Sir,
As a frequent visitor to Larnaca, I know the problems that exist at the airport. However, the chaotic scenes as I checked in on Wednesday afternoon for a flight to Newcastle were something else. The queues at check-in were a headache as the baggage conveyor broke down, the queue for passport control backed 10 metres out into the check in hall and I waited an hour.
The flight was delayed one hour because we had to wait for passengers who had arrived on time who were still at check-in and passport control. It’s not even high season yet!
It will not put me off visiting again as I love Cyprus. But a lot of passengers, some with children, were stressed and not in the same frame of mind, vowing not to return. What a shame, but can you blame them?
Bob Inchmore
Newcatle, UK
Good luck Mr Papadimas
Sir,
I congratulate your paper for the reporting of the case of Costas Papadimas.
I have followed his case with interest and I am glad for him, his wife and family that he has had his conviction quashed.
I wish him and his family happiness in the future. False allegations are cruel, people make mistakes in their lives, but I am glad to see that his family have stood by him.
Gerard Malone,
Dublin
Couldn’t others help paralysed immigrant?
Sir
Reading Sunday’s article regarding Wasim Iqbal (Paralysed, alone and left in limbo), one wonders what has happened to the milk of human kindness if not resourcefulness at the Nicosia General Hospital.
It is, of course, right that the matter of his welfare and future should have been referred to the government but I venture to suggest that many other avenues could by now have been pursued in his interest by social workers at the hospital
It seems that perhaps there is no Pakistani consular service in Cyprus but surely that does not close all doors? Both Cyprus and Pakistan are members of the British Commonwealth, the former since 1961 and the latter since 1947, and the Commonwealth Secretariat in London the merest telephone call away. Dare I enquire whether they have been approached for some information regarding procedure in the absence of consular services? In which event, which member of the Commonwealth would act here in locum tenens for Pakistan generally and now for Mr. Iqbal specifically?
I am of the opinion however, that the British Embassy in Cyprus could and should advise Mr. Iqbal in his apparent predicament. Quite obviously he certainly is now in need of protection, legal advice and action.
I am convinced that an immediate visit from an appointed welfare person representing the Commonwealth is overdue.
Name and address withheld
