THAT THE petrol crisis has revealed our over dependence on cars will not surprise many on the island.

However, what is surprising is how even a temporary petrol scarcity has impacted on so many areas of peoples’ lives.

An informal survey of readers’ experiences, by the Cyprus Mail has shown how various sectors, such as from tourism, healthcare and education, suffered from a lack of infrastructure or provision for such an occurrence.

THIEVES siphoned petrol from three cars and a motor bike at an apartment block in Paralimni in Wednesday night in the first reported case of theft during the fuel strike.

Using a crow bar, the perpetrators forced open locked petrol caps and emptied the tanks of the cars between 6pm and 9pm.

A motorbike on the same complex was also robbed of its fuel.

One resident told the Cyprus Mail that the damage to one of the cars “would cost hundreds of euros to fix”.

Police said it was unlikely that the culprits planned to sell the fuel on to other individuals, but there were worries that more such cases could emerge if the strike was to go on.

ON TUESDAY the Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation, CyBC will launch its digital platform, alongside the present analog system, allowing any viewers with the correct television to watch clearer digital pictures, access interactive services and view extra channels.

For viewers with older televisions, however, the move could mean forking out as much as €120 to access all services, when the analog network is closed next year.

CyBC Director-General, Themis Themistocleous, said yesterday “We are very excited about the change, and especially pleased that it is all on schedule.”

A DEAL made by the Ministry of Communications and Works with several private companies to supply Nicosia with 120 new buses for €25 million beginning this July could put the Nicosia Bus Company out of business, it said yesterday.

The Nicosia Bus Company, which runs 130 of the Nicosia district’s buses has been operating since 1971.

But the Ministry has contracted with another company to operate the new buses and will simultaneously revoke the Nicosia Bus Company’s licence, the company said yesterday.

A 15-YEAR-OLD yesterday rampaged through a Limassol high-school after bursting into a classroom, flipping over desks and threatening to attack the headmaster.

Police later charged the youngster for trespassing and common assault. The youth was not placed under arrest as he is a minor.

According to the police, shortly after 11 am the youth walked into a class which was at the time being taught by the school headmaster, and in a state of frenzy began overturning desks.

At one point, he tried to hurl a desk on the headmaster, witnesses said. The headmaster was not injured. The rowdy youth then entered the school toilets and began overturning garbage cans.

HOTELIERS yesterday warned that a slight boost in tourist arrivals this year would not be enough to take the ailing sector back on path to recovery.

“The omens for this year are bad,” said Haris Loizides in a speech before the annual conference of PASYXE, the main hoteliers association.

Despite some positive signs in recent weeks, with an increase in hotel reservations compared to the same period last year, one should not use 2009 as a measure of comparison since that year was the worst in the decade, he said.

Structural problems — bureaucratic snags and time-consuming procedures – and lack of competitiveness were the two primary problems facing the tourism industry, added Loizides.

A GERMAN expert testifying at the Helios trial yesterday said the pressurisation control systems aboard the ill-fated airliner were in good working order, thwarting a bid by the defence to demonstrate equipment flaws.

Manfred Pasing, Quality Assurance Manager with Nord-Micro – a leading manufacturer and supplier of cabin pressure control systems (CPCS) for large commercial aircraft – said data retrieved from the plane’s cabin pressure controller indicated the outflow valve was in the manual position.

THE NUMBER of unemployed construction workers has skyrocketed from approximately 902 in 2007 to 3,505 today, according to the Federation of Building Contractors

The “rampant unemployment” in the construction sector witnessed in 2008 and 2009, was their biggest concern said Nicos Kelepeshis, the general secretary of the federation.

The Federation advocates ameliorating the economic crisis in the building sector by constructing and renovating buildings, roads, infrastructure, and other projects.

THE United States and Cyprus are in the “early days of a new harmonious engagement” over trade that offers new business opportunities both locally and regionally, says Bijan R Kian of the US Export-Import Bank (Eximbank).

Speaking to the Cyprus Mail during his two-day visit to Cyprus at the invitation of the Cyprus-American Business Association (CyABA), Kian – one of Eximbank’s six directors – said that through working with US counterparts who use Eximbank financing, Cypriot companies can purchase goods and services at much lower cost of capital, and can even work with US companies on joint projects in third countries while utilising Eximbank financing to help provide funding.