Cyprus Mail: News Articles in English, 01-09-16

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

Sunday, September 16, 2001

CONTENTS

[01] EU accession 'an incentive towards reaching Cyprus settlement'

[02] CY engineers threaten to strike

[03] Akamas 'could be developed without spoiling it'

[04] Cyclists raise money for children with cancer

[05] Barnard buried in his native South Africa

[06] Vajpayee postpones Cyprus visit

[01] EU accession 'an incentive towards reaching Cyprus settlement'

Weston told the Cyprus News Agency that the country's European Union accession process offered " an incentive towards achieving this objective" .

He also said that through its engagement with the EU, Turkey could and should contribute towards a Cyprus settlement.

" The US is completely committed to the search for a comprehensive settlement in Cyprus,"Weston said, and expressed America's " unwavering support for the UN process and the work UN Secretary-general's Special Adviser in Cyprus Alvaro de Soto is doing."

Weston added that the US was in constant touch with the UN.

Asked whether De Soto had suggested any specific moves on the part of the US in support of UN efforts, Weston said: " Future moves are not to be put in the public domain."

" We have to find a way to pursue our goa,l which is a comprehensive settlement in a reasonable time,"he noted.

De Soto and Weston met in Paris last week after the UN diplomat had invited the Greek and Turkish Cypriot sides to return to the negotiating table. President Glafcos Clerides accepted the invitation while Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash turned it down, saying the ground had not been prepared for the resumption of talks.

Weston said that the US supported Cyprus' EU accession and believed " the accession process offers an incentive and could help achieving a settlement in Cyprus" .

Asked how he sees Turkey's role in the peace effort in relation to its European aspirations, Weston said: " We believe that Turkey, through its political dialogue with the EU and the national programme it has put forward, can and should contribute towards a comprehensive settlement of the Cyprus question."

Copyright Cyprus Mail 2001

[02] CY engineers threaten to strike

CYPRUS Airways (CY) engineers yesterday threatened to take industrial action at the end of the month after talks to resolve a promotions dispute reached a deadlock.

Labour Minister Andreas Moushiouttas last week withdrew from efforts to resolve the long-running dispute between the carrier's management and CY engineers' union ASYSEKA because the latter was taking too long to respond to his proposal to mediate. CY management last month accepted the proposal.

But the ASYSEKA plenum yesterday decided unanimously to give the green light to the union's Council to take industrial action.

" Even if Moushiouttas' proposal still stands we don't accept it, so we are giving ten days' notice to the company's management before taking any kind of action -- including a strike,"a union announcement said yesterday.

ASYSEKA spokesman Nicos Malaos told the Sunday Mailthat engineers would meet tomorrow or the day after to discuss the situation and decide when and what kind of measures they should take. He said the CY engineers might announce industrial action any day after September 25.

Copyright Cyprus Mail 2001

[03] Akamas 'could be developed without spoiling it'

ENVIRONMENT Minister Costas Themistocleous yesterday suggested that the Akamas Peninsula should be developed without spoiling its natural environment.

He was addressing a conference on the future of Akamas in the Paphos District.

One of the most contentious aspects of the proposed Akamas National Park plan is whether or not the coastline should be preserved from development. Greens say it should be, but local villagers disagree and the government wants to find a compromise to please both.

Conservationists fear creeping development will create a fait accomplifor the area's northern coast.

The Green Party yesterday slammed the conference, charging that " those who organised it and participated in it represent the interests of those who wish to exploit the area to make money" .

The conference was organised by the communities of Arodes, Neo Chorio, Droushia, Inia and Kathikas, all in the Paphos District. Many parties had been invited to the conference but not the Greens.

Themistocleous said yesterday that local residents had a right to " a healthy and productive life in harmony with nature" .

The minister spoke of " mild and sensible development which respects the environment" .

Interior Minister Christodoulos Christodoulou, who also addressed the conference, took it further: " The communities of the Akamas Peninsula are far less developed than other communities in areas with similar natural characteristics, therefore we must act to develop Akamas financially, "he said.

The government is due to decide the final form of the Akamas National Park by the end of the year.

A ministerial committee set up to decide the future of the peninsula will meet Akamas community representatives before submitting a final proposal on the Park's status to the Cabinet in November.

A recent European Parliament resolution called for the protection of the pristine area.

Copyright Cyprus Mail 2001

[04] Cyclists raise money for children with cancer

Participants started off from Paphos yesterday, en route for Nicosia, while a fresh batch pedalled out from the free area of Famagusta, via Larnaca, for the capital this morning.

The bike riders will stop at towns and villages along the way, handing round moneyboxes so residents can donate to the cause.

The 'journey of love', as the course has been dubbed, will culminate in a get-together at Eleftheria Square in Nicosia at 8pm tonight, where patron of the society Justice Minister Nicos Koshis will welcome the cyclists.

The police orchestra will also perform.

It is the second such Make a Wish sponsored cycle ride, organised in co- operation with Royal Star and Star Owners' Club.

Copyright Cyprus Mail 2001

[05] Barnard buried in his native South Africa

A headstone bearing his requested inscription, " I have come home" , was erected over the grave into which the urn carrying his ashes was lowered.

Barnard grew up in Beaufort West where his father was a minister for the Dutch Reformed Mission Church.

His two surviving ex-wives, Louwtjie and Karin, together with his five surviving children, placed red roses on the urn.

His eldest granddaughter Karen Visser was unable to get back to South Africa in time for the funeral from New York, because all international flights were paralysed in the wake of Tuesday's terrorist attacks.

Barnard collapsed and died aged 78 after an asthma attack beside the pool at the Coral Bay Hotel in Paphos on September 2.

He was alone and it was his second trip to the island. He became famous after performing the first-ever human heart transplant in December 1967 in Cape Town's Groote Schuur Hospital.

Copyright Cyprus Mail 2001

[06] Vajpayee postpones Cyprus visit

He had been due to hold official talks with President Glafcos Clerides from September 20 to 22 in order to conclude a bi-lateral agreement between the two countries.

The cancellation follows that of Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar, who was scheduled to arrive on September 17.

Aznar and Clerides were to have discussed the island's accession to the European Union and the Cyprus problem.

Copyright Cyprus Mail 2001

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