Peyia broke as millions owed in back taxes

2011-06-12

MILLIONS of euros are owed in back taxes to Peyia municipality, meaning the coffers are running dangerously low and there are now real fears for workers’ salaries.

According to local councilor Linda Leblanc around €2 million remains outstanding from more than 1,000 individuals and companies’ living and operating in the municipality.

“This is a problem we have been facing for a number of years and we are now being forced to take drastic measures,” she said.

The councilor pointed out that there are two companies in Coral Bay who between them owe €750,000, including one of the major hotels

Lawyers or politicians – who do you trust?

2011-06-12

 

VIRTUALLY no-one is talking about the fourth day before Christmas this year, and according to some lawyers, the eerie silence is extremely worrying.

“It’s really quite amazing that we have had elections of the House of Representatives and no-one has brought up the deadline of 21 December 2011. I really wonder why,” said human rights lawyer Achilleas Demetriades.

What is it about this date that has kept politicians uncharacteristically quiet, leading Demetriades to accuse the government of “criminal negligence” on a television show?

December 21 is the expiry date of the Immovable Property Commission (IPC) in the north, set up by Turkey in 2006 as a domestic remedy to the property claims of displaced Greek Cypriots.

Tales from the Coffeeshop: World’s largest angel planned but no family of angels

2011-06-12

AFTER making the world’s biggest sheftali, the world’s biggest koupepi and four-tonne donner kebab, we are set to enter the world record books yet again with the proposed creation of the world’s tallest statue, which would go by the name of The Kind Angel of the World.

The statue will be built near Monagrouli (a God-forsaken village somewhere in the Limassol district) and will, reportedly, be 135 metres tall, thus beating the current tallest statute, the Spring Temple Buddha in China, which measures 128 metres. Our Kind Angel will also dwarf the Statue of Liberty which is a mere 90m tall.

Our View: Time running out for talks going nowhere

2011-06-12

ANOTHER supposed obstacle to progress in the ongoing Cyprus talks will be removed today when Turks vote in parliamentary elections. These, together with last month’s Cyprus parliamentary elections, had allowed the two sides to engage in low-maintenance talks – carrying on meeting but discussing issues of secondary importance. Both sides would be content to continue this type of sterile talks for another couple of years, until after our presidential elections in February 2013.

Housemaid demand up despite recession

2011-06-12

CYPRUS MAY be in the grips of a recession and experiencing high unemployment, but it hasn’t dented the island’s demand for domestic servants from third countries.

This is the surprising outcome of the latest research by local economist and European University of Cyprus lecturer Alex Apostolides, who believes increasing arrivals may even expedite economic recovery, while the number of low skilled labourers from third countries has nearly doubled, and domestic maids nearly trebled.

Apostolides believes the surge in arrivals reflects a return to work by skilled female professionals, and the accompanying need to delegate household chores to low wage migrants.

Cyprus to tap international markets

2011-06-12

CYPRUS plans to tap international markets under its Euro Medium Term Note (EMTN) programme by November, the finance ministry said yesterday.

The Republic also planned to continue issuing bonds on the domestic market in a bid to maintain a balance between local and foreign investors, it said.

“Cyprus has retained a solid position in the financial and sovereign debt crisis. The Cypriot economy has the fundamentals to remain resilient to developments in the external environment,” the ministry said.

Thieves make off with gold coins

2011-06-12

THIEVES broke into a home in Peyia and stole over €100,000 worth of gold coins and other valuables, police said yesterday.

The theft was reported by the home owner who said his property had been burgled at around 9pm on Friday.

The burglars stole a safe containing a number of gold coins worth €100,000, valuables worth €5,000 and €1,000 in cash.

In a separate incident, thieves stole jewellery worth €30,000 from a home in Limassol.

The 48-year-old owner said the burglary took place between 10pm and midnight Friday.

Police meanwhile are still trying to locate the perpetrator of a robbery that turned into murder after the victim died from injuries he sustained in the attack that took place in Limassol last Monday.

Private tuition expense equal to 17% of public school support

2011-06-12

AS PARENTS spend much of the academic year manically darting around to take their kids to and from one private lesson or other, a recent EU report sheds light on the fact that Cypriot parent’s private tuition spending matches a whopping 17 per cent of the government’s public school spending each year.

The independent report sited Cyprus as one of the highest spenders on private tuition in Southern Europe, outmatched only by Greece.

Planned home for thrill seeking drivers

2011-06-12

THE FRENCH construction company Bouygues Batiment International plans to construct a public car racing track near Larnaca Airport.

“It will offer young people of the relatively large racing community, tuning community, biker community and others the opportunity to do something considered a dangerous sport in a safe environment,” Alexei Rechov, manager of the company’s branch in Cyprus said.

The project could involve an investment of up to 40 million euros, according to Rechov. “We will be participants with equity together with other investors.”

A feasibility study has already been completed and presented to Hermes Airports, and construction on the project will begin next year, if everything goes according to plan, according to Bouygues’ branch manager.

Workshops in Turkey for Greek Cypriot psychologist

2011-06-12

THE RESULTS of efforts to tackle domestic violence in Cyprus have raised interest in Greece and Turkey, resulting in one therapist being invited to train colleagues from both countries.

Andreas Orphanides, a psychologist specialised in marriage, family and sex therapy, is an associate of the Association for the Prevention and Handling of Violence in the Family.

For the last four years, Orphanides has been working with the association on implementing the US programme called ‘Love without Hurt’ in Cyprus.

Orphanides was keen to work on the programme and adapt it to the needs of Cyprus after noticing that services were provided to the women survivors of violence, but nothing on the male perpetrators.

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.