Cyprus must protect mutilated women

2012-03-08

DESPITE the lack of official statistics it is believed that some 1,500 female immigrants in Cyprus come from countries where female genital mutilation is practised, according to Christina Kaili at the Mediterranean Institute of Gender Studies (MIGS).

Kaili was speaking during a House Human Rights Committee meeting with Christine Loudes, campaign director for End Female Genital Mutilation (FGM).

According to Kaili, Cyprus should focus on providing protection and support to these women who come to the island as immigrants.

Two immigrant women in 2011 were found to have undergone FGM, according to Laura Iacovidou at the Asylum Service. The two women had to go to the hospital after an infection caused by the mutilation.

Unregulated treatment abroad cost millions

2011-12-08

  • THE HEALTH ministry is ridden with administrative and structural problems which hinder ‘performance and flexibility’ and increases costs, the auditor general said in her 2010 annual report.

The ministry spent almost €43 million in 2010, about €7.3 million more than the previous year. 

A major part of this increase was attributed to money spent on “specialised and expensive cases”.

One patient sent abroad cost the state $1.0 million (close to €748,000) while ten cases cost between €200,000 and €850,000 each, Yorkadji said. 

Yorkadji said that part of the problem was that there were no direct agreements with hospitals so that the state could properly check on the services provided. 

Clerides diagnosed with colon cancer

2011-11-19

 

FORMER President Glafcos Clerides was re-admitted to Evangelistria clinic yesterday evening after he was diagnosed with colon cancer and he is to undergo surgery on Monday, according to his doctor Iosif Kassios.

Kassios said that following the completion of various tests a malignant tumour was found. “We had a meeting and it was decided that the President should undergo surgery,” said Kassios.

Clerides, 92, was admitted to hospital last Monday with ‘chronic gastrointestinal disorder,’ but he was released on Wednesday as his doctor judged there was no reason for him to remain there. 

 

Theopepmtou: new rules will just discourage cyclists

2011-10-21

 

DRAFT proposals to fine and imprison cyclists for offences such as riding on pavements are unfair as long as it remains dangerous for them use the roads, Environment Commissioner Charalambos Theopemptou said yesterday.

Theopemptou was giving his views at the House Communications and Works Committee, which was discussing a draft law providing for a series of fines and imprisonment of between seven days to two months or both for various offences. For instance cycling on the highway could mean a fine of €1,000.

As far as riding on the pavement is concerned, the bill provides for a fine of up to €500 and or 15 days in jail. 

Further reports of false civil servants promotions

2011-02-09

FRESH REPORTS emerged yesterday of civil servants being bumped up immediately before retiring, thus allowing them to pocket a higher pension.

All people employed in the broader public sector receive two pension payouts on retirement; one from Social Security, to which they contribute 3.45 per cent of their gross income, compared to the 6.8 per cent paid by employees in the private sector; and a one-off tax-free bonus, which is calculated according to their last (highest) salary. The latter payout is also known as the ‘government pension’.

Daily Politis yesterday revealed a technical inspector at the Geological Survey Department was promoted on December 15, 2010 and retired less than a month later, on January 3, 2011.

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.