Saving lives, one driver at a time

2010-01-09

A GROUP representing the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) in Cyprus is offering free advanced driving and motorcycle training, with the aim of reducing the accident rate and improving the safety and standards of motoring on our roads.
The group was established late last year by former UK traffic police officers Gwyn Pritchard and Steve Tucker, who have been appointed officially as RoSPA examiners.
In a recent press release, Pritchard said: “The number of fatalities on the roads is worrying. Working together with riders, as well as drivers, we can make roads safer. All it takes is a determination to make things better. RoSPA training is free, so it presents a wonderful opportunity to riders and drivers.”

How will the talks be affected by Turkish Cypriot elections?

2010-01-09

WITH TURKISH Cypriots being asked to choose between a re-unifier and a separatist, the outcome of the ‘presidential’ election this April will give a stark indication of whether the north retains the desire for reunification last expressed in 2004, or whether they now believe it is time to give up.
While neither the dovish Mehmet Ali Talat nor veteran nationalist Dervish Eroglu have officially declared their intentions to fight for the leadership, and thereby the role of chief negotiator for the Turkish Cypriot community at UN-sponsored reunification talks, officials close to both politicians told the Sunday Mail yesterday the two would “certainly” be in the running for an election that will mark either a more serious continuation of negotiations or their sudden death.

What next for the economy after the fiasco of 2009

2010-01-09

CYPRUS’ economy has benefitted for the last two decades both from exogenous factors and the entrepreneurship of Cypriot businessman with little support from government policies which intervened with mostly supportive legislature only when necessary. This economic progress was sustained by credit expansion by the banks whose financial position was generally pretty well supervised by the Central Bank. Business services flourished due to the most attractive tax jurisdiction in the EU but also prior to joining the EU a very attractive tax jurisdiction for offshore companies. Hence accountants, lawyers and business services companies attracted many overseas companies, employed many young staff and earned lots in administering the companies they registered.

‘Handed over as if she was his possession’

2010-01-09

 

LEGAL ANALYSTS yesterday hailed as a landmark ruling, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) decision against Cyprus for failing to protect 20-year-old Russian dancer Oxana Rantseva who fell to her death from the balcony of a locked apartment trying to escape from her life working in a Limassol cabaret.

The decision on Thursday unveiled painful truths about human trafficking on the island, criticising Cyprus for its failure to develop a comprehensive immigration policy and uphold immigrant rights.

Our View: Water-saving conscience a long way off

2010-01-09

WATER CUTS could never be a popular measure, but Agriculture Minister Michalis Polynikis was correct in wanting to keep them in place. Despite the increased flow of water to the dams, thanks to the rainfall of the previous three months, the few weeks have been warm and dry and the minister has decided on a cautious approach. The continuation of the cuts was finalised at meeting of the minister with the bosses of the Water Boards yesterday.

CY: shut down Eurocypria or we both go bust

2010-01-09

CYPRUS AIRWAYS and Eurocypria cannot continue to co-exist in Cyprus’ small aviation market, a recent study has concluded.

The study, which was commissioned by and presented to the public by five Cyprus Airways unions, made clear that both airlines could not operate successfully in the current competitive aviation climate.

Eurocypria is 100 per cent owned by the state, which purchased it in 2006 from Cyprus Airways, which is itself majority owned by the government. Cyprus Airways has for the last six months been suggesting that Eurocypria be closed down.

Private security firms to patrol schools at night

2010-01-09

THE EDUCATION Ministry has decided to go ahead with patrols by private security firms in high-risk schools at night as the preferred measure to counteract a spate of vandalism.

According to Minister Andreas Demetriou, the scheme was tested in several problematic schools in Limassol and Larnaca last year and will be introduced to five high-risk schools in Nicosia this year.

The vandalisation of Aglandjia’s 5th Primary School on Tuesday night was the latest in a string of such attacks.  Most such attacks, according to Demetriou, are undertaken by the students themselves.

EU presidency hopes to open more talks with Turkey

2010-01-09

EUROPEAN UNION president Spain hopes to open accession talks with Turkey in four new policy areas in the next six months, Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos said yesterday.

He said Spain, which holds the presidency until the end of June, was hoping for progress in the Cyprus issue, which was affecting Turkey’s accession.

“Both (sides) are aware of the risk of failure. We hope there will be success and that we can open some negotiating chapters,” he told reporters in Madrid.

“We have four in mind. We hope we can open them during our presidency.” He did not say which chapters he had in mind.

Turkey has opened 12 chapters out of 35 since starting talks in 2005.

Backlash against Turkish side’s proposals begins

2010-01-09

 

THE PRESIDENT yesterday declined to be drawn into a public discussion of the proposals submitted by the Turkish Cypriot side regarding governance and power sharing as government partners DIKO said they “effectively torpedoed” the talks.

The proposals were handed over to Demetris Christofias on Thursday through the United Nations.

Pressed by the media, Christofias said it would not be right to discuss the proposals in public.

“I gave the proposals to the party chiefs and asked them to study them,” Christofias said. “I am sorry, it is not possible to give any information on the proposals.”

Christofias has convened an informal meeting of party leaders for tomorrow to discuss the matter.

No real problem with racism in Cyprus’ schools says Minister

2010-01-09

STUDENTS in Cyprus’s schools do not experience any real degree of racial discrimination, according to Education Minister Andreas Demetriou.

“We do not think we have a serious problem [with racial discrimination],” he said “On occasion some minor incidents can occur, but we do not think we really have any serious problem”.

In the past year, not even one racial incident has been recorded in Cyprus’s schools.

In the year before that there was the racial incident at the Stavrou middle school, however.  Demetriou went on to say that in schools where there are a large number of students from different ethnic backgrounds a harmonious relationship prevails between the students from different ethnicities and the Greek Cypriot students.

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.