Cyprus Mail: News Articles in English, 01-04-12

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

Thursday, April 12, 2001

CONTENTS

[01] Giant Aphrodite would be 'grotesque, monstrous, pointless and kitsch'

[02] Security stepped up after Romania deports Kurd

[03] SBA to investigate mistreatment charge

[04] Tsiakourmas verdict due on April 26

[05] Cyprus exempted from EU labour curbs

[06] Eurocypria pilots accept Ministry offer

[07] Investors storm company offices to ask for their money back

[08] Ministry issues meningitis warning

[09] Shoppers get on their bikes

[10] Bus drivers threaten action over congestion

[11] We want to develop our land, Akamas villagers insist

[12] Britons flock to Cyprus to escape weather and foot-and-mouth

[01] Giant Aphrodite would be 'grotesque, monstrous, pointless and kitsch'

In a statement, the Chamber called the idea of a Statue of Liberty sized goddess of love, "base, barbaric, morbid, bizarre, provocative, flashy, grotesque, monstrous, out of proportion, over the top, cheap, pointless, offensive and kitsch".

"Since the days of the cavemen, man has cultivated aesthetics drawn from his environment and his concerns and when we look at the cultural achievements of Hellenic civilisation what comes to mind is the subtlety and balance and respect for the natural environment," EKATE said.

"We live in a place where history is everywhere and we should be making a work which is balanced, fitting and well put together."

The Chamber calls on Commerce, Industry and Tourism Minister Nicos Rolandis, with whom the decision will rest, not to add another stone to the destruction of the island's cultural heritage.

Government sources said last month that the Ministry was considering erecting a statue of Aphrodite "gargantuan proportions" in the Paphos area and believed it was a good idea.

The sources said, however, that there would not be much point in erecting just another statue and that to have any impact it would have to be "larger than life" like the Pyramids or the Colosseum, otherwise it would not attract attention.

If the idea is approved by the government, the gigantic Aphrodite would probably be located somewhere in the Paphos district, though not necessarily near Aphrodite's Rock, where legend has it the Goddess came out of the sea.

The Ministry successfully pushed the idea of the Island of Aphrodite when canvassing to host the Miss Universe Contest last year. The contest was held in May.

Copyright Cyprus Mail 2001

[02] Security stepped up after Romania deports Kurd

The Cyprus secret services, KYP, acted on warnings from undisclosed foreign counterparts and similar measures have been taken at Romanian embassies across Europe.

The man, 40-year-old Hassan Kaya, is a Turkish citizen who has been on the Romanian stop list since October 22, 1998 for "activities against national security and public order."

In late 1998, Romanian authorities denied Kaya's application for refugee status, a decision he took to court and lost in August of last year.

Kaya was arrested on April 5 and deported to Istanbul the following day.

The Cyprus Committee for Solidarity with Kurdistan, however, insists he was a private businessman who has nothing to do with the PKK.

"Hassa Kaya is a Kurdish businessman, he visited Romania and the Romanian police asked him to work with them, presumably to give information about the Kurds," said a representative of the organisation, Lampros Kallenos, citing reports in the Kurdish newspaper, Ozgur Politika.

"He refused, and so they arrested him and gave him to Turkey" added Kallenos. "He has no relation with the PKK and these types of things - he is a businessman."

Kallenos said no demonstrations were planned at the Romanian Embassy.

Copyright Cyprus Mail 2001

[03] SBA to investigate mistreatment charge

SBA police arrested the 12 illegal immigrants, aged between 25 and 35, in the early hours of Friday in Xylotymbou after a tip off from Cyprus Police.

A Cypriot resident of the area made complaints to Cyprus Police and the media following routine interviews about the event, SBA spokesman Captain Rupert Greenwood told the Cyprus Mail yesterday.

Speaking yesterday, Deputy Chief Constable Bob Bensley said: "naturally, all claims are followed through with a full and thorough investigation. However, there is nothing to substantiate the alleged complaint."

The Deputy Chief Constable, who is responsible for the discipline of all SBA policemen and women, added that the Bases authorities "will be making representations to the relevant authorities on the completion of their investigation."

The SBAs adhere to the 1951 Refugee Convention subject to the constraints of the Treaty of Establishment.

The latest arrivals have intensified pressure on the British Bases, coping with a swelling number of refugees in the last two years.

The illegals allegedly paid $2,000 dollars for a fishing boat passage to Europe.

Their fishing boat landed near Ormidhia, inside the Dhekelia Sovereign British Base at 6pm on Thursday and the boatman allegedly demanded another $2,000 from each of them before allowing them to disembark after 24 hours at sea.

The men wandered around for four or five hours before being apprehended along the Dhekelia to Larnaca road, brining to 112 the total number of immigrants detained on the bases.

Copyright Cyprus Mail 2001

[04] Tsiakourmas verdict due on April 26

A verdict will be issued on April 26.

Sources close to the trial said the summing up took "quite a long time" due to the extensive translations necessary from Turkish to Greek.

In its summing up, the prosecution claimed that all the defence witnesses had been contrived, while the defence asked that some of its witnesses be recalled on the grounds that the Turkish Cypriot witnesses had been intimidated by the police. The 'court' rejected the proposal.

On Tuesday, around seven Turkish Cypriots due to testify failed to show up for the hearing, despite having been there the previous Thursday waiting to appear in 'court'.

The defence told the 'court' that the Turkish Cypriot witnesses had been summoned to the police station on Tuesday morning.

Tsiakourmas, 39, was abducted on December 13 last year on the Pyla-Pergamos road within British bases territory, taken to the north and accused of possessing two kilos of cannabis. His car was found abandoned with the doors open and the lights on.

Last week the European parliament passed a resolution condemning the kidnapping of Tsiakourmas and demanded his immediate release.

Copyright Cyprus Mail 2001

[05] Cyprus exempted from EU labour curbs

The European Commission yesterday proposed a flexible moratorium of up to seven years on candidate states, particularly those from ex-communist eastern and central Europe, who have sought immediate freedom of movement for their citizens after enlargement.

Germany, however, fearing a big influx of cheap labour, has led calls for temporary curbs.

Cyprus and Malta, however, would be exempted from the planned moratorium because their economic and social situation differs sharply from that of the ex-communist applicants, reports from Brussels said.

Foreign Minister Yiannakis Cassoulides yesterday welcomed the move as far as Cyprus is concerned. "It's good news for us," he told the Cyprus Mail. "On the other hand, we have to take into consideration the fact that our labour force, other than some professionals, probably would not move towards Europe. On the contrary in fact."

Cassoulides said that since the news had only just been announced, the government had not yet had time to discuss it but would be doing so soon.

Earlier yesterday, Austria's foreign minister Benita Ferrero-Waldner confirmed at a news conference in Nicosia that Cyprus and Malta would be left out of the proposal.

Diplomats said it was unlikely that enlargement would trigger large labour shifts from either Cyprus, with a population of 700,000, or Malta, with a population of less than half a million.

"They are both quite far away, they are islands, so I think they do not have the same impact as the other countries on the continent on the situation in the labour market," Ferrero-Waldner said.

In Brussels, European Enlargement Commissioner Guenter Verheugen told a news conference the Commission recognised the political sensitivity of the free movement issue, and had sought a compromise he hoped would satisfy both sides. The proposal must now be approved by the 15 EU member states.

"We believe this proposal addresses the needs of all states and will allow the accession process to continue at the pace achieved so far," Verheugen said.

He said he expected the member states to approve the proposal quickly and that the EU would be able to wrap up negotiations on the issue with frontline candidates by the end of 2001.

In a bid to ease the worries of the candidate states, who fear the arrangements will make them second-class EU members, Verheugen said the Commission would review the labour situation two years after accession.

With the backing of member states, it could then recommend a shortening or even complete suspension of the transition period.

"We have never had such an open and flexible system in the context of accession negotiations," Verheugen said, noting that Spain and Portugal had faced a seven-year moratorium for their workers after they joined the EU in 1985.

A dozen countries are currently locked in negotiations on EU membership. Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovenia, Estonia and Cyprus began talks in 1998. They were joined in 2000 by Bulgaria, Romania, Slovakia, Latvia, Lithuania and Malta.

Copyright Cyprus Mail 2001

[06] Eurocypria pilots accept Ministry offer

The union representing the Eurocypria pilots was due to inform Labour Minister Andreas Moushiouttas of its decision yesterday or today, a SEK spokesman said.

"We voted for the proposal: we are not too happy in the circumstances but thinks it's the best way to resolve the dispute," one source told the Cyprus Mail.

Under the agreement, two Eurocypria co-pilots will receive immediate promotion to captain, and those who lose out on captainships in the charter firm due to the transfer of pilots from CY will be compensated financially.

The source said it was not a long-term or final solution to the problem, but that members had agreed it was the best way out of the current deadlock, "even if we are not happy with it".

The source did say, however, that Eurocypria pilots' collective agreement, which provides that all captain promotions go to Eurocypria co-pilots with at least three years experience, had been safeguarded in the new agreement.

CY pilots' union PASIPY, which has long been seeking a common seniority between the two companies, secured a deal with management last year to take Eurocypria promotions at a ratio of 6:3 in their favour, and in return accepted some cost-cutting measures, including lower wage scales for entry- level pilots.

Six CY co-pilots were brought into the charter firm in January this year and as part of the agreement, must opt to remain in Eurocypria and cut all ties with CY or go back to the national carrier by the end of this year.

A PASIPY spokesman said yesterday they had not heard anything about the new agreement with Eurocypria's pilots.

"If what they are doing does not break any agreement that PASIPY has with CY then there is no problem," the spokesman said, but criticised the compensation deal.

"This is absurd. We have given concessions to save money and lower wage scales. If they are going to throw it away like this I don't see how we can go through with this," he said. "They are going to create a precedent. What about the 30 guys in Cyprus Airways who are affected because of Eurocypria? If they do this without our agreement it means they are willing to go against our concessions we made with them."

The spokesman said PASIPY would be looking into the details of the new agreement to see how theirs was affected. He also blasted the company for letting the issue go on for so long.

"They can't keep doing the same things. They can't please everyone," he said. "They made a big mess of this issue for the past three years jumping back and forth between the unions."

Airline sources said yesterday they believed there would not be a problem between the unions on the new agreement. "I don't think the Minister would make a proposal which would go against the others' agreements," the source said.

In a recent interview with the Sunday Mail, CY chairman Haris Loizides said the promotions issue would be solved once and for all once Eurocypria took delivery of its new Boeing fleet in 2003 and the leased CY Airbuses were given back to the national carrier. The ultimate plan is to cut Eurocypria loose as an independent airline.

Copyright Cyprus Mail 2001

[07] Investors storm company offices to ask for their money back

Attorney-general Alecos Markides said on Tuesday that criminal charges would be pressed against companies that did not return money to investors in line with a law passed last October.

The law said companies had to return the money received via irrevocable applications if they had not entered the CSE by October 18, plus six per cent interest. Investors had until November 30 to ask for their money back.

The protestors yesterday said they would return to the offices in Strovolos of maxDATA Holdings Ltd. at noon today and that they were owed thousands of pounds. An eyewitness said some of the investors were owed over £100,000 and that many had been forced to sell their homes to pay debts after not getting their money returned. Others said their marriages had broken up due to the ordeal of losing their money.

A source from within maxDATA Holdings Ltd. told the Cyprus Mail that the 20 or so investors had been peaceful in their protest and that a few had remained on the premises at 6pm, two hours after the protest began.

The source, who asked not to be identified, said the company's director Andreas Athanasiou had promised to return the money, some £4 million, by April 23.

The company began preparation to enter the CSE early last year, working with the Lefkoniko Brokerage Firm. The company was ordered to return investors' money after its entry was delayed, and duly issued cheques to pay back the money.

But the investors yesterday said the cheques had bounced as the company's account had been frozen.

Management at maxDATA and Lefkoniko were yesterday unavailable for comment.

Nicos Ioannou, the president of the 'Citizens' Struggle Movement', which is co-ordinating the protest, said yesterday they were trying to ensure investors' rights.

One of the investors, who asked only to be identified by the initials K.E., told the Cyprus Mail: "These cheques bounced. Every week, we see a family pleading for help after the father has been put in prison for bouncing a £200 cheque. These people bounced millions of pounds in cheques and have had nothing done to them."

Copyright Cyprus Mail 2001

[08] Ministry issues meningitis warning

The 16 cases of enteric viral meningitis recorded in January, February and March prompted the ministry to issue strict guidelines on how to avoid catching the disease.

Viral meningitis is nowhere near as dangerous as the sometimes deadly bacterial form of the disease.

"The cases have come from all districts, but most have been located in the Limassol district. They concern mainly children of pre-school age (three- and-a-half to six years of age) but both younger children and elderly people have also been affected," an official announcement read yesterday.

To prevent spread of the virus through personal contact, the public is advised to observe strict rules of personal hygiene and general cleanliness.

The ministry urged that hands be washed regularly, eating utensils never be shared, underwear be changed daily, babies nappies be changed well away from food preparation areas, the mouth be covered when coughing and the hands washed immediately afterwards, that children be discouraged from hugging or kissing others and especially non family members and that pregnant mothers avoid contact with sufferers.

Health officials also said a diluted chlorine-based cleaner should be used for house cleaning, homes should be kept well aired, rubbish taken out regularly, bedclothes changed regularly and outdoor areas kept as much as possible litter-free. The ministry also advised that crowded places be avoided, especially where young children are concerned.

Last year, there was a five-fold increase in the number of suffering from meningitis, though the vast majority of cases was not life threatening. There were 134 incidents in total, but more than three quarters were been viral - the others bacterial, of which only four were meningococcal, one of the most dangerous types. In December last year, the Health Ministry said the rise in meningitis cases was not down to any particular reason and was not a cause for serious concern.

Copyright Cyprus Mail 2001

[09] Shoppers get on their bikes

The 'Shopping Without My Car' project was organised by the Municipality, the Communications Ministry and the Green party. The effort also received support from shopkeepers in Onasagorou and Ledra Street and from traffic police.

Just over half an hour into the 3-4.30pm effort, more than three quarters of the 64 bicycles hired for the project had already been handed out to excited crowds in Solomos Square. Bus services also ran free of charge over the period. The bicycles were due to be handed back at the end of Ledra Street.

With the shops open till late in the week leading up to Easter and schools closed, bicycle enthusiasts ranged from retired 62-year-old Savvas Lambrou to 10 and 11-year-old class mates Nakis, Pavlina and Giorgos, who all noted that if more people used bicycles there wouldn't be so much pollution.

Lambrou said he thought the effort was a great idea and one that should be repeated often.

Postal-worker Antonis Papadopoulos, 53, had been riding round the block with Lambrou and said he wished there were more facilities for cyclists. "Then Cyprus could be like China or Holland where a lot more people use bicycles. Unfortunately Cypriots have a love affaire with cars. Using a bicycle is much more healthy."

But Lambrou said safety was the main reason he did not use a bicycle more often. "I only live about three kilometres away and could ride into town on a bicycle if I only wanted to buy a few things. However, I'm already terrified of careless drivers when I occasionally use my moped. We need wider roads like the ones in London."

Maria Georgiou, 27, brought her young son to take a ride on one of the children's bikes provided and told the Cyprus Mail: "This is such a good idea. I would take part every time an event like this took place."

Nicosia city engineer Dinos Constantinides told the Cyprus Mail he was happy with the response so far.

"The Minister (of Communications and Works Averoff Neophytou) is going to arrive any minute and will lead a ride through the streets of old Nicosia. Shoppers will be given discount vouchers for shops in the area and there will be a prize draw for seven new bicycles," he said.

Constantinides said similar efforts would follow: "We have perfect walking and cycling weather in Cyprus. People should try it more often."

Copyright Cyprus Mail 2001

[10] Bus drivers threaten action over congestion

The City Bus Company, backed by the powerful trade unions, leftwing PEO and rightwing SEK, aimed a warning shot at the government and local authorities yesterday: "They have two months to start addressing the congestion problem which prevents us from doing our job. If they ignore this warning we will stage a two-hour strike as a first step and take more dynamic action at a later stage if necessary," Costas Christodoulou, director general of the company told a news conference yesterday, adding: "We would have a strong case in the European Court."

The City Bus Company, whose employees are members of either PEO or SEK, staged a similar strike two years ago, and the company has sent many letters to the government about the matter since, but all to no avail.

Christodoulou singled out illegal parking as the main problem that needed to be tackled immediately.

"Many people park their vehicles on double yellow lines where parking is illegal, thus making traffic congestion worse. It is ironic that those who make the laws - deputies -- break the law on a daily basis by parking their cars outside the House of Representatives," he charged.

Christodoulou said parking next to bus stops was "a mortal danger" to people waiting for or getting off buses.

"The police don't not do anything to combat illegal parking," he charged.

The director of the company complained that it took too long for buses to go from one bus stop to another during peak hours, as there were no bus lanes to enable them move faster.

"A study on communications, conducted in 1987, suggested that certain measures be taken to decongest roads. But unfortunately the call fell on deaf government ears. Local authorities are also to blame for the inertia."

Athos Eleftheriou, the secretary general of PEO's communications branch, referred to other measures that the unions expected the government to take in the next six months:

"We need to have more one way roads and bypasses. We also need to have bus lanes like those in Europe."

Eleftheriou's counterpart from SEK, Pantelis Stavrou, said buses usually needed double or triple the usual driving time to go from one bus stop to another during peak hours.

"Bus drivers can't work under these circumstances. And people will eventually stop taking the bus if things don't change. We will go on strike if the government ignores us again but we will do our best not to create problems for people. Those who would be affected most by a possible strike are those responsible for the current situation," Stavrou said.

"We will stop at nothing. We will appeal to the Parliament, to the Court, we will even go to as far as the European Court if that's what it takes to protect our rights. We are prevented from doing our job so we have a strong legal case," Christodoulou warned.

Communications minister Christodoulos Christodoulou told the Cyprus Mail yesterday that he had not yet been informed about the bus drivers' intentions.

Copyright Cyprus Mail 2001

[11] We want to develop our land, Akamas villagers insist

Ineia Community Council president Sophocles Pittokopitis told the Cyprus Mail that villagers were tired of politicians jumping on to the 'Save the Akamas' bandwagon when there were serious problems to be dealt with.

"They have, if you like, 'Akamised' the political problem and society's problems," he said, adding that the residents were only asking for moderate development in the areas that belonged to them.

"We are not talking about the real Akamas, the state forest, we are talking about the surrounding land that actually belongs to the residents whether it is on the coast or not," said Pittokopitis. "We do not want to build skyscrapers or a new Ayia Napa, Limassol or even Paphos. We just want development within the framework of all EU regulations."

Pittokopitis said the group had called a news conference in order to put forward the communities' positions in the wake of warnings from the EU that Cyprus could not close the chapter on the environment until steps were taken to protect the Akamas peninsula.

The EU wants the government to adopt the World Bank plan for the Akamas -- which Pittokopitis said had been rejected by residents years ago -- and to suspend the procedures of examination and issue of planning permission for tourist and other large-scale developments in the coastal areas included in the management plan of the World Bank.

The Akamas was earmarked for National Park status more than a decade ago. Since then, both the EU and the World Bank have come down in favour of preserving the area.

But last year the development lobby appeared to have won the day when the Cabinet announced a plan to sanction "mild and controlled" tourism development on the peninsula. The only areas to be spared were the already protected turtle-nesting beaches of Lara and Toxeftra and the Akamas state forest.

Copyright Cyprus Mail 2001

[12] Britons flock to Cyprus to escape weather and foot-and-mouth

Up to 2 million are expected to pass through British airports to spend their Easter holidays elsewhere. Cyprus, Majorca and Ibiza have been named top spots in the Mediterranean, alongside long-haul destinations, like Florida and the Caribbean.

The Cyprus Tourist Organisation said 93,862 Britons holidayed in Cyprus in April 2000. They were yesterday unable to estimate how many were expected this month, nor how many came in March since the foot-and-mouth crisis broke out at the end of February.

But the general manager of Larnaca Airport, Andreas Soshilos, told the Cyprus Mail that flights were up 25 per cent this year. "If there are about 13 flights a day, multiplied by 15 days over the two weeks of Easter, multiplied by the average number of passengers on a plane, 130, then you get an idea about how many we're expecting."

The figure clocks up to 25, 350 jetting in from the UK, Greece and the rest of Europe, between last weekend and the end of the next.

Copyright Cyprus Mail 2001

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