Large families to benefit from parliament approved bills

PARLIAMENT yesterday approved a 10 per cent rise in child benefit for all large families and an increase in pensions for mothers of large families irrespective of income.

The two bills were part of the government’s latest social package unveiled last week. The first involved a reduction on heating fuel tax from 7.3 cents to 1.2 cents per liter for the months December to March.

A total of 66 bills were voted on, with deputies postponing debate on several others, including the 2008 budget for the Cyprus Ports Authority, currently in the throes of strike action.

The House adjourned till Monday, its last session before the Christmas break, to address the pending bills.

The plenum yesterday gave the thumbs-up to the budgets of the Cyprus Stock Exchange, the Securities & Exchange Commission, the Cyprus Theatre Organization, the Cyprus Sports Organization, the Energy Regulatory Authority, the Electricity Authority and the Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation.

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.