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Cyprus Mail: News Articles in English, 00-12-06
Wednesday, December 6, 2000
CONTENTS
[01] Annan highlights restrictions on UNFICYP
[02] UN confirms it received Turkish threats over Pyla
[03] Would you have a third child for £5,000?
[04] Cyprus will follow EU lead on bonemeal ban
[05] German bank offers £100 million for market stabilisation fund
[06] Is the market on the road again?
[07] Deputies offer to mediate in schools crisis
[08] AKEL blasts procedure for helicopter procurement
[09] Ministers seek to double traffic fines
[10] Deputies to draw up fox protection plan
[11] `Officials have not done their homework on MOT bill'
[01] Annan highlights restrictions on UNFICYP
By a Staff Reporter
U.N. Secretary-general Kofi Annan yesterday recommended the renewal of the
UNFICYP mandate for another six months. In his half-yearly report on the
force's activities in Cyprus, Annan said the situation along the ceasefire
line has remained generally stable, but he said restrictions imposed on
UNFICYP last June had affected troop movements significantly. "As a result
the operational effectiveness of UNFICYP has suffered, response times have
increased and combined logistic and administrative movements have
lengthened significantly," Annan's report said. In addition to the well-
known restrictions at crossing points, Annan's report said that since
October the Turkish side has prevented UN personnel from moving along the
Famagusta-Dherynia road. Annan also mentions Strovilia where Turkish troops
moved their positions forward last year to encompass the Greek Cypriot
village, ostensibly to prevent UN access to the north. "My urgent call to
rescind the restrictions and to restore the military status quo at
Strovilia has not so far met with a positive response," Annan said. The
report also draws attention to air violations over the 180-km long buffer
zone. Violations by Turkish aircraft rose to 47, compared with seven in the
same period last year, the report said, while violations by Greek Cypriot
military and civilian aircraft decreased to 10 compared to 18 last year.
The figure includes three violations by Greek aircraft during the recent
`Nikiforos' exercises. From June to December UNFICYP also dealt with more
than 400 incidents involving incursions into the buffer zone, mostly by
Greek Cypriot hunters "who were often aggressive and sometimes violent".
"In the prevailing circumstances I continue to consider the presence of
UNFICYP essential for the maintenance of the ceasefire on the island,"
Annan said.
[02] UN confirms it received Turkish threats over Pyla
By a Staff reporter
THE UN yesterday confirmed that the Turkish Cypriot regime had issued an
ultimatum for the return of a Turkish Cypriot arrested in the free areas on
suspicion of heroin trafficking on Saturday, threatening the Greek Cypriots
in Pyla if they didn't get their way. The demand was dispatched to UNFICYP
on Saturday, hours after Omer Tecokul was picked up outside Pyla in
possession of two kilos of heroin. "If Greek Cypriot police are engaging in
a new policy of kidnapping suspects from the UN-controlled buffer zone,
Turkish Cypriot police will respond in a similar manner," said the letter
from the `ministry of foreign affairs' in the north. The letter went on to
add that unless Tecokul was returned by noon on Monday, "Greek Cypriots in
Pyla will disappear". The village of Pyla lies within the UN controlled
buffer zone, where neither Greek nor Turkish Cypriot police have any
jurisdiction. According to police, Tecokul was arrested outside Pyla, in
government-controlled territory, after his car left the village. UN
spokeswoman Sarah Russell said yesterday UNFICYP were investigating what
had happened and the charges levelled against the suspect. The UN acts as a
go-between the government and the authorities in the occupied areas. UN
personnel visited him in Larnaca, where he is being held, and confirmed
that he was in good health. Turkish Cypriots gave no indication that the
man would face criminal charges if he was returned to the north.
Government spokesman Michalis Papapetrou said yesterday the authorities
were working in full co-operation with the UN and the British Sovereign
British Base Areas.
[03] Would you have a third child for £5,000?
YOU MIGHT soon be offered £5,000 to have a third child if the Cabinet and
the House approve a Labour Ministry proposal. But would you have a third
child for that sort of money? Some couples say they would consider taking
up the offer, but admit the amount is nowhere near what is needed to raise
a child. The Labour Ministry has proposed the one-off £5,000 payment in an
effort to tackle the low birth rate. Currently, only families with four or
more children receive child benefit of £26.64 per month per child. The
payments continue as long as the children are dependent, and until their
mid-twenties if they do their military service and then go on to
university. Elena Ioannidou, 31, a shopkeeper, who is married with two
children told the Cyprus Mail she would consider having another child if
the Ministry went ahead with its plan. "The offer is an attractive one and
I would consider taking it, as many others would, I think." Twenty-nine-
year old Savvas Savva, a barman engaged to be married also favoured the
idea. "I do not have children yet, but I am planning on having them at some
point. I think I could be talked into having a third child if I was offered
£5,000," he said. Sotiris Lagos, 29, a photographer, said the amount was
not enough to raise a child and added that the government did not offer
enough benefits to large families. "But I would consider the offer as an
extra incentive to have a child. I have two children at the moment and I am
thinking of having a third one. Five thousand pounds would definitely help
me make up my mind!" Pavlina Pavlou, 27, an unmarried shop owner said: "I
am planning on getting married sometime in the future. The offer would get
me thinking about having an extra child if I already had two, although the
money would not be adequate to raise it, not by a long shot. I would like
to add that families with four or more children complain that the
government fail to subsidise them sufficiently. But it would help to have
£5,000 to start taking care of a newly born. I hope they go ahead with the
plan." But 38-year-old Michalakis Nicolaides, who works at a café, said a
decision to have a child had no price. "I have two children already. No one
and nothing could convince me to have another one if I did not feel like
it. Neither five, nor 11 nor 20,000 would be enough if I did not really
want another child." Jane Michael, 40, a divorced mother of two teenagers,
said £5,000 was very little to raise a child. "It is not easy raising a
child. And when they reach puberty it becomes even harder. Five thousand
pounds would not motivate me to have another child." A 27- year old woman,
married, with one child said £5,000 was no incentive, taking into account
that £1,000 alone would be spent on clinic and labour expenses. The Labour
Ministry is planning to table its proposal before the Cabinet for approval,
despite the Finance Ministry's concerns that the plan would cost the state
£8-10 million. The Association for Large Families, which only represents
families with four or more children, has said even the fourth-child
allowance is inadequate compared to other European countries. Some families
who already have three children have requested a meeting with Labour
Minister Andreas Moushiouttas, demanding that they too should be covered by
a payment plan.
[04] Cyprus will follow EU lead on bonemeal ban
CYPRUS yesterday said it would follow the EU's lead and ban the feeding of
meat and bonemeal to farm animals for six months. The ban was agreed by the
15 EU member states in an emergency meeting on Monday in an effort to stop
the spread of `mad cow' disease or BSE. Agriculture Minister Costas
Themistocleous said an emergency meeting of all relevant government
departments was being called for today to discuss ways of minimising the
impact of the ban. The feeding of meat and bonemeal to cows has been blamed
for the spread of BSE in Europe. Cyprus, which has no recorded cases of BSE,
has banned the use of meat and bonemeal for cattle but still permits it for
pigs, poultry and fish. "Even as a temporary measure the ban creates a
number of issues that must be decided, it creates a problem concerning
refuse from slaughter-houses. At this moment, a thousand tonnes of refuse a
day from slaughter houses go to make meat meal," Themistocleous said.
"There is a huge environmental problem here, what will we do with this
stuff? Will we burn it? Will we bury it? There is a crucial issue here." On
Monday, hours before the EU ban was decided, the Cyprus Consumers'
Association pleaded with the government to ban the use of slaughterhouse
leftovers in meat meal "before it is too late". Themistocleous said other
tricky issues to be decided at today's meeting included what pig, poultry
and fish farmers would feed their charges and what would become of the
islands sole bone and meat meal production plant. "We will need a procedure
for adjustment of all animal keepers to this new reality, we will have to
find substitutes," the Minister said. "So far, we have not been told
whether the EU ban covers exports to third countries, we need to get
clarifications on this for the sake of the production unit operating in
Cyprus," he added. The ban comes into effect on January 1. Despite
government assurances that local beef is safe, the BSE scare has slashed
sales by a third in recent months. The mad cow crisis resurfaced two months
ago when with an increase in cases in France. Things were made worse by the
appearance of the first cases in Germany and Spain, suggesting existing
containment measures - such as a ban on feed containing animal protein for
cattle - were inadequate. At the heart of the scandal is the fear that mad
cow disease, bovine spongiform encephalopathy, can spread to humans through
the brain-wasting Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. Two people in France and 80 in
Britain have died from the human form of the disease.
[05] German bank offers £100 million for market stabilisation fund
THE CABINET yesterday approved a preliminary proposal by a foreign bank to
set up a £100 million `stabilising fund' for the Cyprus Stock Exchange
(CSE). Finance Minister Takis Klerides made the announcement after
yesterday's meeting of the Council of Ministers. "I think this proposal
shows the trust that foreign organisations have in the long-term future of
the CSE," Klerides said. He did not say which bank had made the proposal,
only that it was EU-based. He added he would discuss the details in full
with the House Finance Committee and the political parties, and if their
response was positive "we will proceed to fulfil this agreement". Klerides
said that the fund would give the ability to those handling it "to
intervene in the Cyprus Stock Exchange, by investing on a long-term basis".
He said the specific bank would bring money to Cyprus, which would be
invested in "low risk shares", if need be. Klerides did not specify which
bank was behind the possible deal, but Government Spokesman Michalis
Papapetrou later told the Cyprus Mail the proposal had come from a well-
known German commercial bank. "The money will be invested over a certain
period of time in specified stocks," he said. Meanwhile, the Investors
Association said yesterday it was advising anyone with a complaint against
companies still refusing to give back money to take their case to the
police. Unconfirmed reports yesterday suggested police were already
investigating some 20-25 companies out of the 150 or so waiting to list on
the CSE. The companies are accused of having failed to return investors'
money by a November 30 deadline. Investors' Association president Alkis
Argyrides said he could not put a figure on the number of companies
involved, but said there were "quite a few". "What we are doing now is
advising people to claim back the money, and, if they get a negative
response, to send it to the Attorney-general," he said. Attorney-general
Alecos Markides on Friday instructed police to investigate complaints by
investors under a new law passed in October to target companies who had not
yet listed but were hanging on to millions in investor cash without issuing
the share title deeds. The law says companies that had not issued title
deeds by October 18 had to return investors' cash by the end of November.
Most companies complied, but a handful appear to have tried to circumvent
the law. Argyrides said the law was a positive step, but some of the
provisions were not clear. Companies say the date of issue of the shares is
what counts, while investors say what matters is the day they receive them
in their hands. Argyrides claimed a lot of the companies involved had
resorted to deceit to save themselves from having to return investors'
cash. "We say that unless a company has floated on the stock market there
can't be any `issued shares' as such," Argyrides said.
[06] Is the market on the road again?
A STRONG opening yesterday led to a massive sell-off which plunged the
index back into negative territory from which it only just recovered to
close 0.72 per cent up on Monday's five per cent gain. Trading started on
an optimistic note at over 236 points compared to the previous day when the
index ended at 232. However at the first signs of life jittery investors
began to offload, mostly banking stocks, sending the index into a step
slide. By mid-session it was one per cent under but managed to rebound to
finally close at 233.6 points on a volume of £11.8 million. The FTSE/CySE-
20 also showed minor gains of 0.65 per cent, ending at 1035 points as some
confidence bloomed in the blue-chip sector. Most sectors gained yesterday
apart from `other' companies, fish farms and financial services firms.
Winners outpaced losers 108 to 42 completely reversing last week's trend.
Although the gains were not much to write home about, analysts hope that
two upward movements in a row might herald at least a slight return of
investor confidence. "But only time will tell," one said. Bank of Cyprus
(BoC) was the most traded share of the day adding three cents to close at
£4.08 on a volume of £2 million. Laiki jumped six cents to end at £3.00
with a volume of £1 million. Last week both banks had dropped well under
the £4 and £3 marks respectively. Three weeks into its Athens listing BoC
dropped 1.54 per cent yesterday ending at £4.26 while the ASE banking
sector gained a modest 0.39 per cent. Back home GlobalSoft, which has just
announced nine-month results the company said exceeded all expectations,
added another six cents to close at £5.26 on a volume of £1.62 million. The
company recorded an increase in revenue of 768% to £32.5 million, while pre
tax profits increased by 719% to £11.27 million. After tax profit clocked
in at £9.69 million, a 631% increase over 1999.
[07] Deputies offer to mediate in schools crisis
THE HOUSE Education Committee yesterday offered to act as mediator in the
schools crisis, by bringing all factions to the table today in a bid to
avoid disruptive strike action. Primary and nursery school teachers,
represented by the POED union, are threatening to continue strike action
begun last month with all-day strikes tomorrow, on Tuesday and Wednesday
next week and on December 20. POED are demanding that primary and nursery
school teachers get the same pay as their secondary school colleagues.
Secondary school teachers, represented by the OELMEK union, are boycotting
extra-curricular school activities, refusing to produce end-of-term reports
and planning a two-hour work stoppage for Monday OELMEK are striking in
protest at the Education Ministry and POED discussing the primary school
teachers' demands in their absence. Parents' associations yesterday pleaded
with everyone involved in the growing crisis to "cool it" in order to
minimise disruption to lessons. Education Minister Ouranios Ioannides
repeated a call for both unions to come and talk with him. "There can be
no solution without discussion," he stated. The parliamentary education
committee said it was calling the minister, his officials and both unions
to meet with it this morning to try to talk over and iron out differences.
But neither union showed any sign of softening its stance yesterday. POED
chairman Sofoklis Charalambides said the fresh strike action had been
called because the Minister had gone back on his promise to present an
outline of a pay deal thrashed out last week to the union by midday on
Monday. Ioannides complained that POED had refused, on Monday, to grant a
"small extension" to the original deadline for tabling the draft agreement.
The draft has since been handed to POED, who yesterday said they were
considering it. OELMEK chief Andreas Stavrou repeated that POED and the
Ministry were guilty of shutting them out of pay discussions that
"concerned OELMEK members too". Minister Ioannides said OELMEK's interests
had not been compromised during discussions with POED. "There has been no
discussion of equal treatment of primary and secondary school teachers,
what we have discussed is pay rises for primary teachers," Ioannides said.
POED and OELMEK again accused each other of trying to undermine the other,
and of acting in a "non-unionist" manner. Despite the wrangling, all
parties appeared set to accept the House education committee's invitation
for today.
[08] AKEL blasts procedure for helicopter procurement
THE SAGA for the procurement of four transport helicopters for the National
Guard was set to drag on yesterday as main opposition party AKEL vowed it
would not approve the funds needed for the purchase. Two other House
parties, DIKO and KISOS, have also voiced their disagreement for the
specific purchase, leaving ruling DISY alone in insisting that it was the
right choice. DISY, however, cannot muster a majority by itself to force
the issue through. The Defence Ministry decided the Bell-412EP was the best
option for the National Guard, prompting opposition parties to question its
judgement and the tender procedures followed. The main reason for the
uproar was that the helicopters under consideration were not the military
version of the type and could only be fitted with search and rescue
equipment similar to the one carried by the police Bell 412. This was due
to a long-standing embargo imposed on Cyprus by the United States,
forbidding the sale of military equipment. Despite assurances from Defence
Minister Socratis Hasikos about the transparency of the tender procedures
and the suitability of the helicopters, House Defence Committee member AKEL
deputy Doros Christodoulides was adamant yesterday. "We will not vote for
this provision," he told the Cyprus Mail. Christodoulides said his party
judged that the tender procedure followed had not been satisfactory, and
that the helicopter offered to Cyprus was not a military craft. "It does
not have any armour, weapons, and means of self protection,"
Christodoulides said. "It cannot even undertake the missions specified by
the National Guard - ability to transport eight to 15 Special Forces troops
with complete gear," he added. The size and capabilities of the specific
helicopter would make it difficult to carry four soldiers with full gear,
Christodoulides said. Modern military helicopters carry at least the basic
armour to protect crew and passengers, and could be fitted with missile
protection systems, and even electronic counter measures. Military experts
cite the case of two Turkish helicopters shot down by Kurdish rebels
several years back, killing the troops on board and sending Turkey's brass
scrambling to acquire missile protection systems. Christodoulides charged
that no bids had been requested from those who could provide a suitable
type of helicopters. Hasikos on Monday said his ministry had requested
tenders from 12 factories, but only four had replied. But Christodoulides
suspected foul play during the tender procedure. "We think that different
specifications were asked in the beginning and then they changed to fit the
Bell option," he added. "We will vote against the provision because we
consider it scandalous to approve the funds for the Bell helicopters,"
Christodoulides said. The other option mooted during the fracas was the
Russian-made Mil Mi-17 helicopter, which comes in any configuration
demanded by the customer. The Mil Mi has a range of 1,900 kilometres
compared to Bell's 745km, and carries 32 troops, double the number carried
by the Bell 412 - 13 plus two pilots, as specified by the manufacturer. In
addition, the Mil Mi is armed with a 50mm machine gun, four to six anti-
tank missiles, and six 57mm rocket pods.
[09] Ministers seek to double traffic fines
By a Staff Reporter
THE CABINET yesterday approved an increase in on-the-spot fines for traffic
offences, with the maximum out-of-court fine raised from £50 to £100.
Though details of the fine increases, which must be approved by parliament
before being implemented, were not announced yesterday, fines of £50 are
currently payable for driving without a seat belt or without both hands
free (while eating or using a mobile phone). Such offences could now cost a
stinging £100 if approved by the House. Police have long campaigned for
fines for driving offences to be made tougher, and fines were only recently
raised from £30 to £50. Cyprus has one of the worst road safety records in
Europe, with over 100 people being killed on the roads in an average year.
[10] Deputies to draw up fox protection plan
THE CYPRUS fox is on the brink of extinction, with five in six fox nests
uninhabited, according to a study conducted by a group of Ayios Ioannis
High School students this year. But the fox will be declared a protected
species if a relevant House Environmental Committee proposal is adopted by
Parliament. The stark results of the study were presented to the Committee
yesterday by the Takis Ioannides, the teacher who directed the research.
No official population studies have been carried out until now. "Out of
the sixty nests we had traced in the Paphos, Nicosia and Limassol areas,
only eight to ten were inhabited. Every time we went back to those few
foxes, we found more and more of them dead," Ioannides told the Committee.
Foxes enjoy no legal protection and are routinely shot and poisoned as
vermin, particularly by hunters who fear the animals will attack their game
and by farmers trying to protect their animals. "Our foxes are classified
as `dangerous' under the law and openly killed. We must create a legal
framework to protect them," Akel deputy Takis Hadjigeorgiou suggested. The
Committee decided unanimously to table a proposal before the Plenum to
protect the unique local variety of the species. Agriculture Ministry
officials present at the Committee said animal poisoning was illegal with
the exception of rat poisoning. They said fox hunting was permitted only on
a limited scale and that the state should draw up a plan to conserve the
local fox. Foxes were no threat to game because they usually looked for
food at night, they added, and farmers should fence their farms to protect
their animals instead of killing foxes. Ioannides complained that people
were prejudiced about foxes. "I once found a wounded fox, bleeding
profusely in the middle of a street, and took it with me to take care of
it. Everyone who saw me holding it advised me to kill it. Unfortunately,
almost all non-comestible animals are considered dangerous both by society
and by the state. It is time to change these perceptions and one way of
doing that is by teaching youngsters about the Cyprus' fauna," he proposed.
DISY deputy Kate Clerides asked the student group to present their findings
to the Education Ministry to help it draw up a plan to raise awareness
about the species among students.
[11] `Officials have not done their homework on MOT bill'
By a Staff Reporter
HOUSE Communications' Committee Chairman Nicos Pittokopitis yesterday
accused the Communications' Ministry of tabling an incomplete bill before
the Committee on mandatory vehicle inspections. The Ministry's plan aims to
cut down on the number of road deaths. "The bill hardly touches on any
issue other than the setting of fees that drivers will have to pay to have
their vehicles inspected," Pittokopitis told reporters at the House
following a ten-minute meeting attended by ministry officials. "The
officials themselves have admitted the bill has yet to be approved by other
government departments. We could never take a decision on it under these
circumstances. We would be ridiculed. It would be like setting a non-
existent legal framework. We have sent the ministry officials back to do
some homework and come back when they are ready to present us with a
complete proposal. "We need the ministry to give us more details about
which and how many garages will be assigned with the project. We are yet to
be briefed about the procedures and other issues in order to be convinced
that the plan will be effective and operational," he said. Neophytou said
last week the increase in road accidents on the island was partly down to
the fact that there were too many poorly-maintained vehicles on the road.
If the House approves the scheme, vehicles deemed dangerous because of
mechanical or other flaws will be banned.
Cyprus Mail 2000
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