Infrastructure to swallow much of university budget

INFRASTRUCTURAL work on a new university campus will absorb £6 million or one third of the Cyprus University’s budget for the year. Another £1.5 million will be spent on experts’ fees and other services for the campus project.

The £18.89 million university budget was submitted to the House of Representatives earlier this month but has still to go before the committees and the plenary for approval.

A total of £6 million will go on infrastructural work, such as roads and water provision at the University of Cyprus campus for which the foundation stone was laid late last year. Actual construction of the campus is expected to begin in 1999. This year, the university also expects to spend £1.5 million for consultancy and other fees to do with the design of the university campus, including architectural competitions.

The university expects to spend over £1 million on salaries for teaching staff. It hopes to take on an extra 18 academics and 10 administrative employees.

Research activity will receive £308,000; student activities will be sponsored to the tune of £40,000, while another £20,000 will go on the university’s sports programme. Computer links and equipment – including Internet and e-mail, will absorb £150,000 of the budget. Students who work at the library, the computer centre or elsewhere at the University will be paid from the £50,000 being budgeted for the purpose.

The library is also set to receive a boost, with the university planning to spend £550,000 on books, magazines and other subscriptions.

The university budget is balanced with £13.7 million coming direct from the government in the form of a state grant. Tuition fees and other levies account for £5.1 million. Most tuition fees are also covered by the state.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.