Complaints pile up in watchdog limbo

2011-02-20

OVER 2,000 people with problems with the government have been left hanging after the failure to appoint a new Ombudsman means the office is unable to process a single complaint.

The House of Representatives this week rejected the president’s nominee for the post, academic Andreas Kapardis, meaning the position has been left empty – and the department in limbo – since the end of last year.

One such couple lodged a complaint against the Interior Ministry on November 9 last year two months after their problem first arose, which was acknowledged on November 24 by Aristos Tsiartas, Head of the Cyprus Anti-Discrimination Body. After repeated follow-up calls, the couple found out on February 7 that no one could do anything about their case because there was no Ombudsman.

Time for zero tolerance of youth violence

2011-02-20

YOUTH violence has been on the rise for some time now, but apart from occasional expressions of concern by our wise politicians the problem is ignored. In the last week alone there were three incidents.

Lack of immigration policy suits those on all sides

2011-02-20

WE ARE just fed up of all these bleeding-heart, lefty, liberals of AKEL and KISA standing up for the so-called rights of the illegal immigrants, posing as asylum seekers and political refugees.

We also resent their suggestion that we Greek Cypriots are behaving in a racist way towards these lazy, uncivilised scroungers, living a life of luxury at our expense and beating up our cops when their welfare cheque is few days late arriving.

We are a warm, hospitable people but, but when our guests show total ingratitude and take advantage of us, we have every right to react. How long must we tolerate these ungrateful immigrants, taking our money, setting up ghettoes, provoking our schoolchildren, getting free snacks at our schools and disrespecting our culture?

Demonstrations on both sides of the line call for peace

2011-02-20

GREEK AND Turkish Cypriots calling for the demilitarisation of the capital and the opening of a new crossing in the buffer zone held simultaneous demonstrations at the Green Line yesterday.

Turkish Cypriot youths dressed as “clown soldiers” led a crowd of around 150 protesters to a location on the ceasefire line near Famagusta Gate. A similar number gathered at Orpheas Chrysaliniotisa Park on the other side of the buffer zone.

Oil and gas discoveries may not be a blessing after all

2011-02-20

OIL AND gas discoveries in Cyprus’ offshore territory may prove more a curse than a blessing for the island as the exploitation of natural resources is often accompanied by corruption, associate professor Craig Webster, said. “A casual look at the countries in the world would suggest that those with easily exploitable natural resources, such as oil, seem to have a problem developing strong democratic institutions,” Webster, who teaches international relations at the University of Nicosia, told the Sunday Mail.

Tenders queried in palace upgrade plan

2011-02-20

THE GOVERNMENT’S handling of an estimated €4 million presidential palace upgrade has come under fire from the Cyprus Technical Chamber (ETEK) who object to the government’s tendering process.

ETEK vice president – and president of the Cyprus Architects’ Association – Constantinos Constanti said yesterday that the government had got their tendering process the wrong way round: asking candidates to submit their price before – and their designs after – the contract was awarded. Constanti said: “The current criteria for the tenders is just the price. Then two months after the contract the winner will submit drawings.” The problem is that there is no guarantee that the winner of the contract would maintain the historic character of the building.

Remand in case of attempted murder

2011-02-20

POLICE were yesterday investigating a case of attempted murder against a 48-year-old man from Limassol, who was apparently stabbed in an altercation with his daughter’s boyfriend.

Even though the police could not confirm the personal relations between the two, they did say the middle aged man was in serious condition at Limassol General Hospital, after being stabbed during a fight with a 21-year-old man, also from Limassol.

AKEL unveils MP candidates line-up

2011-02-20

LEFT-WING AKEL, the government’s major party, yesterday introduced the 56 candidates who will contest May’s parliamentary elections. The new MPs will be elected for a five-year term.

Addressing an extraordinary party convention, AKEL Secretary General Andros Kyprianou called on party voters to “send a strong message of support and to continue their backing of the government’s struggle and the President’s progressive and popular pact”.

Kyprianou praised AKEL’s candidates, adding that “they represent the working people, the youth and the female population”.

Relics found

2011-02-20

POLICE ARE searching for a couple from Greece after church relics of great historical value were found in their Limassol apartment.

According to Limassol CID, police received information that antiquities were being kept in a rented flat on the outskirts of the town.

“A search warrant was secured and in the presence of the apartment’s owner but also the community leader, and while the tenants were absent abroad, the specific apartment was searched and a church shrine was found,” a spokesman said. Ecclesiastical experts have been called in to determine where the wooden shrine, believed to date back to the 18th century, was stolen from and its exact historical value.

The police have issued an arrest warrant for the two tenants.

 

Fatal crash

2011-02-20

25-year-old Limassol resident Andreas Pazaros died on Friday night from injuries sustained after crashing his car on the Limassol-Paphos highway earlier in the morning.

Pazaros suffered serious head injury and died around 11:00pm on Friday night at Nicosia General Hospital, where he was transferred from Limassol after the severity of his injuries was established.

Pazaros was trapped in his car after he violently crashed onto a second car. He was freed by the Fire Department. The police arrested the second car’s owner and he was later remanded for two days.

 

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.