Leaked memo ‘clears’ president

2011-09-04

STORING A cargo of confiscated munitions that exploded in July killing 13 men was the responsibility of the army and not the president who had never been informed of any immediate danger, the government said yesterday, as a document referring to the risks was made public two days before Demetris Christofias testifies at a public inquiry into the causes of the blast.

The document, a memo to the president dated September 6, 2010 and penned by the head of Christofias’ diplomatic office Leonidas Pantelides, said army officers “favoured destruction (of the munitions) due to some dangers posed by the high temperatures inside the containers during the summer”.

Tales from the coffeeshop: Pol Pol might just do it

2011-09-04

I THINK we owe the one-man investigative committee and Charles Laughton lookalike, who was appointed by the comrade president to find out which morons were politically responsible for the Mari blast, a mild apology. This was not imposed on us by a malignant lawyer, but is voluntary.

When Polys Polyviou was appointed this one-man investigative committee, our establishment laughed at the decision and concluded that “nobody could muddy the waters and confuse people with his findings better than a smart and experienced lawyer… who are experts at complicating the most straightforward and clear-cut issue.”

Our View: A president in hiding is not up to the job

2011-09-04

PRESIDENT Christofias will be making a rare public appearance on Monday when he goes before the one-man committee investigating the Mari explosion. We say rare, because since July 11, Christofias seems to have become a recluse, limiting his public engagements to the absolute minimum and avoiding coming into contact with people and TV cameras at all costs.

EU funds Byzantine monuments’ restoration

2011-09-04

NEARLY 800 thousand euros will be spent renovating two Byzantine monuments, the department of antiquities has announced.

Agia Marina at Kandou and Panagia Kofinou will receive a 784,800 euro facelift as part of an EU-funded programme to renovate middle Byzantine monuments in Cyprus and Greece. Thirty-four projects were selected altogether at a total cost of 31million euros. Eighty per cent of the funds will be provided by the European Regional Development Fund of the European Union, the remaining 20 per cent is from government funding.

Excavations in the surrounding areas of the monuments began on July 25 and August 8, while the two monuments’ restoration works are currently being prepared.

Yoghurt health warning

2011-09-04

HEALTH Minister Stavros Malas said yesterday that the public’s health is not in danger from the levels of a preservative, Natamycin, recently found in samples of yoghurt, even though batches of affected yoghurt have been withdrawn.

“The concentrations that were found do not pose a serious threat to public health,” said Malas.

Natamycin is an antifungal agent used to protect dairy and other food products from mould and yeast growth. The substance can be used in several food products, but its use in yoghurt is prohibited.

Church artefacts stolen in Famagusta

2011-09-04

ROBBERS entered through a door that was left unlocked and stole around €20,000 worth of religious artifacts from a church in the Famagusta district, police said yesterday.

In what is becoming an epidemic of late, thieves hit the Panayia Eleousa church in Liopetri, taking off with various items made from solid silver.

The thieves apparently entered from a backdoor which was left unlocked, as no signs of forced entry were found.

The theft was noticed by the priest who went to clean the church on Friday.

Police believe the theft took place between Thursday and Friday.

Kebab shop owner mugged

2011-09-04

TWO hooded robbers ambushed the 60-year-old owner of a Larnaca kebab shop and made off with his proceeds totaling €6,250, police said.

The man was attacked by the robbers outside his flat as he came out of the lift at around 11.20 pm on Friday.

The pair hit him in the face and snatched a bag containing the cash.

He was treated in hospital for a broken cheekbone.

The man managed to see the face of one of the assailants and gave a description to police who also collected some evidence from the scene.

Fisherman protest

2011-09-04

FAMAGUSTA district professional fishermen yesterday staged a protest at the Ayia Triada harbour, demanding the government change the licensing criteria.

According to the protesters, the current criteria, mandating 1,500 kilos of fish in 150 outings, is not feasible.

The fishermen said the lack of fish and the damage to their nets caused by dolphins and the invasive Lagocephalus puffer fish, cannot justify the quote set by the fisheries department for issuing a professional license.

Rising from the ashes

2011-09-04

ON June 29, 2007, Cyprus saw one of the biggest, and fiercest forest fires in the island’s modern history devour 12 square kilometres of plant life in the Saittas area on the Troodos mountain range.

Four years on, efforts to reforest the area are well under way, carried out by a dedicated group of Forestry Department workers that are passionate about the forest’s restoration.

It is only after one looks at photographs taken just after the fire and compares them with the current state of Saittas, that the full import of this project becomes obvious. Thanks to the swift intervention of the Forestry Department and its sustained efforts to regenerate plant life in the area, the site is almost unrecognisable today.

Red tape could deter EU vote in municipal elections

2011-09-04

TENS OF thousands of local EU nationals could miss out on voting in December’s municipal elections because they can’t get yellow slips, have been deterred by red tape or simply don’t care, it emerged this week.

To register to vote, expats must jump through several bureaucratic hoops: They must obtain a ‘yellow slip’ from the immigration department, get a stamped certificate of residence from their Mukhtar and then collect a registration form from the district administrative office or citizens service centre.

The deadline for registration is not until October 2, However, as one British couple in Paphos discovered last week, it could already be too late.

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.