Is there enough Coke and megawatts to see us through the heat wave?

By Rita Demetriou

THE CURRENT heat wave sweeping Cyprus is making most people miserable, but not everybody. Manufacturers and importers of cold drinks are experiencing booming sales as people turn to them for relief.

Lanitis Bros Ltd., importer of Coke, have recorded a marked increase in sales for the month of July compared to the same period last year.

And Nondos Metaxas, of Lanitis’ sales department, told the Cyprus Mail yesterday that it was almost certainly due to the heat wave.

“There has been a rise of 25 to 30 per cent in sales of Coke in Cyprus during the June/July period of 1998,” he said.

According to another Lanitis source, the demand for Coke is so high at the moment that there are not enough trucks to deliver the popular drink to retailing outlets.

KEO Ltd. have also noted a considerable rise in sales of its Ayios Nikolaos bottled water, though a representative of KEO pointed out that this rise was not only due to the heat, but also to water rationing.

Meanwhile, the Electricity Authority has noted a huge rise in power consumption, recorded at 582 megawatts, but warn that there is only enough power for 660 megawatts. The increase has been attributed to the continual operation of air conditioning and other cooling systems to combat the heat wave. In 1996 the highest consumption was just 493 megawatts.

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.