Cyprus Mail: News Articles in English, 03-04-10

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

Thursday, April 10, 2003

CONTENTS

[01] Diplomatic office for the president

[02] Spring clean for Nicosia

[03] Primary school pupils march against the war

[04] It's illegal to pour a pint

[05] Road works will be interrupted for summer season, Limassol authorities assure

[06] Government has no travel restriction plans for SARS

[07] Ministry security stepped up after break-in

[08] Eviction threat for illegal occupation of Turkish Cypriot properties

[01] Diplomatic office for the president

THE CABINET yesterday approved the creation of a diplomatic office for President Tassos Papadopoulos independent of the Foreign Ministry.

The new office will be headed by Tassos Tzonis, the current Director of the Cyprus desk at the Foreign Ministry and the ambassador to Lebanon. The new position also makes Tzonis the political head of the Cyprus Secret Service (KYP).

Speaking after yesterday's Cabinet meeting, Government Spokesman Kypros Chrysostomides said the new service would liaise between the President and the Foreign Ministry on meetings with foreign government representatives and embassies.

Chrysostomides said that although the post of KYP's political chief was being transferred to the new office, the posts of Commander, and Vice- Commander of the Service would remain as they were, held by police officers.

Tzionis' assistant will be Marios Lyssiotis, who will also be seconded to KYP. Lyssiotis is also a career diplomat.

Senior sources at the Foreign Ministry yesterday denied that the new move was a vote of no confidence in its activities or that the ministry's role was being undermined.

“These sorts of offices exist everywhere and they are not seen as undermining the Foreign Ministry,” the source said. He added that previous governments had not deemed it necessary to branch out in this way, but now that Cyprus was on the brink of joining the EU, Papadopoulos would be expected to participate in the EU Council and the reform was seen as necessary.

Copyright Cyprus Mail 2003

Thursday, April 10, 2003

[02] Spring clean for Nicosia

NICOSIA Municipality is launching its annual clean up of the capital on Monday.

The project will last until the end of June and during this time the Municipality will clean drainage channels, gutters, public places as well as public and private plots of land.

The project will include the general clearing of weeds, the cleaning of rubbish bins and the removal of unwanted objects.

The Municipality reminds the public that the cleaning of private dwellings and plots of land is the responsibility of the owners.

In cases where land and homeowners do not undertake the cleaning themselves by May 5, the Municipality will proceed with the programme anyway by law and charge a fee of £22 per plot.

The Municipality calls upon the public to remove any unwanted vehicles and furniture, which has been dumped in fields and by road sides and emphasises that the programme will benefit all of Nicosia's inhabitants.

For further information contact the Health Services (22-753259) and the Cleaning Department (22-439345).

ENDS

Copyright Cyprus Mail 2003

Thursday, April 10, 2003

[03] Primary school pupils march against the war

The entire student and teaching body of Palouriotissa B' Primary School marched towards the University Park on Larnaca Avenue at 10.30am yesterday.

The police-escorted group, made up of a small army of 6-12-year-olds and their teachers, chanted peace slogans and carried colourful banners in an effort to have their young voices heard.

The school president read a message appealing for a peaceful solution to the crisis and an end to the killing of innocent children. The school choir then sang songs of and balloons were later released, followed by more anti- war speeches written by the students.

Teachers told the Cyprus Mail the demonstration had been carried out and organised entirely by the pupils. In fact, on Tuesday, the children had even carried out a fundraiser and gathered £300 to go to the children in Iraq, said Noni Hadjinicolaou.

“The student council, which is made up of the heads of each year, met and discussed the issue and wanted to go ahead with today's protest,” she said. “They wrote a letter and sent it to the rest of the pupils and then notified us (the teachers), the parents' association and the police.”

Hadjinicolaou said the children did have an understanding of the war and were genuinely disturbed by it. “One girl told me that she had to turn away from some of the graphic scenes on TV because they upset her. Also, a number of children have been very affected by the image of a child that lost both its arms that has been shown on the news, because several of them frequently mention it.”

Eleven-year-old Michalis confirmed it had been their idea to hold the protest. “Yes,” agreed seven-year-old Phoebe, “we came here today because what is going on is upsetting us.”

Two 10-year-old boys held up a banner that read: “No more blood for oil.” Other slogans included “Stop the war,” “No to war,” “Why so much blood for oil” and “Bush you're a terrorist”.

Soteris and Andreas explained they had been told to write several slogans in their notebooks and to choose they one they felt was best. “We liked this one best. Everyone chose something different and then in groups of four to six people we wrote what we wanted.”

Emilios and Doros, aged 12 and 11 respectively, said they hoped their protest would be heard by the superpowers and said the war was an atrocity that had to be ended. “It must stop. Innocent people are dying. We must help the Iraqi people,” they said. “What is going on and what we watch on the news is disgusting.”

Copyright Cyprus Mail 2003

Thursday, April 10, 2003

[04] It's illegal to pour a pint

EACH day, punters across the island are gulping down illegal 'pints' of beer, either unaware or indifferent to the fact that no such measurement exists in Cyprus.

According to a report in Phileleftheros, the Commerce Ministry has announced that the selling of a 'pint' in pubs, hotels and restaurants is illegal.

Asked by DISY deputy Georgios Georgiou to comment on the issue, the ministry's Weights and Measures Service maintained Cyprus and all EU countries other than the UK and Ireland used the metric system. A pint as a liquid measurement is not recognised on the island.

Avid beer-drinking campaigner, Georgiou, asked the ministry what measures it was taking to deal with the varying size and shape of pint glasses used in bars, hotel and restaurants, which created unfair competition for the owner and the customer.

The ministry told the deputy that they would launch a campaign of awareness in all beer-slugging joints to enforce the legal measurements for beer glasses.

Copyright Cyprus Mail 2003

Thursday, April 10, 2003

[05] Road works will be interrupted for summer season, Limassol authorities assure

THE LIMASSOL Public Works Department (PWD) assured yesterday that works to improve the sea front would not cause problems in the upcoming tourist period.

PWD official Savvas Vrahimis said work on the project around the old Limassol port would be interrupted to avoid tourist inconvenience.

“There are two contracts right now,” he told the Cyprus Mail.

“One project starts from the Holiday Inn hotel and ends at the flyover and it is almost completed. The northern traffic lanes are already open. The two northern lanes will be open to traffic before Easter.

The other contract starts from the flyover and ends in the old port area.

Vrahimis brushed aside suggestions that the works would result in complaints from tourists, saying that all the necessary measures had been taken to avoid any inconvenience.

“The project around the old port is divided in two phases in order to avoid problems during the tourist period,” he said.

“All our projects on the sea front are interrupted during the tourist period. The project is going well. We were set back a little bit by the rainfall we had this year but the bulk of the works has been completed.”

Vrahimis said the works were due to finish in May 2004. The cost of the first contract is expected to amount to a little more than £3 million.

Copyright Cyprus Mail 2003

Thursday, April 10, 2003

[06] Government has no travel restriction plans for SARS

The question was raised after Malaysia barred tourists from mainland China crossing its borders, in a move to prevent the rapid spread Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), which has left over 100 people dead and sparked a World Health Organisation (WHO) warning. The Philippines has said it is likely to ban travel to Hong Kong.

However, in Cyprus, a move to ban passengers from the worst-hit areas is considered unnecessary. The high-risk areas are China, Hong Kong and Singapore. Transmission has also increased in Canada and Vietnam, according to the WHO.

“The World Health Organisation has issued no such instructions,” said Dr Chrystalla Hadjianastasiou. “Instead, passengers leaving affected regions are given health checks and have to fill in questionnaires on their state of health.” Another precaution the government had taken is to remind airlines to issue general health declarations before landing, which is common practice in light of infectious disease outbreaks. “Aircraft staff flying to Cyprus have been told to check passengers for symptoms so that the captain can be alerted if there is such a case,” said Hadjianastasiou. If someone displays SARS symptoms onboard the flight, the pilot will inform the landing airport so the passenger can be taken to the airport clinic for a check up. A special facility has been set up at Limassol hospital as a precaution in light of a possible outbreak on the island. So far the ward has remained empty.

On Tuesday, WHO had recorded 2,671 SARS cases, with 103 deaths from 17 countries. This represented an increase of 70 cases and five deaths from the previous day.

Copyright Cyprus Mail 2003

Thursday, April 10, 2003

[07] Ministry security stepped up after break-in

THE CABINET yesterday decided to employ additional security personnel for the island's Ministries in response to a request from Justice Minister Doros Theodorou for increased protection of Ministry buildings on Tuesday.

The decision follows the theft of a safe containing £1,500 from the Education Ministry last Sunday. The incident was one of several safe robberies last weekend during which three safe-boxes containing around £11, 000 were stolen from three different locations.

Speaking after the new measures were announced, government spokesman Kypros Chrysostomides said the decision was made based on the importance the Ministries attached to confidentiality and the safeguarding of classified documents.

“The necessary measures to guard the Ministries are now being taken,” he added.

According to reports, the Police Security Committee has already prepared a study regarding the 24-hour surveillance of Ministry buildings, with security guards, CCTV cameras and security lighting.

Copyright Cyprus Mail 2003

Thursday, April 10, 2003

[08] Eviction threat for illegal occupation of Turkish Cypriot properties

The House Refugee Committee yesterday concluded discussion of a bill, which introduces new provisions for the management of Turkish Cypriot property, abandoned after the 1974 Turkish invasion.

The Guardian of Turkish Cypriot Properties manages the properties, though legal loopholes have resulted in disputes and illegalities.

“The basic aim is to change the legislation so that illegalities are stamped out and Turkish Cypriot properties come under the full control of the Guardian,” committee chairman Aristofanis Georghiou said after the closed-doors meeting.

Georghiou said the legislation plugged all the loopholes that had previously allowed anyone to gain access to the properties, which should have been used only by refugees for professional or residential purposes.

Anyone possessing Turkish Cypriot property without the permission of the Guardian should return it or face the legal consequences.

The new law will prohibit the sale of Turkish Cypriot properties: “the Guardian takes over the property and when the Cyprus problem is resolved it is handed back to its legal owners in the state it had been received”.

Concerning rent paid for the use of these properties, he said refugees would not be made to pay any rent on the houses they occupied, in accordance with the current practice.

Rent on agricultural land would be charged solely on the person possessing it, while dwellings used for business purposes by non-refugees would be charged rent in line with current market prices.

Georghiou said the committee had agreed to the amendments, which are expected to be discussed by the plenum next Thursday, April 17.

Regarding the numerous scams involving Turkish Cypriot properties, Georghiou said the committee's report was expected to be ready soon for discussion by the plenum.

Copyright Cyprus Mail 2003

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