By Athena Karsera
INTERIOR Minister Christodoulos Christodoulou yesterday summoned the media to tell them that his ministry’ goals in the four months since he had come to office were directly and promptly to serve the people of Cyprus.
Speaking at a news conference to present his achievements at the Interior Ministry, the former finance minister said his basic goals had also included the upgrading of local government and the modernisation of other services within the remit of his ministry, such as the construction and land surveying departments.
Presenting a 19-page report entitled The Interior Ministry’s work from April to July 1999 and basic goals for the immediate and short-term future, Christodoulou said attention had been given to the issue of illegal immigrants and to upgrading civil defence.
The Minister said interim agreements had been made with Lebanon and Syria, which both agreed to accept illegal immigrants back from Cyprus if they were shown to have left from their shores.
He also said he had recently paid surprise visits to locations where many Black Sea Greeks had settled in order to obtain a true picture of the people’s living conditions. He added that a Ministerial Committee appointed to investigate the large settlement of Pontian Greeks in Paphos would be submitting its report in September.
On civil defence, Christodoulou said: “This is an imposed necessity for the protection and safety of every citizen: especially under the current conditions in semi-occupied Cyprus.”
He said the public would know “by the end of the month” which shelters they had been assigned in the event of air raids.
Christodoulou also sought to draw attention to the planned introduction of a citizen’s ‘Smart Card’, which would combine identification with a hospital card and would allow people access to government planned Service Centres.
He said progress on the information service front had already been made, with the Press Information office distributing more information on the internet.
Christodoulou also touched on the issue of rehousing refugees, saying that £6 million would be spent over a period of three years to improve the living conditions of 1974 refugees, including the provision of land.
