Don’t take me away, pleads Peter’s Pizza

By Jean Christou

THE GREEK Cypriot operator of an outlet in the United Nations Protected Area (UNPA) at Nicosia Airport is appealing to the UN to be allowed to stay on, even though his licence has been revoked.The owners of Peter’s Pizza, which has been in operation since 1972 as a snack bar selling souvenirs, and since 1974 has been under UN control, have been informed that from the end of the month the premises must be returned to the UN.”What we want to do is send a message to (Unficyp chief Dame Ann) Hercus to change her mind and allow us to continue our business,” said Pantelis Christophides, one of four Greek Cypriots who runs Peter’s Pizza.”We have been here so many years giving service to the UN, and there is enough work to keep us busy.”He said the shop was open from 8am to midnight and at weekends.On June 30, a letter from the UN said the licence granted to Peter’s Pizza would be one of several that would be renewed only until September 30.”Lady Hercus says they need the space,” Christophides said. “But this is a private building and we have spent money on it. It’s not fair.”He said that at the end of the month the UN would take his UNPA pass and he would no longer be able to enter the airport.The shop owners pay £20 a month rental to the UN. “We asked Lady Hercus if she wanted more money,” Christophides said.He added that their only hope was that when Dame Ann leaves the island at the end of September (she has resigned her position for personal reasons), her replacement might take a different view.But Unficyp spokesman Major Paul Kolken told the Cyprus Mailyesterday that the decision was final.He said a review had been carried out among those living in the UNPA, asking them which facilities they deemed necessary and which unnecessary.”The people running the shops could tender and those with the best offer could stay,” he said. “But not all are needed.”Kolken said people in the UNPA tended to use pizza outlets from outside the airport area.”They (the owners) can appeal, but it was not a decision taken overnight,” he said.

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.