Cyprus Mail: News Articles in English, 00-12-10

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

CONTENTS

[01] Rise in jobless predicted for next year

[02] Peace group battles the weather for Pyla gathering

[03] AKEL Congress brands status quo as destructive

[04] Two die in head-on collision

[05] Shots fired at nightclub

[01] Rise in jobless predicted for next year

A NEW Workforce Development Authority report predicts a rise in unemployment in the coming year.

The report says that the rise will mainly be due to worsening conditions in basic financial sectors but that the supply of workers also exceeds the demand because of repatriated Cypriots joining the market.

“The number of surplus employees is expected to rise by 537 or by 2.5 per cent on the figure for 2000, bringing the number up to 22,007 people,” the report said.

Unemployment has risen steadily over the past five years, with the most recent figure available -- for 1999 -- set at 3.63 per cent of the active work force.

The lack of demand will be hardest felt in areas such as management, technical support and machine operation, with office workers and specialists in particular fields expected to have a harder time finding work.

However there are also sectors that lack personnel, mostly unskilled labour. “Based on our experience so far, there seem to be problems in attracting people to positions such as these which require little specialisation,” the report says.

It adds that other areas in need of employees include the tourism and the sales and services sectors, with shop salespeople, bar workers and insurance brokers topping the list.

“The biggest problems will be seen in Nicosia and in Larnaca, while Paphos is set to remain the least hit,” the report says.

A semi-government organisation, the Workforce Development Authority issues its report on an annual basis and during the year also offers training courses to improve the professional skills of workers and the unemployed.

[02] Peace group battles the weather for Pyla gathering

TWO GIANT paintings were being erected at Pergamos Park in Pyla yesterday as part of a ceremony for peace which will be held there today.

The 7.6 by 25.6 metre paintings by Australian artist Dominic Ryan, titled ‘We Have All Suffered Enough’ and ‘Peace on Earth’ are part of a world tour of conflict hot spots carrying the message that war and violence cannot solve the problems of humanity.

Ryan’s work has already been exhibited in Sarajevo, Kosovo and the Gaza Strip, and after the Cyprus event Jerusalem will be the next stop, followed by Northern Ireland.

The Greek Cypriot co-ordinator for the event, Nicos Anastassiou, told the Sunday Mail that an “heroic effort” was under way in Pergamos to erect the giant paintings amid the latest downpour.

“Under these circumstances it’s very difficult,” he said.

Today’s event -- weather permitting – will start at 1pm and involves young people from both sides of the Green Line.

Anastassiou said officials and politicians from the two sides had also been invited to the event but organisers had not received a response yet. He added that the north is undergoing a serious upheaval at the moment because of the general strike which began last Monday.

“No matter how many people come, we want to make a statement,” Anastassiou said.

In parallel with the exhibition, a group of Greek and Turkish Cypriots who have never met will spend the weekend in Pyla as part of an ongoing bicommunal event to bring young people from both sides together. This will be the sixth group taking part in the programme, said Anastassiou who describes himself as being “passionate” on the concept of citizen peace building.

In today’s exhibition, one of the images shows the futility of war and its inability to

solve the problems of humanity. The second represents harmony.

Erecting these billboards in ‘No Man’s Lands’ within disputed frontiers promotes tolerance and encourages a new dialogue between countries, the organisers say.

The exhibition does not extol any ideology over another, but requests the understanding of the worth of humanity above divisions.

[03] AKEL Congress brands status quo as destructive

LEFT WING representatives from 43 countries participating in AKEL’s Congress yesterday gave a vote of confidence to UN-led negotiations to find a solution to the Cyprus problem.

A resolution adopted by the Congress in Nicosia branded the current status quo on the island as “unacceptable and the most out-of-date and destructive choice for the people of Cyprus”.

“We condemn the continuing occupation of the territory of the Republic of Cyprus by Turkish troops and the continuing settlement (by Turkish mainlanders), with the apparent goal of changing the demographic structure of the country. We demand the withdrawal of the occupation troops and the settlers,” the resolution said.

It said Turkish claims for separate sovereignty and recognition of the illegal regime in Turkish-occupied Cyprus were contrary to international law and order, the UN Charter and UN resolutions.

“Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash cannot have the right to make demands at the negotiating table or to seek a solution half way between federation and division,” the resolution said.

The UN has hosted five sessions of proximity talks between President Glafcos Clerides and Denktash in the past year, with negotiations set to continue in January.

The resolution described threats by Denktash and Ankara to abandon the talks if their demands weren’t met as “unacceptable”, and called on the international community to reject them.

“Any solution should safeguard the political equality of the two communities, as defined by UN reports, and secure human rights and fundamental freedoms, including the right of the refugees to return to their homes,” it continued.

The resolution also expressed concern about the living conditions of the remaining Greek Cypriots in the north, and the continuing refusal of the Turkish side to co-operate in resolving the humanitarian issue of missing persons.

On a more optimistic note the resolution added: “We are convinced that the Greek and Turkish Cypriot communities can live together and build a peaceful and happy future in a bizonal, bicommunal federation.”

The main opposition party’s Congress ends today.

[04] Two die in head-on collision

TWO WOMEN were killed when their car was in a head-on collision with a car containing two off-duty police officers on the old Limassol-Nicosia road yesterday morning.

The women, both hairdressers, were named as Polimnia Georgiou, 31, from Kornos, and Kyriaki Polydorou, 22, from Mosphilioti. The two police officers who were injured in the collision were Nicos Elissaiou, 47, from Paphos, a marine policeman, and Thomas Thoma, 42, a member of the MMAD rapid response unit.

The accident happened at 8.20am when the car driven by Georgiou careered into the oncoming traffic, smashing head-on into the second car. Police believe the women’s car may have skidded in the rain. The two women were killed instantly, police said, and the two officers were taken to Nicosia General Hospital. They were not seriously injured.

[05] Shots fired at nightclub

FAMAGUSTA police were yesterday investigating a shooting outside an Ayia Napa nightclub.

Two shots were fired at the entrance of ‘Potopoeio To Elliniko’ on Theodosis Pierides Street at approximately 5am, causing minor damage. The club was closed at the time.

Police said no arrests had been made and that their inquiries are continuing.

Cyprus Mail 2000

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