Cyprus Mail: News Articles in English, 01-04-01

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

Sunday, April 1, 2001

CONTENTS

[01] Presidential Palace may have to be demolished

[02] 10 more flee the north

[03] MP alleges brucellosis cover-up

[04] Tourists held as drugs suspects

[05] Man charged after fireworks tip-off

[06] The Pope is invited officially to Cyprus

[07] Speeding tops list of traffic offences

[01] Presidential Palace may have to be demolished

SOME of the island's best-known landmarks may have to be demolished in the drive to bring the country up to new EU standards for earthquake safety.

Topping the list are the Presidential Palace and the Archbishopric in Nicosia -- and the future is still unclear for scores of other prominent and historic buildings.

“It's literally a 'do or die' situation and we have no choice but to comply, ”one source at the EU Commission, who wished to remain anonymous, told the Sunday Mail. “The EU is taking these measures very, very seriously.”

The new standards are outlined in a subsection of Chapter 22 of the EU's Acquis Communautaire, which focuses on the environment, and will add to existing seismic codes set by the Technical Chamber of Cyprus (ETEK). They come into effect today.

This particular subsection of the Acquis applies only to those EU member states and prospective members that lie in earthquake-prone regions -- Italy, Greece, Cyprus and Turkey.

Strict seismic codes came into effect in Cyprus in 1991, although enforcement was not taken seriously until 1999, when supervision by an engineer became obligatory by law, first vice-chairman of ETEK Phemos Demetriou told the Cyprus Mail in August that year.

These rules in themselves are rigorous enough to comply with the EU standards, but what makes the new recent Chapter 22 additions unique is that they apply retroactively to buildings “from any era”.

Greece has endured harsh criticism in its crusade for earthquake safety, which has claimed several of Athens' art deco masterpieces, the latest being the seven-storey building on central Syntagma Square that until recently housed the world-famous Zonar's café.

“No one said the road to accession would be easy,” explained the Sunday Mail's source at the EU Commission.

Meanwhile, the imminent but necessary changes could see a traumatic parting with at least two of Nicosia's national and political treasures, the Presidential Palace and the Archbishopric.

The list of buildings earmarked for destruction is likely to grow longer as a joint team of ETEK and EU structural engineers begins a lengthy series of safety inspections, starting tomorrow.

Currently, it is uncertain what the verdict will be on centuries-old structures such as Kolossi Castle near Limassol, since it comes under the “from any era” category. Many ancient churches will also be affected.

“When at all possible, we will retrofit existing structures to meet the lawful requirements,”said Georgos Georgiou, an engineer at a Strovolos- based architectural firm contracted to carry out inspections.

“However, some (structures) are disasters waiting to happen -- regardless of their sentimental value -- and we will have no choice but to mark them down for demolition as safety hazards,” he confirmed.

Charalambos Lambrou, president of the Pancyprian Association of Architectural Patrimony, has called the EU moves “reckless” and has urged the government towards “some middle path, some way to avoid this wholesale destruction”.

He has frantically lobbied ETEK and the EU Commission to form a committee to investigate alternatives to demolition, which could include more aggressive reinforcement methods or preserving the exteriors and barring entrance to buildings that are not structurally sound.

The latter option, he said, would be considered for buildings whose religious or cultural significance is so great that razing them would be unthinkable.

While obviously distressed by the consequences of the EU guidelines, a spokesman for the Archbishopric assured the Sunday Mail yesterday that the huge bronze statue of Archbishop Makarios III at front of the building will be preserved.

Copyright Cyprus Mail 2001

[02] 10 more flee the north

TEN Turkish Cypriot gypsies crossed over into the free areas yesterday, the latest in a wave that has seen 75 arrivals in March.

The four men, three women and three children aged between two months and 12 years, were spotted at around 4am at a petrol station in Larnaca's tourist area.

They told police that they were from the occupied areas and had crossed over at Dhekelia British Bases on foot before going to Larnaca. They said they were fleeing the dire financial situation in the north.

After Oroklini police questioned the new arrivals and established that they were Cypriot, they asked to be taken to Paphos where the Welfare Services were expected to find them somewhere to stay.

The police yesterday said that one of the men was carrying an identification card from the Republic and told them he had once been married to a Greek Cypriot from Paphos.

Interior Minister Christodoulos Christodoulou has said that Cyprus has no choice but to accept the arrivals if it wants to maintain a good reputation abroad.

He also said that the Turkish Cypriot arrivals indicated just how bad conditions were in the occupied areas, but wondered whether their ease at crossing suggested the regime in the north was encouraging them to leave. He also said the government could not prevent such crossings, because the fugitives were Cypriots.

Some sections of the media have suggested the spate of arrivals from the north is part of a Turkish plan to destabilise the government-controlled areas, but the authorities have dismissed such reporting as alarmist.

Previous arrivals have been housed in Mouttalos, the former Turkish quarter of Paphos, now inhabited mostly by Greek Cypriot refugees. Others have been housed in remote Turkish Cypriot villages in the Troodos foothills east of Paphos.

Copyright Cyprus Mail 2001

[03] MP alleges brucellosis cover-up

A DEPUTY has accused the government of acting too slowly to prevent livestock with brucellosis from crossing into the free areas and of trying to cover up outbreaks of the disease in humans.

Kikis Yiangou, an AKEL deputy for Famagusta, said that instances of the disease, also known as Mediterranean or Malta Fever, had occurred in villages in the Larnaca district. “Over the last few days tests have shown that a farming couple¼ have been infected with the disease. I have been informed that the same illness has recently affected another farmer in the area,” he said.

Staff at Larnaca hospital were yesterday unable to confirm whether victims of the disease had been treated recently.

Yiangou said that the government had not been effective in preventing farm animals being smuggled in from the occupied areas. This, he said, had reversed the success of an expensive campaign to eradicate the disease from the free areas, which were declared clear of the brucellosis in 1993.

He charged that vets had told him the authorities had been trying to keep the outbreaks under wraps. The Veterinary Services were yesterday unavailable to comment on the matter.

Nicosia vet Maria Emmanuel, meanwhile, told the Sunday Mail that while the disease was chronic in humans, it was not deadly unless it resulted in rare complications such as meningitis and encephalitis.

Not commenting specifically on the cases mentioned by Yiangou, she said that all individuals were susceptible to the disease, but especially those in regular contact with farm animals. It can also be passed on through milk products that have not been pasteurised and that came from an infected animal, and can sometimes be transmitted in the air.

“Symptoms include fever, sweating, malaise, becoming fatigued easily, weight loss, depression and lower back pain,” Emmanuel said, adding that brucellosis usually affected a person's lymph glands, spleen and liver.

Symptoms can appear anytime from one week to months after being infected. Pasteurising milk and avoiding contact with infected cattle, sheep or goats can prevent the disease but there is no vaccine against brucellosis in humans.

Animals found to be suffering from the disease are put down.

Copyright Cyprus Mail 2001

[04] Tourists held as drugs suspects

A BRITISH mother and her adult son were arrested early yesterday on suspicion of drug possession.

The 40- and 23-year-old had just arrived from London for a week's holiday in Ayia Napa.

Police said that seven grams of a substance believed to be cannabis resin had been found in their luggage during a 4am search at the airport.

The woman told police the drugs belonged to her son and was released without charge.

Police said that the 23-year-old told them the drugs were for his personal use during his holiday.

He was charged and released but will not be allowed to leave Cyprus before the matter is resolved, police said.

Copyright Cyprus Mail 2001

[05] Man charged after fireworks tip-off

LIMASSOL police have confiscated 165 boxes of firecrackers after a 58-year- old kiosk owner was arrested on Friday night. A man was released yesterday after being formally charged. The suspect's car was stopped and searched after a tip-off that he intended to sell the fireworks on to other kiosk owners.

The police have launched a campaign to stop the uncontrolled sale of fireworks. It is illegal to possess gunpowder in any form without special permission.

Setting off fireworks is a popular Easter tradition that often results in a spate of injuries, many of them serious.

Copyright Cyprus Mail 2001

[06] The Pope is invited officially to Cyprus

POPE John Paul II has been extended an official invitation to visit Cyprus during his pilgrimage to retrace the steps of Saint Paul.

Bishop Pavlos of Kyrenia condemned the invitation when it was first suggested earlier this week, saying it would bring down the wrath of God and divide the Orthodox Church. The Western and Eastern Churches split in the 11th century.

But the government called on those Churchmen who opposed such a visit to remain silent, and Archbishop Chrysostomos dismissed Pavlos' fears.

The Pope is planning a Mediterranean tour to follow in the footsteps of St Paul, and will be in Greece on May 4 and 5. The Apostle is said to have begun his journey at Salamis, now in the occupied areas, and he is also associated with Paphos.

The invitation was extended on President Glafcos Clerides' behalf by the Cyprus ambassador to the Holy See, Christos Psilogenis, at a meeting with Cardinal Leonardo Sandri.

Cardinal Sandri said that the invitation would be considered with great attention, although the Pope's schedule was already very heavy.

Copyright Cyprus Mail 2001

[07] Speeding tops list of traffic offences

MORE THAN 10,000 drivers have committed traffic offences in the past three months, 90 per cent of them for speeding, Phileleftheros reported yesterday.

Thirty per cent of those breaking the limit were driving at more than twice the permitted speed.

A large number of motorists have been charged for not wearing a crash helmet while driving a motorbike and many other drivers were caught going through a red light, according to the report.

The paper cites the case of one particular driver who might lose his licence for six months the next time he is caught committing an offence, as he has already been caught five times in the past three months.

Copyright Cyprus Mail 2001

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