THE FEDERATION of Employers and Industrialists (OEV) has been trying to stimulate a public debate about the recession and what should be done for some time. On Tuesday night, the group held a conference titled ‘The road for exiting the crisis’, where party leaders gave their views about the recession and what should be done.

All made valid points about the government’s inexplicable failure to recognise the onset of the recession and subsequent reluctance to take the necessary drastic measures. They also highlighted the need to cut public expenditure and all agreed that the way out of recession was economic growth, which is easier said than done in current conditions.

A YOUNG Cypriot man is taking the Republic of Cyprus to the European Court of Human Rights for not giving him the right to enter into a same-sex marriage.

The 24-year-old from Paphos wrote a letter of complaint to the ECHR last December and now awaits their decision on whether they will look into his case. He is currently in a six-year relationship with another 24-year-old, also from Cyprus. The two have decided they want to get married.

“Cyprus doesn’t give me the right to have a same-sex, civil marriage. Four months ago, the Interior Ministry sent me a letter saying that if I get married abroad, they will not recognise my marriage in Cyprus. This too is a violation of my rights,” said the 24-year-old.

PARTY LEADERS yesterday called for the government to take immediate action to sidestep an economic meltdown and keep the country’s economy from heading in the same direction as Greece. The reactions came in the wake of Tuesday’s Employers and Industrialists Federation (OEV) conference on the Cyprus economy, which heard stark warnings from Finance Minister Charilaos Stavrakis over the budget deficit.

Government spokesman Stefanos Stefanou said yesterday that the government and political parties are currently considering a package of measures to address the impending crisis.

“We believe it is time to have a rational debate about the economy because we feel the economy and the economic situation is out of control,” said DISY spokesman Haris Georgiades.

ANIMAL WELFARE groups have condemned plans to discuss an amendment to the law dealing with the trapping and poaching of birds.

The proposal was submitted to Parliament on Tuesday and is scheduled to be discussed tomorrow. The amendment seeks to reduce the fine for the trapping and illegal killing of birds and the time period for which hunting licences may be suspended when an individual is caught hunting illegally.

“Whereas under the current law you could face a very serious fine and possible court action, under the proposed amendment you would face a very light fine and no court action, no possibility of a criminal record,” said Martin Hellicar, President of Birdlife Cyprus.

TWO CYTA subscribers have filed separate lawsuits in the Limassol District Court yesterday, alleging the company has been secretly monitoring their mobile phone calls and text messages. They are seeking compensation of up to €100,000.

Limassol law firm Kostas Melas and Associates is representing the two subscribers, a young man working in the National Guard and his father-in-law, who works with the coast guard.

The two men allege in their lawsuit that they were told in 2007 by a government-appointed criminal investigator that they were under surveillance.

THE SOCIALISTS yesterday launched a new campaign to chart the views of the public on important aspects of the Cyprus problem, announced EDEK leader Yiannakis Omirou.

The campaign will ask members of the public to ‘take a position on a solution’, said Omirou.

“The time has come to hear the voices of members of the public on the content of a solution, for them to give their positions on important aspects of the Cyprus problem, to state whether they agree or disagree with specific provisions, and whether they accept or not proposals like the one on a rotating presidency and weighted voting,” he said.

THE CABINET yesterday voted to extend its 13th salary provision to families with three children. The measure will be applied retroactively to include the provision of a 13th salary for 2009.

“Essentially it will be 50 per cent of the monthly wage. It is the same allowance which multi-child families [those families with four children or more] have received,” said government spokesman Stefanos Stefanou.

The total cost to the state of providing a 13th salary to families with three children amounts to €2.3million. Its retroactive application will result in three-child families also receiving the 13th salary which multi-child families received on December 12, 2009.

A CRIMINAL ring dealing in fake credit cards and said to be operating in at least five European countries was intercepted yesterday by local police when they arrested one of its members as he tried to withdraw money from a Limassol ATM using a fake card.

Police were alerted to the operation of a counterfeit credit card scheme after credit card processing company JCC informed them of 50 uses of 16 forged credit cards at banks in Limassol.

It is believed by police that the credit cards used were forged outside of Cyprus and that they are clones, or exact copies, of real credit cards whose details had been stolen by the ring.

In total, the forged cards were used to steal €2,800 and to attempt to steal a further €4,500.