President rejects blame for economy

2011-04-06

PRESIDENT Demetris Christofias yesterday rejected anew any blame for a recent downgrade of the economy by international ratings agencies and censured the Central Bank Governor for criticising the government’s financial policy.

Christofias also announced that he will be meeting the civil servants’ union PASYDY and other unions tomorrow to discuss ways of saving some €70 million in 2011 and 2012.

“The government is responsible for drafting economic policy,” the president said at a news conference to mark his three years in office. “The (Central Bank) Governor exercises control on banks” not the government.

“This is unprecedented in Cyprus,” said Christofias of Athanasios Orphanides’ comments regarding the economy.

Our View: The UN clock is ticking ever more urgently on peace talks

2011-04-06

U.N. SECRETARY-GENERAL Ban Ki-moon surprised no-one with his decision to put back to June the meeting with Christofias and Eroglu. There has quite clearly been inadequate progress in the ongoing talks to justify such a meeting and Ban decided it would be meaningless to see the leaders and go over the same points again. Could it be that the UN chief is running out of patience?

Government working to turn Cyprus into energy hub

2011-04-06

THE GOVERNMENT is working quietly to transform Cyprus into a regional energy hub, President Demetris Christofias said yesterday, adding that civil servants should take heed of this approach and say as little as possible about potential activities in the field of energy.

The president said the government’s efforts are based on taking advantage of the country’s strategic position and its EU membership.

Cyprus was awaiting ratification of the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) signed with Lebanon by its parliament, while agreements on EEZs were ratified with neighbouring countries, Egypt and Israel, opening the way for Cyprus to exploit its underwater natural resources. He hoped a deal would be signed with Syria soon.

Delays over introducing a National Health Scheme due to crisis

2011-04-06

THE TIME is not yet right for implementation of the National Health Scheme (NHS), President Demetris Christofias said yesterday speaking to the press to mark his three years in power.

Asked when the national scheme would finally be implemented, given that the EU directive on cross-border health care would soon come into effect, he said only when it was possible could the NHS begin to work.

“For the NHS to be implemented, this presupposes not only contribution from the government but also from employers and the average citizen,” said the president.

“You can imagine how they will react” if citizens were asked to make such a contribution during these times of crisis, he said.

DISY blames downgrades on government inaction

2011-04-06

OPPOSITION DISY yesterday blamed government inaction and lack of credibility regarding the economy for the string of downgrades by international ratings agencies, suggesting the administration was being deceitful over a cost-cutting dialogue with civil servants that was supposedly ongoing.

“In politics, especially on matters of the economy, what is most important for the markets and ratings agencies is credibility, seriousness, adherence to commitments and decisiveness,” DISY spokesman Haris Georgiades said.

The DISY spokesman said one of the most important issues announced last year was the dialogue between the government and the civil service umbrella union PASYDY.

But what happened to that dialogue? Georgiades asked.

Officers given suspended sentences for Kitas escape

2011-04-06

THE THREE police officers found guilty of a number of charges, including failure to perform their duty, regarding the escape of convicted rapist and murderer Antonis Prokopiou Kitas from a private clinic in December 2008 were yesterday given four to six months suspended sentences.

The three officers are former Drugs Squad chief Charalambos Ioannou, who received a five month suspended sentence, and the two former deputy commanders Avraam Charalambous, four month suspended sentence, and Pantelis Polyviou, six month suspended sentence.

15 athletes have used banned substances in last two years

2011-04-06

FIFTEEN Cypriot athletes were caught using controlled substances in the past two years, including three who took part in the 2009 Games of the Small States of Europe, lawmakers heard yesterday.

The data was submitted before the House Education Committee, which discussed amendments to the anti-doping law to include banned substances discovered since 2009.

“Only three athletes were caught doped from all states that took part (in the Games of the Small States of Europe held in Cyprus in 2009) and all three were Cypriot,” committee chairman Nicos Tornaritis said.

The 15 athletes caught using controlled substances over the last two years include those with disabilities.

‘I just want to go home to Liberia’

2011-04-06

WITH ONLY a rucksack to hold his few possessions, Liberian refugee Mattheux Brown, 42, who has been diagnosed as mentally ill, has made the steps of the Austrian Embassy in Nicosia his home for the last two months, refusing to leave until his demands are met.

“I want to go back to Liberia but I cannot go back with an Austrian passport,” said Brown claiming that the Austrian government is out to kill him.

He has made two demands of the Austrian embassy; either that they send him to America to get treatment for what he describes as “complicated head problems” or they arrange for an escort to Liberia, where some of his family still resides.

Greens call for chemtrails to be investigated

2011-04-06

THE GREENS yesterday called for government funding to investigate suspected contamination caused by alleged chemtrails in Cypriot skies.

The party have also launched on their website an online petition calling for a proper investigation into the chemtrail phenomenon (www.greenpartycy.com/el/our-news/2009-10-29-12-19-08/campaign-against-chemtrails-in-cyprus.html).

Remote testimony to be allowed in Helios case

2011-04-06

THE Nicosia criminal court yesterday said it would admit the remote testimony of two USA-based witnesses in the ongoing Helios trial.

The motion to summon two Boeing experts to testify via teleconference had been filed by the prosecution, resulting in a protracted stalling of the trial.

The defence objected to the motion on the grounds that during the course of the trial the Attorney-general’s office, which is also prosecuting the case, drafted a new law (amendment) precisely geared at allowing remote testimony in Cyprus courts. According to the defence, this represented a conflict of interest and abuse of power by the AG’s office.

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.