ALTHOUGH there may have been high expectations, George Papandreou’s visit to Cyprus proved to be little more than an exercise in a type of public relations that we have grown weary of. We heard the familiar platitudes and generalities about Greece always being by the side of Cyprus, about the Cyprus problem going through a ‘very critical’ phase and the need for Turkey to change its stance.

THE House Finance Committee was yesterday presented with a bill that aims to deal with the possibility of a collapse in the banking sector.

“The best time to deal with a possible crisis in the banking sector is when the economy is in a relatively good state,” Finance Minister Charilaos Stavrakis told MPs.

Although he claimed the prospect of a huge banking crisis, similar to those faced elsewhere, was “very, very unlikely”, the minister added: “We prepared this bill in cooperation with the Central Bank to deal with the possibility of a crisis; it aims to give the government the ability to move immediately in the event that a huge crisis hits Cyprus.”

A NATIONAL strategy and action plan dealing with paedophilia and the sexual molestation of minors cannot be delayed any longer, the Commissioner for Protection of the Rights of the Child said yesterday.

“I will insist on a measure, that I raised for discussion a year and a half ago, that at long last a national strategy and an action plan must be drafted about what the state will do to confront this tragic phenomenon,” said Commissioner Leda Koursoumba. “This is something that cannot be delayed any longer.”

The island was left stunned last Thursday by the news of two separate cases of child molestation and rape involving at least 11 underage girls.

PRESIDENT Demetris Christofias yesterday said he was not prepared to start negotiations on the Cyprus problem from the beginning and anyone suggesting otherwise should pay the price in Europe and the international community.

“Of course I am not prepared to start from the beginning. In the over 18 months of discussions with the Turkish Cypriot leader Mr (Mehmet Ali) Talat, we have created a basis on which we talk,” Christofias said following a meeting with Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou.

Christofias’ statement is seen as a direct response to hardliner Dervis Eroglu, whom polls place ahead of Talat in the race for the leadership of the Turkish Cypriot community in this Sunday’s elections.

CYPRUS WAS not informed of the European Commission’s decision to revisit the dormant regulation proposal on direct trade between the EU and the north, said President Demetris Christofias yesterday.

Speaking during a joint press conference with visiting Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou, Christofias said the Commission “seized the opportunity” to raise the issue of direct trade again, following the approval of the Lisbon Treaty, which gives the European Parliament (EP) co-decision powers in new areas.

Since 2004, when the EU promised to open direct trade with the Turkish Cypriots in reward for their “yes” vote on the Annan plan, Cyprus and Greece have been working together to postpone approval of the regulation at the European Council, said the president.

THE DEATH OF a 16-year-old Latvian boy on Sunday night has been linked to injuries sustained in a fight in a Limassol nightclub on the previous evening.

His death is being treated as a case of premeditated murder by the police, who are searching for the young suspect seen to have attacked the victim.

According to reports, the fight broke out at around 2am while the victim was out enjoying himself with his friends at a Limassol nightclub. According to police reports, the unknown suspect approached the boy and punched him in the face, resulting in both of them being kicked out by the nightclub security.

The attack reportedly continued outside the club, with the suspect repeatedly punching the victim in the head until he lost consciousness.

A FILE DESIGNATING protected natural areas on the island has been sent to the European Commission amid protests by conservationists that it does not go far enough.

The Natura 2000 plan, as it is known, was published in the government gazette, and the period of objections to it has already expired. The development comes after more than two decades of haggling over the future of the remote Akamas peninsula – a prime component of the programme – but preservationists insist it is by no means the end of the road.

IT’S NOT big enough for the environmentalists and it’s not small enough for the local villagers. No one, it seems, is happy with the final boundaries of the Akamas peninsula in Paphos district, which have been submitted to the European Commission for inclusion in the Natura 2000 network.

Many of the mukhtars in the area have expressed their displeasure with the decision, claiming they were left in the dark throughout the decision-making process.

The move was announced over the weekend by Agriculture Minister Demetris Eliades, who said a ministerial committee had reviewed the plan to manage Akamas, a region of exceptional natural beauty.