Cyprus Mail: News Articles in English, 98-04-12

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From: The Cyprus Mail at <http://www.cynews.com/>

Sunday, April 12, 1998

CONTENTS

[01] Cassoulides hails Ulster accord

[02] Clerides rejects Dayton-style peace process

[03] All may not be well on the economic front

[04] Akamas leaders complain to Europe over park plan

[05] Airport strike threat lifted

[06] North sheepish after skin graft

[07] Marching in aid of cancer patients

[08] Chilly reaction to wage freeze call

[09] Shoppers stock up on olive oil

[10] Irene Papas in Cyprus

[01] Cassoulides hails Ulster accord

In a written statement hailing the agreement, he added that in light of the deal, "a great responsibility" had been placed on those seeking a solution to the Cyprus problem.

"Wherever there is a political will by the parties involved, as well as international support, long-standing and difficult problems can finally be resolved to the benefit of peace and prosperity."

Cassoulides also expressed the hope that the international community would now decisively turn its attention towards reaching a viable and just solution in Cyprus.

[02] Clerides rejects Dayton-style peace process

"Many things have been said and written, but do not correspond to the truth, " he said, denying reports that such a process was planned.

Clerides refrained from commenting on other reports that Russia intends to push the United Nations Security Council on the Cyprus issue.

The president made his statements to journalists before going on a brief charity cruise on the Group 4 yacht, the fastest in the world, in aid of the Cyprus Institute of Neurology and Genetics.

Meanwhile Ankara has warned political parties in the north that the Turkish Cypriot people need unity, and as such, they should not criticise the Denktash regime.

Press reports said the Turkish statements added that unity and solidarity was particularly important now that the Greek side has begun accession talks with the European Union, and the Cyprus problem was at such a "critical stage".

The warnings came just after outspoken Republican Turkish Party leader Mehmet Ali Talat released a statement saying Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash's intentions to forge closer ties with Turkey were against the interests of the Turkish Cypriot people.

Talat's written statement also claimed Denktash was trying to have Cyprus permanently divided between Greece and Turkey.

[03] All may not be well on the economic front

A STOCK market boom that shows no sign of ending soon, and a mouth-watering surge in tourist bookings are underpinning high expectations for a bumper year in 1998. But there are growing signs that all may not be so rosy on the economic front.

Gone are the days when government ministers appeared never to tire of boasting that the island's economy met Maastricht criteria and spoke repeatedly of an economy comparable in strength and depth to those in Western Europe. The impression was that Cyprus will waltz through the usually tough EU accession negotiations and almost effortlessly win membership in the world's most exclusive club of nations.

The tone appears to have changed somewhat since.

The administration of President Glafcos Clerides, who won a second five- year term in February, is now talking publicly of the need to take "tough measures" to arrest a spiralling fiscal deficit. It has this month instructed ministries and government departments to come up with ideas to slash their expenditure.

The government also appears set to raise the defence levy and is considering charges for services offered to the public by various government departments.

A freeze on hiring for the public sector together with curbs on wage increases are also under consideration, while plans are afoot to improve tax collection. Raising taxes, a method popular with revenue-starved governments, is out of the question, at least this year, because of a Clerides election promise not to do so.

Employers, for their part, speak of the need to abolish the cost of living allowance (CoLA), contending that it has eroded competitiveness in the manufacturing sector and contributed to its present slump.

Compounding the already difficult task faced by the government in persuading powerful unions to accept the proposed measures, some cabinet ministers - including Finance Minister Christodoulos Christodoulou and Commerce, Industry and Tourism Minister Nicos Rolandis - are now speaking of the need to privatise semi-government enterprises such as Cyta, the Electricity Authority and the state broadcasting corporation CyBC and to restructure the loss-making Cyprus Airways.

Ironically, the present state of the economy materialised at a time when the island finally opened accession talks with the EU, a process whose ultimate goal - Cyprus becoming an EU member - would be the realisation of one of the island's most dearly-held dreams.

It also coincided with the now pressing need in view of EU accession talks for the government to introduce long overdue structural economic reforms, some of which - like privatisation - might prove difficult to introduce because of the reservations of a vocal and powerful leftist opposition in parliament. Beside privatisations, these reforms will also include the liberalisation of interest rates and capital movement.

But for the time being, a growing fiscal deficit tops the government's list of worries.

A shortfall measuring 3.4 per cent of GDP registered in 1996 rose to 5.1 per cent last year, and while projected to remain unchanged this year, Finance Minister Christodoulou has warned that it might exceed seven per cent.

The deficit growth is believed to have been caused in part by increased defence spending, compensations and subsidies to the farmers badly hit by a persistent drought, and the general easing of the state purse's strings in the run-up to the presidential elections last February.

But if predictions of a record tourism year become a reality, the government's troubles might prove short-lived or at least eased. Forecasts speak of an increase in tourist arrivals by anywhere from five to 10 per cent over last year's estimated 2.06 million. Figures from the state's Planning Bureau seem to back such forecasts. Total arrivals in the months of January and February were 97,079 and 102,927 respectively, compared to 88,660 and 90,845 for the same months in 1997.

Tourism, which earned the treasury close to £1 billion in 1997, is the backbone of the island's economy and its biggest single employer, but any increases in earnings this year will depend on the absence of any political tensions such as the buffer zone killings in 1996.

The bourse, meanwhile, appears to pay little heed to the government's wrestling with the deficit, recording more than 17 per cent capital appreciation since the year began.

In the past week alone, the all-share index hit three record highs and ended up after four of the week's five trading sessions. Many traders believe that a new bull run is about to start.

[04] Akamas leaders complain to Europe over park plan

AKAMAS area villagers have called on the Council of Europe (CoE) to abandon its support for an extensive National Park on the unspoilt peninsula in favour of tourism development.

In a letter sent to the CoE in February and only now released, the leaders of seven Akamas area communities lambasted the body, claiming it failed to consult local residents when investigating the issue.

The protest letter said that a CoE consultant who visited the Akamas in July for an on-the-spot appraisal saw "exclusively only those people who are in favour of the recommendations contained in the so-called World Bank report".

The community leaders were scathing in their condemnation of a CoE decision to endorse the government-commissioned World Bank report on Akamas.

"We would like to express our deep disappointment and strong protest against this deplorable decision," they said in their letter.

The World Bank study recommended that the Akamas area be preserved as a wildlife reserve, with tourism development restricted to within existing village boundaries. It was warmly received by environmentalists, who have campaigned long and hard for the protection of the Akamas area, but is anathema to Akamas landowners and most local residents.

The seven community leaders told the CoE the controversial plan had not been drawn up by World Bank experts but rather by "retired Cyprus government officials". "The only involvement of the World bank was to finance the study," the letter said.

"We strongly reject this report as extremely harmful to our communities' interests," the community leaders added.

They urged the CoE to adopt instead the recommendations in relevant studies by Andreas Polycarpou or George Karouzis - both former government officials - or the US-based consultancy group PEACE. All these reports recommend that the peninsula be opened up for tourism development.

PEACE recommended that a massive tourism complex be built at the remote tip of the Akamas peninsula, with tarmacked roads to it. Local greens have accused PEACE of being a bogus environmental group acting as a front for developers.

[05] Airport strike threat lifted

On Wednesday, the airport's 150 cleaners, baggage handlers and drivers disrupted 20 flights and left some 2,000 passengers stranded by staging a seven-hour wildcat strike. The disgruntled staff warned that more strikes would follow if their demands for holiday shift-work pay on a par with that of their Larnaca airport colleagues were not met. Bosses were given until Friday to bow to the strikers' demands.

After an emergency meeting with Civil Aviation Authority representatives on Friday night, Sek and Peo union negotiators representing the strikers said the government side had agreed to meet the demands.

The ground staff, who on Wednesday ignored union pleas not to strike, responded by promising not to strike again.

[06] North sheepish after skin graft

AFTER the sacrifice of 10,000 lambs in the north, almost 7,000 of the animals' skins disappeared, Turkish press reports said yesterday.

The animals were killed during the recent Muslim Feast of the Sacrifice, and while 3,500 of the skins were donated to the 'Cyprus Turkish Civil Aviation Institute', the fate of the others is unknown.

None of the skins were to be released without an official permit from the 'authorities' and a receipt from the recipient, the reports said.

But they added that certain rural religious organisations had been trying to get their hands on the pelts by pulling the wool over officials' eyes and not offering receipts.

Whether there will be an investigation into the fleecing is not yet known.

[07] Marching in aid of cancer patients

THE 23rd annual Christodoula March in aid of cancer patients takes place today.

The march was originated by cancer specialist Dr Dimitris Souliotis, in memory of Christodoula, one of his patients from Ammohostos, Famagusta. She died in August 1974, just after the Turkish invasion.

One day before her death, she visited Souliotis at the hospital, and when he asked her where she was staying, told him she was staying under an orange tree. Unable to admit her to hospital as all the beds were taken up by wounded soldiers, Souliotis asked her to come back the next day - but she died before she could return.

The event aims to raise money for the Arodaphnousa Home for Cancer Patients and to heighten awareness of the disease.

Today's march will be in all districts except Limassol, when it will take place on April 26.

The Nicosia march begins at the Arodaphnousa Home at 10.30am, following a route round Nicosia before ending back at the home.

Linked events include a six-kilometre sponsored run by members of the Pericles Demetriou Running Club, who yesterday also staged a 60-km relay starting in Agros in order to collect money from surrounding villages.

Antonios Andronicou, the Anti-Cancer Society's Executive Director, said yesterday that the society was "very optimistic" this year's collection will surpass last year's figure of £225,000. He called the public response this year "very satisfactory", with generous donations from the public, with money coming both from local areas and the British bases, which are supplying a band for the Larnaca march.

Andronicou said schools had also been very active, and theatres across the island were donating percentages of their box office takings for certain productions to the appeal.

[08] Chilly reaction to wage freeze call

The Chamber of Commerce (Keve) and the Employers' and Industrialists' Federation (Oev) have both urged unions not to seek pay increases for next year.

Industry bosses and employees now seem set on a collision course as collective agreements come up for renewal in various sectors.

The Peo executive office issued an statement yesterday condemning the Keve and Oev position as "unacceptable" and warning it "increased still further the danger of disputes".

"The executive office repeats the warning that a continuation of such policy on the part of employers' organisations will lead inevitably to dispute and great disruption," the Peo announcement said in a thinly veiled threat of strikes.

Both Oev and Keve cited the discouraging economic indicators and poor performance in many industrial sectors as reasons for seeking pay freezes.

[09] Shoppers stock up on olive oil

Supermarkets have said that in order to make sure they have enough of the staple ingredient of many Cypriot dishes, some shoppers are buying bottles by the dozen.

One Limassol supermarket reported selling more than 1,200 bottles in a single day.

Local olive oil production was badly hit by industrial strife and the recent drought, resulting in 350 tons of the oil being imported from Crete to ease the situation.

Much of this imported oil has already reached the market, while a further 60 tons is expected to be released by customs tomorrow. It should be on the shelves within the next couple of days.

[10] Irene Papas in Cyprus

Papas, who starred with Anthony Quinn and Alan Bates in the 1964 hit Zorba the Greek, is here to shoot scenes for the film Ellados, in which she plays a music teacher. Shooting will take place in Polis Chrysochous.

She will remain on the island until shooting is completed on Friday.

© Copyright Cyprus Mail 1998

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