THE PUBLIC discussions over Easter bonfires, earlier this week, were particularly revealing about our society’s rather peculiar attitude towards the law. Apart from showing a lack of knowledge of the laws by people in positions of power, the exchanges also raised the minor issue of enforcement which is not always considered necessary.

SIX SCHOOLGIRLS narrowly escaped injury yesterday when a home-made pipe bomb exploded under the car of a police sergeant’s car, the father of three of the girls.

The bomb caused extensive damage to the car, which was parked outside his house on Taygetos road in Larnaca.

The bomb, which had been placed under the front wheel also blew out neighbours’ windows and blasted the car’s front fender high into the air.

The explosion occurred just as the policeman’s three daughters were saying goodbye to three of their school friends. All six were by the side entrance to the house near the kitchen.  Nobody was injured by the blast.

THE ARCHBISHOP will be carrying a message from President Demetris Christofias during his meeting with Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan, it emerged yesterday.

“We send Turkey various messages either publicly or otherwise,” government spokesman Stefanos Stefanou said. “We are not fans of closing doors; we want to take advantage of every chance.

Archbishop Chrysostomos will be travelling to Brussels and Istanbul where he is to meet Erdogan though the date and itinerary of the visit have not been finalised yet.

The primate met Christofias yesterday to discuss the trips and hear the president’s views.

TENDERS for new roads, new drains and a free public bicycle scheme have been announced by the Nicosia Municipality, signalling the start of a period of comprehensive infrastructure development.

The Municipality will replace and upgrade roads, pavements and drains in two phases, aiming for their completion in mid 2013. In phase one, starting in May and lasting two to three years, 100 routes and their accompanying drains will be fixed up.

A further 80 to 85 routes have been earmarked phase two, which is currently in the planning stage, but expected to overlap with phase one.

Nicosia Mayor Eleni Mayor said yesterday: “We have identified the roads that were worst affected by flooding each year and we will be working on these first.”

ALL WAS not quiet on the domestic front yesterday as the quarrel between government and opposition parties EDEK and DISY continued unabated.

DISY leader Nicos Anastassiades accused the president of not contributing to a climate of unity while EDEK leader Yiannakis Omirou levelled a charge of intolerance to opposing views and undemocratic behaviour against the government.

The two parties came out of Wednesday’s national council all guns blazing, with DISY expressing alarm at the centralised federal government being proposed in the talks and EDEK effectively blaming the government for the EU’s latest efforts to introduce direct trade with the north.

THE CYPRUS Telecommunications Authority (CyTA) has asked the House of Representatives to release €45 million of the key funding that was “frozen” when its 2010 budget was approved two weeks ago.

CyTA CEO Photis Savvides told the Mail yesterday that the semi-governmental organisation has sent three letters to the House Finance Committee, each containing a detailed justification for releasing one of the funding segments that it considers crucial to this year’s commercial strategy.

THE FINANCE Ministry said yesterday that contrary to reports, it has not decided whether it will reinstate the car withdrawal scheme which took nearly 24,000 old bangers off the road between 2008 and 2009 at a cost of €19.6 million.

A Finance Ministry source said the Ministry was still examining various options before it makes a decision but would not comment on the details under discussion. The source also said a programme will likely not be implemented before the end of this year.

CYPRIOT security authorities are examining information received about the presence of fanatic Greek Orthodox Christians, believed to be planning demonstrations against the Pope when he visits on June 4.

According to Phileleftheros newspaper, special concerns were raised about the planned visit to the Saint Kyriakos Church in Paphos because a number of the fanatics oppose dialogue between the Orthodox and Catholic churches.

The concerns follow a series of embarrassing anti-Catholic protests by local fanatics in October last year.