Water chief cleared of criminal action

A GOVERNMENT investigation into allegations that a top civil servant was using his subordinates to carry out construction work on his home in Nicosia on government time has failed to uncover criminal negligence.

Water Development Department Director Lakis Christodoulou was accused of giving his staff time off to build his luxurious residence in Nicosia. A police raid on the building site last week led to the arrest of four water department employees, caught red-handed working on the house. Water Department machinery was also found on the site.

Agriculture Minister Costas Themistocleous called for the suspension of Christodoulou earlier this week while Senior Counsel Georgia Erotocritou investigated the scandal.

But her investigations dismissed criminal charges on the basis of insufficient evidence. The possibility of disciplinary measures is still being considered.

Christodoulou maintained throughout the proceedings that any disciplinary inquiry would reveal that the allegations against him were unfounded.

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.