‘A wartime drill without the war’

2011-07-17

WITH SOME areas receiving more than their fair share of power cuts while a lucky few have had none at all the Electricity Authority of Cyprus (EAC) has admitted that mistakes have been made in their efforts to manage the island’s limited power supply.

Although consumers are supposed to suffer only one cut a day for up to two and a half hours, some are experiencing more than one blackout while others have not seen any cuts at all since Monday when the explosion at the Mari naval base took out the island’s main power plant.

EAC spokesman Costas Gavrielides told the Sunday Mail: “We don’t claim we haven’t made any mistakes. Unintentional injustices have been made in some areas.“

Tales from the coffee shop: The absurdity is making us cry

2011-07-17

IN TIMES of tragedy, it is very difficult for a piss artist who looks at the absurd and ridiculous side of Cyprus life to do his job. There was plenty of absurdity in the last six days but it was the type that provokes tears rather than laughter.

Thirteen men were killed on Monday, three of them teenage conscripts, thanks to the brainless, bungling incompetents that run this country.

Fifty per cent of our power production capability was destroyed after the new Vassiliko power station (cost: €1 billion) was blown up thanks to the same brainless, bungling incompetents, who ignored continuous warnings of impending disaster.

Our View: Christofias handling the economy with the same incompetence as the explosive cargo

2011-07-17

CYPRIOT citizens have always shown a high degree of tolerance to government blunders, slap-dash policies and shabby practices. This is what they have come to expect from our self-serving politicians, rarely complaining and too often accepting, with a laugh or shrug of the shoulders, implausible explanations for government incompetence. As a result of these public attitudes, governments have got away with glaring acts of incompetence and corruption.

Frustration mounts in Paphos over random power cuts

2011-07-17

FRUSTRATION is mounting amongst consumers in Paphos as random power cuts continue to sweep the district, causing havoc to day to day life, especially with the randomness of it all.

“There seems to be absolutely no logical daily pattern in the cuts and its making life very difficult,” said Paphos businessman Spyros Antoniades.

Residents, businessmen and holiday makers are all reporting daily cuts with some areas being left without electricity supply for hours on end, while others have an uninterrupted supply.

Sixth annual International Beach volley comes to Paphos

2011-07-17

THE WOMEN’S International CEV beach volley tournament is underway in Paphos this weekend.

Fifty eight women from eighteen different countries are competing in the sixth tournament being be held at Yeroskipou municipal beach.

Organisers said it had been an amazing start to the event “which gets better every year”.

They also said the Paphos tournament had ‘become an important event on the International beach volley calendar and that twenty nine teams would be competing for a place in the finals and cash prizes.’

This year, well known Greek TV presenter Nikki Hadjivassiliou, who presents the poplar Greek TV show ‘Pame Paketo’ which is shown on channel Alpha, is also taking part in one of the Greek teams.

Power boost from the north

2011-07-17

 

GOVERNMENT spokesman Stefanos Stefanou confirmed yesterday that electricity from the north will be supplied to the south via the Electricity Authority Cyprus (EAC), following an application by the Cyprus Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KEVE) that was submitted and accepted.

“The application was submitted with the approval of the government after legal advice from the Attorney-general,” said Stefanou.

The naval base explosion last Monday that killed a total of 13, took out Cyprus’ main power plant, resulting in daily power cuts.

The electricity was set to arrive by yesterday evening and according to the EAC chairman Harris Thrassou the deal would be valid until the end of August, with the possibility of getting an extension.

Energy savers should be rewarded

2011-07-17

 

A GROUP has been established on social networking site Facebook encouraging us all to ‘Reward Energy Savers!’

The group, already attracting several hundred followers, aims to encourage members to patronise only those shops and businesses which have demonstrated a responsible attitude towards calls for energy use to be minimised. The page states, “We are here to promote businesses that after the accident have responded to the dire need to save energy by any means possible.” “It is the least we can do to reward those that have realised that business is not as usual.”

State apathy of the criminal kind

2011-07-17

IT’S NOT the information, it’s what you do with it that matters. The cargo at the naval base was a ticking time bomb, officials knew it, and yet for almost two-and-half years nothing was done to act on this information.

That’s the picture that emerges from classified government documents leaked over the past few days. They show that as far back as May 2009 the military was warning higher-ups of the risks of keeping the 98 containers exposed to the elements. Fast-forward to Wednesday July 6, 2011, when an on-site inspection of the cargo revealed a blown-out container and traces of gunpowder.

The cargo of the Monchegorsk was transported to the naval base on February 13, 2009. Responsibility for the cargo was transferred from Customs to the National Guard “temporarily.”

What your child gets up to at summer camp

2011-07-17

 

WITH the summer in full swing now, hundreds of children in Cyprus are spending time away from their parents.

Most of them do not mind: they are hiking, getting thoroughly muddy in river beds and roasting marshmallows by campfires at night.

On any given week right up till mid-August, you will find in the Troodos Mountains about 80 children camping with the civil servants’ union PASYDY, 120 young ’uns at Club Jubilee and something shy of 200 kids with the Scouts.

Their ages range from seven to 13 and they come and go in weekly batches.

I arrive at the Scouts’ main camping site on a Thursday afternoon to apparent chaos.

Only responsible act for Christofias is to step down

2011-07-17

 

WHEN I wrote last Sunday in this column that President Christofias and his government were totally irresponsible and therefore dangerous, I was not expecting that my view would have been proved correct in such a tragic way.

I was referring to the president’s irresponsibility on issues relating to the economy. Often I cite his handling of the Cyprus problem to illustrate his irresponsibility, to which I have also attributed the regular revelation of scandals, involving his close associates.

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.