Cyprus Mail: News Articles in English, 03-04-05

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

Saturday, April 5, 2003

CONTENTS

[01] Think again, Denktash urges Greek Cypriots

[02] Shipping outlook rosy despite the war

[03] Private clinics face overhaul

[04] Parliament blocks CyTA investment plans

[05] Deputy threatens hunger strike for return of kidney doctors

[06] Land reactions exaggerated, minister says

[07] Suburbs growing as city centre population shrinks

[08] Rates cut as inflation rises

[09] Government unhappy at human rights reports

[10] Cypriots value science but worry about its effects

[01] Think again, Denktash urges Greek Cypriots

Denktash said his proposals were still on the table. “In a letter I sent today to Papadopoulos, I repeat that the reason for the non-solution in Cyprus is the lack of confidence. This lack of confidence has been an obstacle during all the stages we have passed through until today,” Denktash said. “I have made my proposals in order to eliminate this (lack of confidence). These proposals are on the table and I want him to re- examine them.”

The Greek Cypriot side said it could not negotiate with the Turkish Cypriots outside UN parameters. It was backed by reaction from the international community.

Denktash said that if the Greek Cypriots led Cyprus into the EU on April 16, “they will finalise the division of Cyprus”.

“I have not written this in the letter, but I think that they would act in a wrong manner if they believe that they would solve the Cyprus problem in their favour by acceding to the EU. I think that this would have the opposite result,” he said.

Denktash said his proposals were not a substitute for UN negotiations. “The mission of good offices of the UN Secretary-general is still valid and both Turkey and we support this. Of course, this does not mean that the sides would be forced to accept thoughts or plans prepared by others. The good offices mission provides for an approach that will ensure harmony between the sides.”

Denktash's measures announced at a news conference on Wednesday provide for the return of the ghost town of Varosha to the Greek Cypriots in exchange for the lifting of all trade restrictions on the north. He also suggested the near-complete freedom of movement between both sides, measures for the flow of goods, joint projects, and the creation of a bilateral reconciliation committee to promote tolerance and understanding between the two sides. The Turkish Cypriot side would also reinstate the freedom of movement of UNFICYP troops. The measures were announced only days before the expected issue of the Secretary-general's report on the collapse of the talks in The Hague last month, when Denktash refused to hold a referendum on a UN reunification plan.

UN spokesman Fred Eckhard was yesterday quoted as saying that copies of the latest correspondence between Denktash and Papadopoulos had been received. Eckhard said the report would probably be issued on Monday.

Denktash's proposals have failed to garner any support from the international community. The EU said on Thursday that it would prefer negotiations under the auspices of the UN while the US State Department yesterday made a similar statement.

“These confidence building measures between the two sides are really a matter for them to discuss. We believe that the best context for them to do so remains the UN good offices. Genuine confidence building measures arrived at through the UN good offices mission would certainly be welcome,” the statement said. “Our focus, however, remains on achieving a comprehensive, just and durable settlement to the Cyprus problem. Even genuine confidence building measures are not a substitute for this.”

Foreign Minister George Iacovou said yesterday that Denktash was attempting to negate the role of the UN.

“Denktash throws the good offices mission of the Secretary-general overboard in his proposal and it is clear he is ostracising this mission, he offers no discussion for a political settlement, he tries to sidetrack the question of finding a solution to the problem,” Iacovou said.

“Denktash's attempt falls flatly down but we are interested to hear what he has to say to the letter the President sent him on Wednesday.”

The government intends to announce its own package of measures to hep the Turkish Cypriots after April 16, when the island signs the EU accession treaty in Athens.

Iacovou said the government would also consult with the EU about the package.

Copyright Cyprus Mail 2003

Saturday, April 5, 2003

[02] Shipping outlook rosy despite the war

DESPITE the fact the Iraq crisis will take its toll on Cyprus' shipping, the outlook for the industry is highly promising, leading business figures said yesterday.

At the 14th annual general assembly of the Cyprus Shipping Council (CSC), held yesterday in Limassol, dignitaries said that Cyprus' shipping industry had great potential as the island accedes to the EU.

CSC president Andreas Drousiotis described the shipping industry as a “sensitive sector,” susceptible to economic developments globally.

Drousiotis said: “The continuous political instability in the Middle East, the 9/11 terrorist attacks in the United States, followed by the war in Afghanistan and last, but not least, the current war in Iraq… have left their unpleasant mark on the passenger ship industry in Cyprus.”

Other problems faced by the industry included taxation issues, sporadic industrial unrest and ship compliance with safety and quality standards. Although ships carrying the Cypriot flag have not been stricken from Europe's so-called “Black List”, their record has been steadily improving in recent years.

According to Drousiotis, Cyprus' is already one of the largest shipping organisations in the world. Following full accession to the EU the island will make up 25 per cent of the bloc's fleet. Citing a “conservative estimate”, Drousiotis said the shipping industry contributed to two per cent of GDP. Some 5,000 people are currently employed in the industry, while 140 companies are full members of the CSC.

The CSC's general assembly was also addressed by Communications and Works Minister Kikis Kazamias, who noted that Cyprus was the first country in the current batch of EU candidates to have concluded the shipping chapter.

Also attending the event were President Tassos Papadopoulos, government ministers and EU dignitaries including Adriaan van Der Meer, head of the EU delegation of the European Commission to Cyprus.

Copyright Cyprus Mail 2003

Saturday, April 5, 2003

[03] Private clinics face overhaul

A source close to the Health Ministry told the Cyprus Mail yesterday that clinics were in a transitional period until January 1, 2004, by which time they must adopt the necessary measures set out in a 2001 law on private clinics. Those that do not comply will fail to get a 'private hospital' licence.

The new legislation covers specific conditions in three areas: building, equipment and personnel. Depending on the size and specialisation of each clinic, the new law provides regulations on issues from room dimensions to lift specifications and noise pollution.

New clinics will have even more stringent criteria to fulfil than existing ones. They will not be allowed to set up business within an apartment block as many do now, but instead are required to operate from a separate plot of land. Regulations also set out minimum and maximum distances from significant places such as airports, Electricity Authority substations and morgues.

There are currently 114 clinics in Cyprus. The Health Ministry has been inspecting clinics' compliance with legislation since the beginning of the year. Another compliance assessment will be made in October in preparation for implementation of the new legislation. Clinics that fail to satisfy inspectors' criteria will not be given a licence to operate in the new year.

The head of the medical services will be responsible for maintaining a charter of private clinics and keeping the new House Committee on Private Hospitals informed. The bundle of laws governing private clinics was inspired by the recently implemented Greek model and does not come from legally binding EU provisions, known as acquis communautaire.

The private clinics law was passed in 2001 but implementation was extended for two years. Before that, private hospitals were governed under an antiquated law dating back to 1952.

Regarding clinical waste, reported to reach 1,000kg a day, state hospitals and private clinics are obliged to find a private company that will treat and properly dispose of the waste. State hospitals are currently in agreement with the only such company in Cyprus, which will begin treating waste within a week.

Many old incinerators will be rendered obsolete under the new obligations, as clinics and hospitals are choosing the sterilisation method to dispose of clinical waste.

A member of the House Health Committee, deputy Marios Matsakis, said the new legislation was an improvement but that there was still room for even higher standards. “We need even stricter controls. There are many small, family type clinics run by one or two doctors. These were useful in the past, but not any more,” he said. “They should be phased out. We should concentrate more on setting up multi-specialised medical centres,” he added.

Copyright Cyprus Mail 2003

Saturday, April 5, 2003

[04] Parliament blocks CyTA investment plans

Communist party AKEL raised the issue during discussion of CyTA's 2003 budget at the plenum on Thursday.

Deputies Nicos Katsourides and Stavros Evagorou made it clear that the majority of the House (AKEL, DIKO, KISOS and the Green Party) believed investing in Greece has been and is a “thing of the past.”

Speaking to the Cyprus Mail yesterday AKEL deputy Evagorou said CyTA investment in Greece was a bad idea.

“AKEL has studied all the relevant data submitted by CyTA,” he said.

“But at the same time we have carried out an in-depth investigation into the economic parameters of Q-Telecom and Infoquest which is the mother company. Our opinion is that this in not an investment that should be given the go-ahead; it is a high-risk investment in what we believe is a saturated market.”

CyTA spokesman Paris Menelaou refused to comment on the plenum decision, saying the authority did not have an official decision from parliament.

“We don't have a formal CyTA notification at the moment,” he said.

“As far as we are concerned nothing has changed. But if the

Communications Minister says 'knock that one on the head', then fine.”

In January, the House majority blocked CyTA's expansion plans for investment in Q-Telecom, despite previously approving £30 million for the project last April.

CyTA chairman Efstathios Papadakis reportedly blamed election motives for the decision, saying the board should seek privatisation of the semi- governmental organisation after the elections, or suffer inevitable decline.

Papadakis maintained that all the studies proved that the investment was a good one and expressed his deep regret at the collapse of the project.

On the issue of CyTA's institutional framework, DISY deputies Rikkos Erotocritou and Prodromos Prodromou warned the plenum that the government had delayed upgrading the authority leaving it vulnerable to competition.

Prodromou accused AKEL of being inflexible and trying to prove that if CyTA was made public the government would lose control.

Copyright Cyprus Mail 2003

Saturday, April 5, 2003

[05] Deputy threatens hunger strike for return of kidney doctors

Drs Efthyvoulos Anastassiades and Polis Polycarpou worked at Larnaca Hospital's nephrology department for more than a decade before rifts between themselves and their superiors over the pair's annual assessments resulted in the two doctors resigning from their positions in January.

The Health Ministry acted to bring medial disciplinary charges against the doctors, and the doctors in turn started legal proceedings against former Health Minister Frixos Savvides.

Speaking to the Cyprus Mail yesterday Karras said Polycarpou and Anastassiades must be allowed to return to their posts immediately.

“First, we don't have any other nephrologists in Cyprus. The Health Ministry has searched but could not find anyone else suitable,” he said.

“Secondly, these two doctors have the trust of all the kidney sufferers in Larnaca and Famagusta. And they are genuinely excellent doctors and experts in their field.”

Karras stressed that the Ministry's current 'solution' of sending the Nicosia Hospital's nephrologists to treat Larnaca patients had to come to an end, as it was inconveniencing both the doctors and the Nicosia patients.

“As a Parliament we have tried everything possible to resolve the situation and it is for this reason that I say I shall go on hunger strike - it's the only way I can help the patients.”

“The doctors want to return… but the bureaucrats within the Ministry want to punish them,” he said.

He added that he was hopeful the situation could be resolved soon.

“At the end of the day they (the Ministry) will be forced to allow the doctors to return anyway. But we must question their stance - if these people are condemning the war in Iraq because there are casualties, then do they not also consider that refusing to allow these doctors to return is endangering patient lives and causing unnecessary inconvenience?”

Karras said he expected new Health Minister Dina Akkelidou to step in and make a final decision on the issue soon.

“I hope that by Monday the situation will be at an end.”

Copyright Cyprus Mail 2003

Saturday, April 5, 2003

[06] Land reactions exaggerated, minister says

INTERIOR Minister Andreas Christou yesterday said the reactions concerning the changes of Nicosia town planning regulations were exaggerated.

Deputies on Thursday voiced their concern over the changes to the Local Plan for Nicosia, which some claimed could halt building development and cause land prices in agricultural areas to plunge.

Under the new regulations that came into effect on March 21, the minimum area of land needed to build on agricultural land has been increased from 4, 000 to 6,000 square metres.

The maximum size of the house can only be 240 square metres and a developer has to have access to the house through a public road.

Deputies argued the changes would greatly diminish the value of agricultural land and were contemplating a legal proposal to block the implementation of the regulations.

Yesterday, Christou said deputies would approach the issue differently if they were better informed.

“Maybe more information was needed on the matter, which I and the town planning council will try to provide to the members of the relevant House committee,” the minister said.

He added: “My view is that a better briefing will enable the deputies to approach the matter in a more practical manner.”

Christou said the Local Plans were being processed for the past two to three years and the town planning council, which has done a very methodical job, was responsible for completing the project on behalf of the state.

He said communities and private citizens could now submit appeals, which would be assessed in the next few months, adding that public dialogue was the best procedure to deal with the issues that emerged from the new plans.

“I also believe that these worries are somewhat exaggerated; these worries and the relevant issues do not exist in the degree they appear publicly,” Christou said.

Building coefficients have been cut three times since 1992 and land prices have not decreased but increased instead, he added.

Copyright Cyprus Mail 2003

Saturday, April 5, 2003

[07] Suburbs growing as city centre population shrinks

The figures show a population increase in the Aglandja area, where the number of inhabitants has risen from 12,800 in 1982 to 18,934 in 2002. The number of inhabitants in the Lakatamia area has also increased, from 15,800 in 1982 to 28,466 in 2002. Latsia municipality's population numbered 7,500 20 years ago, almost doubling to 12,810 last year, which analysts suggest may be due to the cheaper price of land in the district. Meanwhile, the population of Strovolos was up from 43,000 in 1982 to 58,446 in 2002 making it the capital's largest municipality in terms of inhabitants.

The areas of Geri and Engomi have undergone the biggest relative population increase in the past twenty years. Where Geri's population was just 2,400 in 1982 it has almost tripled since then, reaching 6,423 last year. The number of inhabitants of Engomi has also increased nearly three-fold, with the population last year recorded at 13,617 compared just 5,800 in 1982.

One of the few areas to experience a drop in the number of inhabitants recorded was that under the jurisdiction of Nicosia municipality. Perhaps due to the proximity of the Green Line and the escalation of property and land prices in inner-city areas, the population has fallen from 48,200 in 1982 to 47,763 in 2002. Ayios Dometios' population is also down, falling from 13,500 in 1982 to 12,123 last year.

Overall, the figures show the population of the greater Nicosia district has risen by 49,000 in the last twenty years, up from 149,000 in 1982 to 197,952 in 2002.

Copyright Cyprus Mail 2003

Saturday, April 5, 2003

[08] Rates cut as inflation rises

THE Central Bank yesterday cut its key lending rate by half a per cent to 4.5 per cent amid signs of slowing economic growth.

“Bearing in mind the extension of the (Iraqi) war and the vulnerability of the economy to outside developments the monetary policy committee has decided to cut its key refinancing rate,” Central Bank Governor Christodoulos Christodoulou said.

He added that by cutting the rate the committee thought it could contribute to the common effort for the recovery of the economy.

The bank's monetary policy committee met two weeks earlier than expected.

Tourist arrivals in the first quarter have dropped, cutting forecasts of economic growth to 2.3 per cent in 2003 from initial estimates of four per cent.

Christodoulou also said the committee was worried about the rise in inflation, which reached 4.84 per cent in the first three months of the year.

“(The rise is) mainly due to temporary and short term factors with structural inflation remaining in relatively acceptable levels,” Christodoulou said.

Headline inflation rose 5.97 per cent year-on-year in March, spiralling to its highest point in months due to fuel and food price increases.

Headline inflation, reflected in the consumer price index, was 4.4 per cent in February.

The March tracker was stoked higher by rising prices of fuel, which impacted house electricity bills, and clothing and footwear. Fruit and vegetable prices also soared due to an unseasonal cold snap which reduced supply.

On a monthly basis, the March CPI index rose 2.09 per cent to 115.77 points.

The Finance Ministry said it stood by its forecast of CPI growth averaging between 4.0 and 4.5 per cent for 2003.

"The reasons are because of the increase in Value Added tax, some excise duties... there are a lot of temporary effects," a finance ministry official told Reuters.

Cyprus increased its VAT rate by two percentage points on January 1 to 15 per cent, while a raft of tax adjustments have kicked in over the past 12 months ahead of European Union membership in May 2004.

Excluding the temporary influences, the finance ministry said it saw core inflation "close to" 2.0 per cent in March.

Copyright Cyprus Mail 2003

Saturday, April 5, 2003

[09] Government unhappy at human rights reports

THE government yesterday expressed displeasure at two separate human rights reports prepared by the US State Department and the United Nations.

Government Spokesman Kypros Chrysostomides said the US report was “inaccurate” while its UN counterpart was “deficient”.

“The government expresses its displeasure at the fact that the American State Department report is not accurate and does not reflect the historical facts, omitting any reference to Turkey and the occupying regime as the culprits of mass human rights violations; there is no mention of the settlers, or the refugees or Turkey's policy of ethnic cleansing in Cyprus, ” Chrysostomides said.

He suggested the report reflected a misleading quest for balance and that there was an attempt to equate the treatment of the Greek Cypriot enclaved in the north with the treatment of Turkish Cypriots in the free areas.

The State Department's report for Turkey has no reference to its responsibility for human rights violations in Cyprus, the spokesman added.

Chrysostomides said there were some positive references, but the attempt to equate the legal government with the Turkish Cypriot “administration” created a “serious feeling of disappointment”.

Commenting on the UN report, the spokesman suggested that in his effort to keep it balanced, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan had prepared a report that was anything but historically objective.

“The report is lacking, there is no reference to the continuous violation of human rights due to the invasion and continuing occupation,” Chrysostomides said.

He added: “Their contents are indeed disappointing because in their effort to maintain a favourable climate for continuing the talks for the solution of the Cyprus problem, they create false impressions and I think they include elements which are also misleading.”

He noted, however, that such reports had become routine without any political or historical importance.

Copyright Cyprus Mail 2003

Saturday, April 5, 2003

[10] Cypriots value science but worry about its effects

The survey, which questioned 12,247 people in 13 countries - 500 in Cyprus - also showed that young men in Cyprus and Hungary were the most likely to value science across the candidate countries, whereas older women in Turkey and Bulgaria were the least likely to do so.

However, when asked to answer 'true' or 'false' to 13 assertions on a range of scientific questions, Cypriots came second to bottom, only scoring higher than Turkey, with Central European candidate countries scoring top.

Indeed, Cypriots seemed to be at either end of the spectrum throughout the survey, rarely placing among the average in a category.

Scientific and technological interest in Cyprus is highest of the candidate countries with 58 per cent of those surveyed claiming to take an interest, followed by 53 per cent in Hungary and Malta. The lowest level of interest (22 per cent) came from Turkey.

Cypriots were also the least likely to be superstitious and one of the least likely to oppose animal testing, with only 41 per cent believing in lucky numbers, and 73 per cent saying it they saw no problem with testing on animals for the sake of scientific development.

In Cyprus, more people agree than in any other candidate country that their journalists do not have a sufficient background to report on science. Only 14 per cent have faith in journalists to report on science.

The survey also made important comparisons between EU member states and candidate countries. While the former were better equipped with scientific and technological information, the latter seemed to place more of a value on such institutions.

“People are more optimistic about science in the candidate countries than in current Member States,” European Research Commissioner Philippe Busquin said. “They are more confident in the capacity of science and technology to build a better future.”

But while Cyprus showed an above-average interest in the sciences, the island still showed a degree of scepticism, with 84 per cent of Cypriots saying that science was changing our way of life too fast, and 70 per cent disapproving of the way in which science had replaced faith.

Copyright Cyprus Mail 2003

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