Agreement for co-operation on health, heritage and environment

AIDES to the leaders yesterday announced the extent of progress at four of the seven technical committees, which have agreed on joint measures on road safety, health, culture and environment.

At a joint news conference with UN Special Representative Taye-Brook Zerihoun, Presidential Commissioner George Iacovou and Ozdil Nami, aide to the Turkish Cypriot leader, said further agreements would be announced in the coming days.

Zerihoun said that since the process began in April, over 180 meetings had been held. “Some of the committees and working groups have made more progress than others, but what is important is that the process remains engaged,” he said.

The agreements made include putting in place a mechanism that will allow ambulances to cross without delay in emergency situations, issuing road safety leaflets for handing out at crossing points, co-operation on waste issues, the establishment of a joint health committee, and the adoption of joint educational programmes on cultural heritage and the environment.

“You may think six projects is not much for 180 meetings but there is a lot more coming,” said Iacovou. “We wanted to present some of those we have agreed.”

Iacovou said the environment committee was working particularly well. ‘And it shows how sensitive we are becoming on environmental issues and in protecting our joint environment,” he added.

“Everyone has put in a lot of long hours and lots of time and energy, and good will, and they have concentrated on the issues, rather than on the political side of things,” Nami added.

He said the agreement on cultural education was important because it would promote respect for the cultural heritage of both the Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots. ‘It’s aimed at the younger generations,” he said.

For the moment funding for all of the agreed projects will be borne by both sides.

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.