New staff for vet services

THE Veterinary Services yesterday asked for reinforcement in view of implementing the EU directive to combat scrapie.

According to the Services’ spokesman Pavlos Toumazos, the department is so understaffed at the moment, officers are working overtime for which they are not getting paid.

And the situation is set to get worse, what with Cyprus’ obligation to cull around 130,000 sheep in a bid to combat scrapie by the end of this year.

“It goes without saying that there are problems and we need help,” said Toumazos, adding that in order to live up to its duties, the Service will need to double its staff.

The Cabinet is soon expected to approve the opening of 91 new positions and 32 promotions.

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.