Central Bank: we’re losing precious time on the economy

2011-02-03

FINANCE MINISTER Charilaos Stavrakis was put on the back foot yesterday after Central Bank governor Athanasios Orphanides painted a less than rosy picture of the economy and called for “important steps” to be taken within the next two months.

Orphanides called on the need for the government to deal immediately with the public deficit, as the Central Bank had already highlighted in November 2009. “We’ve lost precious time,” said the CB governor, adding, “Certainly the problem we’re facing now is greater.”

A first step would be for the government to implement the cost-cutting measures pledged during the budget debate for 2011, in particular reduction of the state payroll, he said.

The next important step should be to address pension reform, he added.

Our View: Failed refugee status law was pure populism

2011-02-03

NOBODY could have been surprised with the Supreme Court decision regarding the constitutionality of the law that would give refugee status to the offspring of refugee mothers. As was expected the Court decided that legislators did not have the authority to enact legislation “that would result in an increase of the budget’s forecasted expenditure.” This would violate the principle of the separation of power.

Our View: Slapdash approach comes home to roost

2011-02-03

ANOTHER decision issued by the Supreme Court on Tuesday exposed the slapdash way in which many deputies perform their duties. It decided that a law, approved in 2007, allowing police to secure telecommunications data during serious crime investigations was unconstitutional. The House had adopted an EU directive on the matter, without taking any measures regulating how information relating to personal data would be obtained and used.

Damning report on Cypriot zoos

2011-02-03

A DAMNING report into Cypriot zoos has revealed inadequate welfare standards, unacceptable health risks to humans and a failure by all to meet EU or government standards.

The report, released yesterday by the Born Free Foundation, identified at least one – and in most cases several critical failings – in all nine Cypriot zoos during August 2009.

At this time, there was only one licensed zoo in Cyprus, the Paphos Bird and Animal Park, however a further eight establishments, which met with the EU definition of a zoo, were also identified.

Under the definition, a ‘zoo’ is described as “a permanent establishments where animals of wild species are kept for exhibition to the public for seven or more days in a year, with the exception of circuses and pet shops”

‘Big blow to police powers’

2011-02-03

THE SUPREME Court decision to declare unlawful the disclosure of telecommunications data has dealt a big blow to the police’s ability to investigate serious crime, said police spokesman Michalis Katsounotos yesterday.

“The tools and weapons available to the Cyprus police for the purposes of tackling serious crime have been significantly restricted,” he said.

In a decision on Tuesday, the top court declared unconstitutional the law providing for the disclosure of telecommunications data for the purposes of investigating serious crime.

“The whole issue as outlined in the extensive Supreme Court decision is purely of a legal nature,” said Katsounotos.

UN Egypt staff expected in Cyprus

2011-02-03

THE UN Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) has made arrangements to receive up to 600 UN staff and their dependents based in Egypt today at Larnaca airport.

“Due to the security situation, UN personnel will be temporarily relocated out of Egypt. However, essential activities of the UN will continue there,” said UNFICYP spokesman Rolando Gomez yesterday.

“We have planned this in close coordination with the government to which we are very grateful for their assistance,” he added.

There have been calls from within Egypt for the UN to keep its presence there but the increasingly volatile situation has led UN decision-makers to call for a pull out of “less essential” personnel, leaving behind a skeleton staff in the troubled country.

School-bus driver was caught drink driving

2011-02-03

A SCHOOL bus driver from the Famagusta area has been fired and faces criminal prosecution after being caught driving under the influence of alcohol.

The 58-year-old driver had been on his way to pick gymnasium pupils at a Gymnasium on Tuesday when he was stopped by police for a routine check.

He was tested and found to be nearly twice over the limit at 39mg. The legal limit is 22mg.

The 58-year-old was arrested on the spot, charged and released to appear in court at a later date.

When the company that employs him was informed on the incident, the driver was immediately fired.

Furthermore, the Road Transport Department has launched criminal proceedings to have his professional driver’s licence taken away.

‘They knew it was unconstitutional’

2011-02-03

THE LAWS granting the children of mother refugees the same rights and status as those of father’s were blatantly unconstitutional and parliamentarians who passed them were well aware of that, ruling party AKEL’s Stavros Evagorou said yesterday.

Evagorou said the parties backing the two laws that were overturned on Tuesday by a Supreme Court ruling were obviously aiming to serve petty political interests.

Helios trial could open the way for video testimonies

2011-02-03

THE NICOSIA Criminal Court will decide on February 15 whether to accept a prosecution request to have several overseas expert witnesses testify via teleconference on the Helios air crash, after parliament urgently passed the legal framework to allow it.

The prosecution’s two separate requests were rejected in November when it emerged that Cyprus didn’t have the legal framework to implement an agreement between the island and the US for mutual judicial assistance, which includes teleconferencing. The court ruled that it couldn’t examine the request unless the relevant law was enforced.

But after parliament passed the law as a matter of urgency in December, the prosecution’s request was re-tabled.

Have police nabbed copycat ‘sword robber’ or the real thing?

2011-02-03

POLICE yesterday arrested a man they suspect of either being the notorious ‘sword robber’ or a copycat who may have carried out a robbery at a Limassol bakery on Tuesday night,

Police said they had arrested a 24-year-old just before 6pm yesterday in connection with Tuesday’s robbery, and to see to “what degree the incident was connected with the infamous sword robber’.

According to police reports during the robber on Tuesday, a hooded man entered the bakery on Limassol’s Nikos Pattichis Street, wielding a sword and emptied the till. It is not known how much was inside.

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.