01] Are the Turks ready to negotiate?

[02] Butcher 'admits knifing cat in supermarket'

[03] Ideas to stamp out corruption in public life

[04] Koutsou clashes again with Papapetrou

[05] Etek says market move to IMC is illegal

[06] CBS to step in after Miss Universe sacking

[07] Committee told foundry tests will take six months

[08] Man charged with 10 counts of fraud in share scam

[09] Two held after arson attack on Turkish Cypriot’s car

[10] Clerides heralds opening of Cyprus galleries in New York

[11] Banks and tourism shares remain firm

[01] Are the Turks ready to negotiate?

THE MAJOR question for the third round of negotiations in New York next month is "whether or not the Turkish Cypriot side is willing to negotiate," President Clerides said yesterday.

Clerides, who is currently on a visit to the United States, said the Greek Cypriot side was not concerned whether the third round would be direct or indirect but whether the Turkish Cypriot side would have the will to make progress.

He warned that all those involved in the Cyprus negotiations should ask themselves what would happen if Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash continued to insist on the creation of two separate states, as he has done in the previous two rounds.

"We have no new evidence on what stance the Turkish side will maintain during the next round of talks," he told journalists on his arrival in New York.

"Until now, the stance they maintained was one of preconditions to start some dialogue, then that they wouldn’t negotiate unless their position on the so-called creation of two states in Cyprus was accepted".

The third round of UN-led proximity talks is due to begin on May 23. "What's important is whether the other side is ready to negotiate," Clerides said.

Asked by journalists what would happen to the talks if the Turkish side had not changed its stance since the May round, Clerides said: "I am not the one to think what should happen; that will fall to Europe, the US and the others who are pursuing a solution.

"Envoys from the US, the UN and the UK are expected to visit the island ahead of next month's talks. All have agreed that a gear change is necessary to move the process forward.

All three envoys met in New York on Monday to discuss strategy leading to the third round.

British sources told the Cyprus News Agency in New York that the three envoys had compared notes on their recent visits to the island following the second round of talks in Geneva in early February.

"They want to see a change of gear during the next round," the sources said. 'There has to be an acceleration of the process.

"The sources said there were all sorts of issues to cover to try and overcome the obstacles and that the three sides would try to be as useful and as constructive as possible.

"It is less a matter of putting forward concrete suggestion than of keeping practical ideas. The two sides on the island will have to look as flexibly as possible at the proposals put forward and which are under discussion."

Wednesday, April 5, 2000

[02] Butcher 'admits knifing cat in supermarket'

A SUPERMARKET butcher who knifed a kitten in full view of his customers could appear in court charged with cruelty.

Police say the 27-year-old man from Astromeritis admitted his guilt under questioning.

The incident happened in the recently opened Nicosia branch of Orphanides supermarket.

Shoppers spotted the cat sniffing around between the butchery and the self-service department. Eyewitnesses said it looked hungry and in search of food.

According to Vasso Samami, personnel director of Orphanides, the kitten was wild: "It jumped on the butcher. The cat was caught up in a wire and our employee was trying to free it. It was an accident. It was completely unintentional.

"Sources close to an eyewitness, however, claim the butcher put a knife to the kitten's throat.

The cat was immediately taken to the vet to be operated on.

Pavlos Economides, the director of the veterinary department who oversaw the kitten's treatment, told the Cyprus Mail: "the condition of the cat was serious. I have passed the matter on to the police. They must press charges against this fellow.

"A representative from Orphanides said the stray kitten had recovered and been released, but Economides said he did not know what had happened to the cat, but other reports say it died.

Under Cypriot law it is illegal to harm or kill domestic animals intentionally. If charged and found guilty, the butcher could serve a short prison sentence.

Antonitsa Damianon, the police officer handling the case, said that in the normal way the file would be sent to the Attorney-general=s office, which will decide whether to press charges.

But the police did not follow routine procedure earlier, failing to issue a formal statement that they were investigating the case.

Spyros Zonafos, a teacher who heard about the incident from friends who witnessed the incident on Friday, March 24, wrote to the national papers to highlight the cruelty. None of his letters was published.

"The newspapers here are afraid. Afraid of the government, afraid of business," he said.

While the supermarket stresses the kitten=s injury was an accident, it also says the butcher has been dismissed.

Wednesday, April 5, 2000

[03] Ideas to stamp out corruption in public life

CYPRUS must introduce stricter anti-corruption laws and actually implement those that already exist, House Watchdog Committee chairman Christos Pourgourides said yesterday.

But the Disy deputy, who has been prominent in efforts to stamp out sleaze from public life, said corruption could never be totally eradicated from society as it was part of human nature, adding that in Cyprus the issue had only come to public attention in recent years.

No single law would suffice to make a real difference, he said: "thousands of amendments are needed.

"Speaking during a briefing to publicise a seminar on corruption this Saturday, Pourgourides said his Disy party would be making specific suggestions on the issue to the government and to fellow political parties.

Disy's suggestions included the further strengthening of the Auditing Service and the broadening of the Auditor-general’s and Accountant- general's jurisdictions, he said.

The party is also proposing a reduction of the income tax coefficient so that tax-evaders would receive less sympathy in society.

"What we need to do is to change mentalities so that people no longer think of tax-evasion lightly. Currently it is almost something that gives people street credibility.

"The party will propose the setting up of a hotline, where employees can anonymously pass on information about suspect colleagues or superiors.

"This method has been very effective in other countries and should be especially successful in a small place like Cyprus where people are loathe to turn their bosses in because of their fear of being found out.

"Pourgourides said an anonymous tip-off would never be used to condemn someone, but would rather act as a springboard for an investigation.

Another proposal on the cards is to bar senior government officials from taking jobs in the private sector after their retirement, especially in sectors that come into regular contact with the government service they have just left.

Government officials should also be obliged by law to present financial statements every five years, Pourgourides said.

In his role as Watchdog Committee president, Pourgourides spearheaded a 1998 campaign against former Interior Minister Dinos Michaelides, against whom he made a string of bribery charges.

Michaelides was eventually acquitted of all the charges, but resigned shortly afterwards.

Saturday’s seminar on corruption is organised by Disy and entitled ‘A new century with less corruption and more honourable management’.

It will take place from 9.30am to 1.30pm at the Forum Intercontinental hotel in Nicosia.

Speakers include Attorney-general Alecos Markides, Auditor-general Chrystalla Yiorkatzi and a host of experts representing the European Union as well as representatives from the Greek and Italian governments.

Wednesday, April 5, 2000

[04] Koutsou clashes again with Papapetrou

A NEW row erupted yesterday between New Horizons leader Nicos Koutsou and Government Spokesman Michalis Papapetrou.

The two men sparred only two weeks ago over alleged ‘superpowers’ granted by the Cabinet to the island's chief EU negotiator, George Vassiliou.

Vassiliou heads the minority United Democrats (UD) party, of which Papapetrou is also a member. UD opponents believe the party is gaining too much power within the government.

Yesterday, Koutsou accused those UD members in the government, and particularly Papapetrou, of being "stowaways in power".

Responding to comments by Papapetrou the previous day criticising opponents of a federal solution to the Cyprus problem, Koutsou suggested the UD was trying to muzzle anyone who spoke out against a federation.

"The Vassiliou team has taken it upon themselves to wreck the political climate and put labels on people," Koutsou said yesterday.

He said that Papapetrou, "who expresses the government's attitude, has stepped out of line many times" calling the Bishop of Kyrenia ignorant of history and accusing all those who disagree with federation of being with Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash.

"And now they want the political isolation of those who disagree," Koutsou added. "How is he going to isolate the majority of citizens who, in polls that so annoy Mr Papapetrou, are against a federation.

"Koutsou went on to suggest that Papapetrou might want to set up prison camps for political opponents and penalise political dissidents.

"Mr Vassiliou and his firm should never forget they are only stowaways in power," he said.

Papapetrou's response was swift.

"For Mr Koutsou to talk about muzzling and concentration camps and lack of democracy is an underestimation of the intelligence of the public. The Cypriot people know Koutsou and Papapetrou and can make their own judgements," Papapetrou said.

The government spokesman said what he had been talking about was need to isolate views that were damaging for the country.

"But I had stressed that Mr Koutsou and anyone else had the right to speak their minds freely," he said.

Papapetrou also rejected accusations by Koutsou that President Clerides was creating new definitions of the term federation.

"The line followed by the President has been approved by the decisions of the National Council," he said.

Wednesday, April 5, 2000

[05] Etek says market move to IMC is illegal

THE TECHNICAL Chamber (Etek) said yesterday that the decision to move the Cyprus Stock Exchange (CSE) to the International Merchandising Centre (IMC) was illegal.

Etek president Nicos Mesaritis said allowing the CSE to move to the massive building on the way out of Nicosia would be equivalent to condoning the illegality.

Officials admit that the area in question is not zoned for office operations like those of the CSE, but have hinted there might be some ways around the dilemma.

"There are many excuses but when they are used it means negating fixed institutions," Mesaritis said.

"There is therefore no reason for the existence of Strovolos Municipality and the Town Planning Department, no reason at all since their laws are not being enforced.

"He also referred to the fact that the owners of the IMC had built an extra floor in the building but not applied for planning permission for it until construction was completed.

"Those who feel laws do not apply to them are condoning illegalities," Mesaritis said.

He said that in his opinion, if the Interior Ministry was operating correctly, there would no way for the CSE to move to the IMC, "unless they deviate from the laws and regulations to create the right conditions".

"The day the Stock Exchange will enter that building it should be automatic that all those who tolerated that action be prosecuted on charges that lead to their imprisonment," Mesaritis said.

"If all these people believe the law should not be enforced, it will only encourage all citizens to say ‘there is a law but there is no reason for us to follow it. On the contrary if we follow it we will be losers’.

"Yiannis Papadopoulos, the director general of the Town Planning department, has given a report to the Interior Minister, who has the final say in the matter.

Papadopoulos admitted that when the IMC building was completed it was discovered that an extra floor had been added.

"The owners then submitted an application for the extra floor," he said.

He also admitted that the use of the building as a stock exchange was not permissible under current regulations concerning the area.

"If any permit is issued for use as a stock exchange, it would be a deviation," he said.

Strovolos Mayor Savvas Ilioforou said his Municipality would do whatever possible to see the CSE move to his district.

"There are no objections from the municipality for the CSE to move there," he said. "On the contrary we want to roll out the red carpet for it.

"But he said the owners would have to go through the due legal process to obtain whatever permits were needed.

The CSE reached a deal with the owners of the IMC some months ago for a move initially due to have taken place by the end of last month.

Brokers, investors and a daily stream of media crews who crowd into the current CSE building in central Nicosia have frequently complained about the lack of space, prompting bourse authorities to seek an alternative.

The exchange has been housed in its current location for over three years but rapid expansion prompted by an upsurge in market fever has seen speculator activity in the bourse mushroom in the past 12 months.

Around 25-30 brokerage firms plus staff, sometimes totalling more than 100 people, operate from the exchange, without counting the scores of investors who crowd the floor every day.

The IMC was opened in 1997 as a central location for buyers from countries in the region to purchase goods wholesale at a one-stop shop.

The £30 million building has four floors and 22,000 square metres of exhibition and administrative facilities divided into dozens of units, as well as 25,000 square metres of bonded warehouse. It is also computer networked.

Disadvantages could include the fact that it is not central and that many brokerage firms have set up office close to the existing building on Grivas Dighenis Avenue.

Wednesday, April 5, 2000

[06] CBS to step in after Miss Universe sacking

Rolandis said the US-based CBS Television network, co-sponsor of the event with New York real estate billionaire Donald Trump, would be assuming full responsibility for carrying the pageant off on May 13 following Mastorakis' dismissal.

Rolandis said that, despite the sacking, CBS had told him it expected the Cyprus event, which is to be televised worldwide, to be "the most magnificent ever in the 49-year history of the pageant.

"He also said he thought there would be a solution to the environmental objections raised to the government's plan to light up the Rock of Aphrodite along the seacoast just east of Paphos, not only for the beauty pageant, but on a permanent basis.

"With some proper lighting of that rock, it would appear (at night) as if it were (hovering) somewhere in the air," he said. "It would be beautiful. We have ignored it for so many years, and people passing there at night can see nothing (of it) at all."

"It's one of the beauty spots of Cyprus, and we should have done it years ago," Rolandis said.

Wednesday, April 5, 2000

[07] Committee told foundry tests will take six months

PLANNED government probes into suspicions that residents of Ergates and Omonia have been poisoned by smoke from two foundries near their villages took centre-stage yesterday at a House Environment Committee hearing.

A Health Ministry representative told Committee Chairman Demetris Eliades it should take about six months to test the air, soil, vegetation and blood of residents of both Ergates and Omonia for smelter-smoke toxins now that the Health Ministry had found British scientific experts to do the work.

Health Minister Frixos Savvides said last week he hoped the British experts would start by April 15 laying the groundwork for testing Ergates villagers for lead, cadmium and dioxin suspected in smoke from nearby Marios & Andreas foundry.

Tests by epidemiologist Michalis Voniatis have shown cancer rates, lead and cadmium poisoning and lung diseases among Ergates residents many times the national average.

Health Ministry Public Health Physician Andreas Georgiou said that, once the contracts were officially signed and after that baseline groundwork was done, the British experts should be able to test the first Ergates villagers' blood by mid-May.

Georgiou said the Tender Board accepted the bid by Leonidou Associates Human Resource Consultancy to "bring doctors from St Mary's Hospital in London - they're the best in the world, actually - and Guy's Hospital in London" to conduct the tests.

Savvides has pledged to embark on a similar toxin-testing program with Omonia residents outside Limassol, who for months have complained that they and their children are being sickened by smoke from nearby Nemitsas foundry - sometimes to the point of requiring treatment in hospital.

Nicosia District Officer Andreas Papapolyviou told the committee that, contrary to Council of Ministers' expectations, the Marios & Andreas foundry's owners had failed to come to an agreement on the amount the government would indemnify them for the time they were shut down while the testing was done.

He said they wanted £400,000 to suspend their operation, while a foundry representative said the amount was £380,000. The Marios & Andreas representative also said recent emission tests - he did not say by whom - showed smelter smoke emissions had declined following "measures" the foundry took. He did not elaborate.

Ergates residents told the committee the co-operation they had shown during the study must not be seen as tolerance of an unacceptable situation, and they further questioned how the smelter's emissions had suddenly declined in the last two months.

Separately, Takis Nemitsas, owner of Nemitsas foundry and a former Minister of Commerce, protested at what he said was a lack of governmental policy regarding foundries and their location in residential areas.

And he told the committee his foundry’s furnaces functioned steadily under the Cypriot emissions limit of 300 mg of particulate per cubic metre of air.

The Labour Ministry has filed a criminal lawsuit against Nemitsas foundry on charges of exceeding the particulate limit.

Omonia area residents say the only way to end their smoke-caused nausea and safeguarding their children's health is to move the Nemitsas foundry. To dramatise their point, they presented the Committee with some dust of the kind they said was emitted by the smelter each time it operates.

In a press release yesterday, they noted that during Nemitsas operations last November 11 and this March 9, students and teachers of the Eighth Elementary School, which is only 300 metres from the foundry, had to halt classes, because teachers and pupils complained of dizziness, headaches, eye irritation and nausea - which was blamed on the smelter's smoke.

"In a nutshell," the Omonia residents said, "we believe that operating foundries in residential areas is not compatible with residents' health, especially the children, who are more vulnerable, and so we are asking the foundry be moved from the area or its permanent closure."

For his part, Nemitsas wondered if his foundry, after taking what he said had been corrective measures might move on with its development plans, or whether the government was going to ask it to move in the future.

He said the factory was not a caravan, and added that it would cost £20 million to move it.

Wednesday, April 5, 2000

[08] Man charged with 10 counts of fraud in share scam

Larnaca district court charged Christos Vassos Hartoumbalos, 32, with circulating counterfeit cheques and forging bank cheques to obtain a total of £143,000, impersonating another man and knowingly receiving the £143,000 by illegal means.

The court renewed his remand for a further eight days.

Hartoumbalos is accused of being the man who impersonated Dherynia investor George Alexandrou, persuading a Nicosia brokerage to sell Alexandrou's shares and give him the cash.

The money was obtained from the sale of 30,000 of Alexandrou's Bank of Cyprus and Louis shares, with the scam coming to light when the brokerage firm sent Alexandrou written confirmation of the transactions.

Larnaca club owner Antonis Fanieros had initially also been arrested in connection with the case, but was on Sunday released for lack of evidence.

One other man is being held in police custody in connection with the case, while police are understood to be keen to interview an unnamed suspect who remains at large.

Wednesday, April 5, 2000

[09] Two held after arson attack on Turkish Cypriot’s car

Police told a court yesterday that the Greek Cypriot suspects, one aged 24 and the other 27, had admitted to burning the car of Turkish Cypriot Mehmet Sami Ousta as it was parked in Potamia.

The two allegedly told police they had personal differences with Ousta - who confirmed this – and that they had torched his car for revenge.

Police insisted the incident was not a racist one.

The two suspects were remanded in custody for eight days.

The fire broke out at 1.20am. Witnesses saw two men riding away from the scene on a powerful motorbike with no number plates.

They immediately alerted police, who tracked down the bike 20 minutes later on the Nicosia-Limassol highway at the Tseri turnoff, and arrested the riders.

Ousta's car suffered extensive damage in the fire.

[10] Clerides heralds opening of Cyprus galleries in New York

Clerides heralded the opening of the galleries as a "milestone event that will offer the opportunity to millions of visitors... to admire the products of our civilization".

The opening comes a year after the US decided to restrict imports of Byzantine, ecclesiastical and ethnological artefacts from Cyprus, unaccompanied by a Government of Cyprus export permit.

Since Independence in 1960, the Cypriot Government has been committed to both promoting international recognition for its art, and returning treasures removed illegally from the island.

The backbone of the Metropolitan collection was acquired at the end of the 19th century by Luigi Palma di Cesnola, American Consul in Cyprus and later the first director of the New York museum.

Clerides was asked if Cyprus would push for the repatriation of Cypriot antiquities, but the President said he supported the exhibition of Cypriot art in foreign museums. He praised the Cesnola Collection for its serious contribution to the re-emergence of scholarly interest in Cyprus.

In recognition of its importance, the government has lent four ancient artefacts on a long-term basis to the Metropolitan. In return, the Cyprus Museum will receive four sculptures from the Cesnola Collection.

It is hoped that this exchange will be the first step in securing permanent residency on the island of several pieces from the Metropolitan collection.

The galleries display some 600 of the finest works from the Cesnola Collection, which date from c. 2500 BC to c. AD 300.

Wednesday, April 5, 2000

[11] Banks and tourism shares remain firm

THE stock market ended broadly stable yesterday on thinner trading volumes with a firmer performance put in by banking and tourism stocks offsetting pressure from insurance and investment shares, which were pulled lower.

The all-share CSE index staged a mild recovery to end 0.3 per cent higher after a weaker open. The benchmark index closed at 477.12 points, up from an intraday low of 467.78.

Shares traded range bound throughout the session, with small cap stocks K&G Complex and Dodoni taking the lion's share in turnover. Reasons given for the £1.8 million turnover in K&G and the £1.4 million recorded in Dodoni varied. Some traders said that there was a perception among investors that because of the low denomination of the stocks it was easier to trade with them.

"Strictly numerically speaking, they are among the lowest stocks on the market. One could argue that it is easier for investors to get in and out with these shares," one trader said. K&G rose 2.7 cents to close on a last trade of 26.5 cents, while Dodoni was fractionally higher at 23.5 cents. Banking stocks appeared to be emerging from a lull of the past few days, with Bank of Cyprus climbing two cents to close at £7.77, Universal Savings Bank climbing 13 cents to £5.91 and Hellenic Bank adding two cents to £2.93. The sector ended 0.49 per cent higher.

Tourism shares, which were up by two per cent, were buoyed by a strong performance of Cyprus Tourism Development and Agros.

Investment and insurance stocks were down by 1.7 and 1.8 per cent respectively. Aiantas and Kyknos, which were both hit by computer glitches at their debuts this week and last, hovered lower. Aiantas were down two cents to 39.1 and Kyknos were off four to a last trade of 85 cents. Of 99 securities traded, 42 advanced and 37 declined, while a relatively large number of securities -- 20 -- remained unchanged.

The highest gains of the day were recorded in ShareLink, which climbed 37 cents, or 1.9 per cent to £19.67 , while Cyprus Tourism Development, owners of the Cyprus Hilton, were up to £6.50 after notching up a 35 cent gain. Traded value reached £17 million, some three million pounds less than Monday.

"The market is tracking a broadly steady course and I don't see that changing in the near term," one stockbroker said.

© Copyright Cyprus Mail 2000

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