British crook to face land scam charges

2011-06-28

 

A BRITISH criminal currently serving a prison sentence for drug dealing in the UK will soon be extradited to Cyprus to face accusations of developing and trading in Greek Cypriot properties in the north, the British Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) confirmed yesterday.

It will be the first time the Cyprus government has brought a case in Cyprus against an individual for the illegal development of Greek Cypriot property in the north.

Our View: How much longer can government hedge on taking needful decisions on gas matters?

2011-06-28

SOME NINE days ago, the Commerce and Industry Minister Antonis Paschalides told the Sunday Mail that the government was “getting closer to reaching a decision” on the type of terminal that would be built to handle our natural gas needs.

Despite getting closer to a decision the minister still could not say whether the government would be importing compressed or liquefied natural gas for the Electricity Authority’s (EAC) power stations. “We are looking at all options,” he said.

The Electricity Authority meanwhile, has been waiting for the government to take a decision for months now.

The possibility of signing a contract for an offshore terminal to supply Cyprus is now on the cards and appears to have further complicated matters for the government.

Minister: match fixing is part of Cyprus reality

2011-06-28

JUSTICE Minister Loucas Louca yesterday conceded that football matches are fixed in Cyprus, adding it was an international phenomenon and Cyprus is no exception.

“Would we be the exception?” he asked, speaking after he met with the new House Human Rights Committee. “Is there anyone who doesn’t admit it in Cyprus? Someone who claims games haven’t been fixed in Cyprus is not living in Cypriot reality.”

Commenting on recent media reports that money made from bets through fixed games in Greece was laundered in Cyprus, Louca said the police had not yet received any such information from the Greek authorities, nor was a request submitted to the Cypriot authorities to look into the claims.

Drilling for gas could be ‘catastrophic,’ environment bodies warn

2011-06-28

DRILLING for gas in Cyprus’ Exclusive Economic Zone could be an environmental catastrophe in the making threatening a unique ecosystem hosting migratory species of sperm and fin whales, striped and bottlenose dolphins and rare corals the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and international organisation for the protection of oceans, Oceana have warned.

The Texas-based energy company Noble Energy will be drilling for gas from September within the Eratosthenes Seamount area which the UN’s General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean (GFCM) has designated a Fisheries Restricted Area.

Extent of under paid hotel workers laid bare

2011-06-28

AROUND one in six hotel workers are unregistered and the vast majority of them are European workers, the House Labour Committee was told yesterday.

Around 16 per cent of employees in the hotel sector are not registered with 62 per cent of them being European workers.

The figures, released in the wake of recent protests by local employees made redundant and replaced by what they say is cheap European labour, were announced during discussions on an amendment to the Hotel Employees’ Law.

Committee Chairman, AKEL’s Andreas Fakontis, said the main concern was ensuring all workers were protected, whether they were Cypriot or foreign.

This, he added, was why the new amendment was important to help bring the law up to date.

Bird life’s living dead

2011-06-28

BIRD conservationists have once again highlighted the dwindling populations of indigenous local species, estimating the population of Griffon vultures and ravens is down to just 25

“Cyprus also has two species, which though not globally threatened, could easily be described as the ‘living dead’ of the island. The Griffon vulture (Gyps fulvus) is today down to fewer than 10 birds,” Birdlife Cyprus said yesterday:

While it was common on the island in days gone by, the Griffon vulture has suffered a dramatic decline mainly due to the illegal use of poison bait (targeting foxes and stray dogs), disturbance and the reduction in free-range grazing.

Hadjicostis’ father received phone threat two days before son’s murder

2011-06-28

TWO days before Sigma owner Andis Hadjicostis was murdered his father received a threatening voicemail on his mobile phone, the court heard yesterday during the ongoing murder trial.

The defence lawyer representing television presenter Elena Skordelli read the message in the context of interrogating prosecution witness, police constable Charalambos Charalambou.

“What are you looking for at Mount Athos? It’s hard to fool God. He’ll punish you eventually with so much wrongdoing. Ambition has eaten you up. You’ll end up in a coffin, like everyone,” the threatening message went.

Charalambous said he had no knowledge of the message which was reported to the police two days after Hadjicostis was murdered.

Erdogan visit Varosha unconfirmed

2011-06-28

TURKISH Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan will pay an official visit to mark the 38th anniversary of the Turkish invasion on July 20 and visit the fenced-off town of Varosha, it was rumoured yesterday in the Turkish Cypriot daily Kibris Postasi.

Official sources refused to confirm or deny the rumours. However, Kibris Postasi’s editor told the Cyprus Mail yesterday he had run the story of Erdogan’s upcoming visit to the island and Varosha after talking with officials at the Turkish Foreign Ministry. He said however his conversations with Ankara officials had been “semi-official” and were “yet to be confirmed”.

Expelled DIKO maverick threatens legal action

2011-06-28

DIKO’s former deputy leader Georgios Colocassides has given party leader Marios Garoyian until today to revoke his expulsion from the party, hinting at legal action should this not happen.

Party spokesman Fotis Fotiou yesterday confirmed that Colocassides sent a letter through his lawyer to Garoyian requesting him to revoke the decision to expel the former number two from the party by today.

Colocassides was kicked out of the party earlier this month by DIKO’s executive office on the grounds of insubordination after opposing Garoyian’s nomination as House President, along with renegade MP Zacharias Koulias.

Econ briefing from top officials

2011-06-28

THE FINANCE Minister and Central Bank (CB) governor have been invited to the House Finance Committee’s session next Monday to discuss Cyprus’ financial needs and the sturdiness of its banking system.

According to Committee Chairman, DIKO’s Nicolas Papadopoulos, yesterday, critical developments in the economic front led the committee members to seek a briefing.

Minister Charilaos Stavrakis and the CB’s Athanasios Orphanides will be asked to inform MPs on the course of the economy, as well as the government’s plans for economic recovery.

Papadopoulos said his committee would hold extra meetings, if needs be, to discuss the austerity bills that are expected to be tabled at parliament any day now.

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.