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Cyprus News Agency: News in English (PM), 97-03-27Cyprus News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: The Cyprus News Agency at <http://www.cyna.org.cy>CONTENTS
1450:CYPPRESS:01[01] First desalination plant in CyprusNicosia, Mar 27 (CNA) -- President Glafcos Clerides will officially inaugurate on April 3, the first desalination plant in Cyprus, which will supply with fresh drinking water the free areas of Famagusta district, in the island's southeastern part.The capacity of the plant, which is based in Dhekelia, east of Larnaca town, is expected to gradually reach 40.000 cubic metres daily by next year. The plant is part of a wider government plan aiming to supply all urban areas of Cyprus with drinking water through desalination, providing the Republic with a permanent solution to its water problem. Gerasimos Karamondanis, Managing Director of the Karamondanis Bross, the company which has built the plant, told CNA today that his company will operate it for 10 years and will sell the water back to the state for 54 cents per cubic metre. At the end of the 10-year contract, ownership of the plant will revert back to the state. The 30-million-US-dollar investment will "produce" drinking water of good quality, even under strict European Union standards. Fresh drinking water began flowing since March 22, but under the terms of the contract, the state will start receiving it as of April 1 of this year. CNA GG/MH/GP/1997ENDS, CYPRUS NEWS AGENCY1530:CYPPRESS:02[02] Occupation regime under fire from T/C party leaderNicosia, Mar 27 (CNA) -- Turkish Cypriots would like to see the Cyprus question solved today, irrespective of the fact that a better arrangement may be found five years on from now, leader of the Turkish Cypriot Republican Turkish party, Mehmet Ali Talat, has told the Turkish Cypriot press.He also described the northern Turkish occupied part of Cyprus as "an open-air sunny prison" and criticised the self-styled regime for preventing bicommunal contacts. In a lecture in occupied Nicosia, Talat said "the longer we wait to find a solution, the more external factors will affect a settlement." "We prefer to resolve the problem today, even if five years later, there may be a better solution," he told his audience and noted that Turkish Cypriots are forced to emigrate because of unemployment and dire living conditions in occupied Cyprus. Talat likened the situation in the northern part of the island, occupied by some 30,000 Turkish troops since 1974, to "an open-air sunny jail" and criticised the Turkish Cypriot regime for raising obstacles to the transfer of patients to the southern government-controlled ares of the Republic for medical treatment and to contact with Greek Cypriots. Referring to Cyprus' prospects for accession to the European Union, Talat said such a move would facilitate Turkey's entry as well. He said there would be no concessions on the issues of security, political equality and bizonality but acknowledged that there will be some flexibility on the territorial aspect of the Cyprus question and settlement on condition that the bizonality of the two areas of a federal Cyprus is maintained. "All these issues should be discussed at the negotiating table through a give and take process," Talat said. The Turkish Cypriots will reap many advantages from a settlement in Cyprus, he said, adding that Turkey will also benefit because it will no longer have, on its southern flank, an island where Turkey's borders meet Greece's frontiers. Talat rejected the idea of integration with Turkey as an option for a solution. CNA MM/MCH/1997ENDS, CYPRUS NEWS AGENCY1445:CYPPRESS:03[03] Cyprus Stock ExchangeNicosia, Mar 27 (CNA) -- The Cyprus Stock Exchange (CSE) All Share Index closed at today's stock exchange meeting as follows:CSE All Share Index 80.25 (+1.07) Highest: 82.46 (21/1/97) Lowest : 73.90 (30/1/97) Sectural Indices Banks 91.08 (+1.38) Approved Investment Companies 70.72 (+2.70) Insurance Companies 60.70 (+0.95) Industrial Companies 82.57 (+0.01) Tourist Industries 61.98 (+0.76) Commercial Companies 53.60 (+0.68) Other Companies 55.20 (-0.27) Trading Volume CYP 1704416.974* The difference in brackets represents the percentage increase (+) or decrease (-) of the index from the previous stock exchange meeting. CNA MCH/1997ENDS, CYPRUS NEWS AGENCY1815:CYPPRESS:04[04] Duma President to pay official visitNicosia, Mar 27 (CNA) -- The President of the Russian Duma, Gennadi Seleznev, arrives here Friday on a two-day official visit during which he will be received by President Glafcos Clerides and House President Spyros Kyprianou.Seleznev, heading a parliamentary delegation, will be met at Larnaca airport by the House President and have a private meeting with him later on. Following talks between the Cypriot and the Russian delegations, Kyprianou and Seleznev will sign a cooperation protocol. Later on Seleznev will see the President and visit the Green Line, accompanied by Nicosia Mayor Lellos Demetriades. The Russian official will also meet parliamentary party leaders and then give a joint press conference with the House President. On Saturday morning he will meet members of the local media and afterwards have a meeting with Foreign Minister Alecos Michaelides. Seleznev leaves Cyprus on Saturday. CNA MM/MCH/1997ENDS, CYPRUS NEWS AGENCY1900:CYPPRESS:05[05] Campaigners demand free movement in occupied CyprusNicosia, Mar 27 (CNA) -- A support group announced today a campaign to restore human rights and the right to free movement of Greek Cypriots, enclaved in the Turkish occupied part of Cyprus.The campaign was sparked by the refusal of the illegal Turkish occupation regime to allow a Greek Cypriot teacher, Eleni Foka, to visit her family in the government controlled areas of the island because she would not concede to having a so-called identity card, issued by the self- styled regime. "Foka has not visited her family since August last year but the campaign is not only aimed to publicise her cause but also the plight of the enclaved Greek Cypriots," Egli Kammitsi, member of the "Eleni Foka Initiative Group", told a press conference here today. The Group issued post card-size notes, outlining briefly her plight, and are asking people to countersign them so that they can dispatch them to UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan. So far thousands of cards have been signed and hundreds sent to Annan. The Group will seek to get more signatures. "Foka has sacrificed her life to be with her pupils. The least we can do for her is to try and help her out," Kammitsi said. About 500 Greek Cypriots live in the Turkish occupied areas of Cyprus under very difficult circumstances, facing daily restrictions about their movement, education and religious rights. A UN report in April 1994 said "the restrictions imposed on Greek Cypriots and the living conditions in the area (Karpass, in occupied Cyprus) fell far short of the standard of normal life." Today, the report added, "freedom of movement for the UN peace-keeping force is still very restrictive." The report noted that the Greek Cypriots of the Karpass "are now a small minority in a part of Cyprus which was once almost totally Greek Cypriot and are subject to a system whose long term aim appears to be directed towards the eventual extinction of the Greek Cypriot community in the Karpass and the resettlement of the region." CNA MM/MCH/1997ENDS, CYPRUS NEWS AGENCYCNA ENDCyprus News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article |