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Cyprus News Agency: News in English, 08-03-30
CONTENTS
[01] HOUSE PRESIDENT - LEDRA STREET
[02] WATER CUTS - MEETING
[01] HOUSE PRESIDENT - LEDRA STREET
The anticipated opening of a crossing point to and from the islands
northern Turkish occupied areas, in the heart of Nicosia, is but a
symbolic move which improves the climate, House President Marios
Karoyan has said. Opening the crossing point at Ledra street, though it
will improve the climate, it has nothing to do with the substance of
the Cyprus issue, he said on the sidelines a party meeting in
Limassol.
Karoyan, who is also the leader of the Democratic Party, noted that
Turkeys stance will be evaluated and tested during negotiations at the
technical committees and the working groups, set up by the island`s two
communities, during which substantive issues of the Cyprus problem and
other matters will be discussed. He said that several initial problems
and difficulties have been overcome and the opening of the crossing
point is expected by the end of the coming week.
Everything will be assessed at the negotiating table and I wish that
the Turkish side has taken the political decision to cooperate for the
implementation of the July 2006 agreement, which will enable the
leaders of the Greek Cypriot and the Turkish Cypriot communities to
begin negotiations, if sufficient progress has been achieved, towards a
comprehensive settlement of the Cyprus problem, he added. Karoyan said
the international community has already sent some messages to the
Turkish side. ``The international community has leverage and can exert
actual pressue on Turkey to contribute in a constructive manner so that
the work achieved within the technical committees and the working
groups is in line with the framework everybody accepts, namely UN
resolutions, Security Council decisions and the principles on which the
European Union has been founded,`` he pointed out.
[02] WATER CUTS - MEETING
The Minister of Agriculture has called for an emergency meeting this
week of all interested parties to discuss water cuts the government has
announced. I have invited the heads of local water boards in the
various districts with a view to explain the measures the government
announced earlier this week, Mihalis Polinikis, Minister of
Agriculture, Natural Resources and the Environment has said.
Speaking in Paphos, on the western coast, the Minister noted that there
are different views as to how these measures are to be applied and
because of this all parties involved with water management have been
asked to meet on Wednesday to clarify the situation. The government
decision to reduce the quantity of water distributed to local water
boards, to meet the continuing drought, is applied in exactly the same
method to all water boards, including Paphos, he stressed, adding that
there has been a 30% cut in the supply of water to the water boards.
The Minister explained that it was up to the local water boards to
decide how to proceed with the distribution of water to households and
other installations and how to manage water cuts in general. The Water
Boards in the major cities, except Paphos, have imposed water cuts in a
bid to save water, following the prolonged drought and the minimum
amount of water in the countrys reservoirs. Households will have water
for eight or twelve hours in the evening every two days, depending on
how the local water boards decide to distribute water. Hospitals and
some other installations are exempt from the water cuts.
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