FOR TWO days in a row this week, senior officials have bemoaned their inability to take action against known offenders. On Monday, a top police officer said the force had received from Interpol a list of Cypriots known to be downloading child pornography from the internet.
HUNDREDS of board members of companies listed on the Cyprus Stock Exchange (CSE) could face court action in connection with the 1999 market bubble, which saw thousands of small investors lose their life savings, House Watchdog Committee chairman Christos Pourgourides said yesterday.
ALITHIA: “Government uncovered” The opposition daily commented that public reactions over fuel hikes were multiplying, while it has been confirmed that no rises were necessary.
FACT OF THE DAY: ON CYPRUS’ accession to the EU, the European Commission will formally approve the implementation of structural and cohesion funds in Cyprus for the period 2004-2006.
A GROUP of artists has sent a letter to the Ombudswoman claiming there are not enough works of art in public schools and that the Ministry of Education has failed to uphold the law that states at least one per cent of the amount of money spent on a public building must be invested in works of art.
BANANA producers are appealing to the government for compensation, with an expected 700 tons of bananas due to be dumped because of continued over-production in the sector, a farming union official said yesterday. Panayiotis Leonidas of the Cyprus Farmers Union (EKA) described the situation as a “serious agricultural mass wastage” and argued the problem was at the fault of the government.
ROADISDE billboards may have been made illegal last summer, with a government deadline for enforcement passing in November, but many advertising hoardings still remain in place, in spite of the new law. Green Party deputy George Perdikis said yesterday that many companies disputed the law; the government had now taken the matter to court and was waiting a final ruling.
ANYONE dropping litter on the streets of Nicosia could soon face a new penalty to discourage polluters and protect the environment, the Mayor of Nicosia said yesterday. Michalakis Zampelas said he was hopeful that fines of £20 would come into effect by the end of March this year.
DISY deputy Prodromos Prodromou yesterday came out all guns blazing over the Supreme Court decision to rule as unconstitutional a law forcing listed investment companies to invest 80 per cent of their capital into the stock market (CSE).
GOVERNMENT Spokesman Kypros Chrysostomides yesterday confirmed that President Tassos Papadopoulos had given instructions to speed up the process of subsidising heating fuel, with the first cheques expected to be issued by next week. Speaking to the Cyprus Mail yesterday, Chrysostomides said pensioners and people living in mountainous areas would be compensated.
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.
