Cyprus Mail: News Articles in English, 00-01-22

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

Saturday, January 22, 2000

CONTENTS

[01] Kyprianou recovering from successful operation

[02] Zakaki vote will cost Limassol dear

[03] Top officials ‘gave green light’ for Briton’s employment

[04] Tourism stocks take centre stage

[05] Petrol prices could rise next month

[06] Papandreou buoyant, but no Turkey visit set for Simitis

[07] Water crisis: ‘People of Limassol will suffer’

[01] Kyprianou recovering from successful operation

According to a medical press release, Kyprianou had two bypass operations and his mitral heart valve was repaired.

The surgery went smoothly and the heart started functioning without pharmaceutical support.

Kyprianou's doctor, Costas Zambartas, said an ultrasound scan showed the mitral valve had been restored completely.

"This is very important for Mr. Kyprianou because it improves his prognosis and simplifies future therapy," Zambartas said.

A major worry for the doctors was Kyprianou's respiratory problem, which put him in hospital in December.

Zambartas said Kyprianou had been taken off the ventilator, and said he was overcoming the respiratory problem.

The operation lasted for five hours, and according to doctors Kyprianou is expected to stay in hospital for another seven days.

Saturday, January 22, 2000

[02] Zakaki vote will cost Limassol dear

PARLIAMENT'S refusal to fund a desalination plant in Zakaki is cramping government efforts to bring water to the drought-stricken island, Agriculture Minister Costas Themistocleous said yesterday, warning the people of Limassol would suffer for it.

"Parliament is not helping the government solve the crucial water problem," he said in the wake of Thursday’s vote, and "that means the people of Limassol will suffer more if we don't have the (Zakaki) desalination plant ready in time."

Themistocleous told the Cyprus Mail he would brief the cabinet in the coming days, and it would discuss how we to proceed.

The vote denied the Water Development Department (WDD) the funds to run power poles to the planned site of the de-salting plant, and to run a pipeline from the site to the Limassol water authority pipelines, Themistocleous said.

The 21-18 vote against the funding came as the WDD is weighing seven tenders to build the plant, WDD Senior Water Engineer Nicos Tsiourtis said, adding "the price is very right" with the lowest-bidder offering 33.6 cents per cubic metre of de-salted water.

This compares with 54 cents per cubic metre (1,000 litres) of de-salted water the government pays to the operators of the Dhekelia desalination plant, the island's sole seawater de-salting facility. It produces up to 40 million litres per day.

Akel and Edek were joined by Disy deputy Stelios Stylianou and Diko Deputy Marios Matsakis in defeating the Zakaki funding in Thursday's vote. Matsakis won special Diko approval to break party ranks and vote with his conscience.

Tsiourtis said the funding defeat surprised him because Disy, Diko and the United Democrats together had a majority in the House, but "not enough members were there" from the three parties when the vote went down.

Tsiourtis warned that if the rains continued to fail, and the Zakaki veto stood, "we are going to have more restrictions" on water use and they "will be prolonged" for as much as the two years it could take to find another site and build a plant.

Tsiourtis, echoing Themistocleous, said Limassol residents would suffer the most from delays in erecting a desalination plant in their area.

Matsakis denounced this as "a trick by the government." He said Themistocleous "will be using the water restrictions as a blackmailing tactic because it has been proven beyond any doubt that applying water restrictions does not in any way save water."

"People just have bigger tanks and they store the water during the time the water is not restricted," Matsakis said.

He said the real restrictions were needed in farming, where he said water was wasted growing surpluses of water-intensive crops, "which we then destroy... We not only use the water to grow them, and then throw them away, we pay the growers," he said, a practice he termed "illogical."

Matsakis said he got Diko permission to break part ranks because "I strongly believe that it is the wrong decision to place the desalination plant in the location where the government wants to place it."

He proposed two alternative sites. One near the Vassiliko Power Plant, where there is already extensive industrial work being carried out, the other area close to the peak of the Akrotiri Peninsula, in Episkopi Bay, within SBA territory, but far from any built up area.

Akel Deputy Andreas Christou and Edek’s Doros Theodorou said they voted against the Zakaki site because it was too close to beaches where thousands of tourists and Limassol residents swam in the summer, and because of faulty environmental site studies.

"We propose the same plant at another place," Christou said. "There are other areas more removed from beaches, or already polluted with other industrial installations, where this plant can be located. This can be identified with the proper study."

Theodorou blamed the government for failing to do a thorough environmental study of the area before deciding on the Zakaki site.

"They didn't study. They decided (on Zakaki) just like that," he charged.

The Zakaki site sparked popular opposition from the moment it was announced. Residents of Ayios Theodoros similarly baulked at government plans to site a desalination plant in their village.

Theodorou said he learned they abandoned the Ayios Theodoros plan "only because someone big interests intervened" he said.

"And I wonder," he said: "is the interest of an individual more important than the interests of the whole population of Limassol, who use that area to swim in the summer?"

Edek’s former defence minister Yiannakis Omirou called on the government to carry out a thorough environmental study before building the plant.

"We want a credible study on which we can take a decision. We cannot pick areas. They have to prepare several studies for the environmental consequences. That's the key," he said.

Saturday, January 22, 2000

[03] Top officials ‘gave green light’ for Briton’s employment

A LABOUR Ministry official yesterday said a 1997 decision to employ a foreigner to a post for which Cypriots were fully qualified had been consciously taken by high-ranking Ministry executives.

The statement added a new twist to a Supreme Court decision on Thursday in favour of a worker who took the Labour Ministry to Court for not fully investigating whether qualified Cypriots were available to fill a position at the British Council.

Briton Anthony Paul Sellers carried out the duties of examination services director for a period from June 26, 1997 to June 26, 1999. The Supreme Court decision said the evidence suggested an equivalent Cypriot worker had not been properly sought, as required by law.

Speaking to the Cyprus Mail yesterday, the senior Labour Ministry official, who did not want to be named said, "An investigation was carried out and it was concluded that Cypriots were able to fill the position but the decision to employ the Englishman was taken very high up."

The suit was filed against the Labour Ministry and the Immigration Officer by Nicosia resident and British Council employee Foulla Hadjiharou Pavlidou, who had expressed interest in the position.

According to the court decision, the British Council on June 3 1997 applied to the Immigration Officer on Sellers' behalf, attaching a letter from the head of the Labour Department informing the head of the British Council that he did not object to the applicant being employed for two years, provided a residence and work permit were obtained.

These were issued and Sellers was allowed to carry out his duties from June 26, 1997. Less than a month later, on July 3, 1997, workers' union Sek requested that the Labour Minister withdraw the work permit, as there were Council staff interested in and qualified to fill the position.

Representing Pavlidou, Sek said that legal action would be taken as the decision had gone against the law on the employment of foreigners. The Ministry, however, did not alter its decision and Pavlidou's suit followed.

A representative from Sek yesterday told the Cyprus Mail that they were morally satisfied by the decision and that the next step would probably be obtaining compensation from the government.

Michalis Michail said that Hadjiharou had been carrying out the duties of the examination's service director for 20 years, but had been denied the promotion.

Other representatives from the Labour Ministry refused to comment on the case yesterday while the British Council said that the issue had been between the person filing the suit and the Ministry.

Saturday, January 22, 2000

[04] Tourism stocks take centre stage

THE CYPRUS Stock Market ended broadly stable yesterday, with strong gains in tourism stocks, but a weaker performance from blue chips snipping at the general index, which closed 0.4 per cent firmer.

Prices lost ground after a strong opening of 646.02 points to close at 644.4. The value of transactions was marginally up from Thursday at £21.9 million on 4,329 trades.

Yesterday's closing brought cumulative gains of the bourse this week to 0.2 per cent in what has generally been seen as a consolidation period with major swings in prices rare.

Tourism shares took centre stage yesterday as the sector climbed 2.14 per cent. Leptos Calypso topped the volume ranks with a £1.6 million turnover, jumping 22 cents to £1.70.

But nobody could say why investors were snapping up the stock.

"There is no particular news concerning that company at the moment," one trader said.

There were smaller advances in the industry and insurance sectors while investment, commercial, banking and companies in the "other" category showed declines.

Bank of Cyprus shares ended unchanged at £9.79 on a volume of 235,194 shares, Popular Bank were marginally higher by a cent at £13.48 on a volume of 88,870, and Hellenic Bank were off five cents to £4.61 after a tumultuous start to the week.

"The market is mostly quiet and it is directionless," said Calliope Toumbouris of CLR Stockbrokers.

Toumbouris said that many investors had started to do intraday deals, getting in one day and exiting the next in companies where paperless trading had been initiated.

"I see the new companies entering the market doing well and old ones left behind," she said, adding that was the result of a feeling among some investors that new entrants to the bourse were cheaper than others.

An analyst at one brokerage said small investors were not being very active and some were locked in at high prices, having bought when the market was at its peak at the end of November. "They don't want to sell because they will lose money... they obviously don't know the rule of cutting your losses short," the analyst said. Traders say the market was continuing to wobble from a cash drain by investors chasing cheaper initial public offerings. Estimates of money removed from the market from end-November to date range from £500 million to a billion pounds.

There were signs however, that some of the money was trickling back to the bourse; block trades in Louis Cruise Lines were an indication that some of the public investment companies were starting to distribute some of their cash pile, a trader said.

LCL ended the day unchanged at £2.82 on a volume of 530,749 shares. Universal Life, which has added more than three pounds this week, climbed another 74 cents to £4.99.

Speculative buying was driving the stock up as a deadline expires on Monday for brokers Severis and Athienitis Financial Services (SAFS) formally to make a bid to take an equity stake in the insurer.

AFS announced their intention of making a bid for between 20 and 100 per cent of Universal on January 11.

The firm, controlled in part by the Cyprus Popular Bank and Bank of Cyprus, is obliged to disperse its capital by the end of the month, or face de- listing by the exchange.

Saturday, January 22, 2000

[05] Petrol prices could rise next month

Talking to reporters after a meeting with the directors of fuel companies, Rolandis said the companies were working at a loss and were putting pressure on the government to do something because they could not continue like this.

"The ministry estimates that the companies will have a loss of £21 million if the situation does not change," he said.

"To solve this problem, only two things can be done. Increase prices, or deprive the government a part of taxation so prices would remain down, or a combination of the two," Rolandis added.

He said he had informed the President about the situation, even if he could have taken a decision without doing so.

Rolandis told reporters he wanted to table the issue at a Cabinet meeting, but that had to wait until mid February when Clerides returns from proximity talks in Geneva.

"I cannot see it dragging on beyond mid-February because the companies started having problems paying the refinery," he said.

The chairman of the Fuel Companies, Takis Lefkaritis, expressed the hope crude oil prices would fall.

The companies had a large deficit and are trying to find a solution with the Trade Ministry, he said.

Lefkaritis said the companies incurred a loss of £2 million every month, and added they would wait for the cabinet to work out a way for them to overcome this problem.

Saturday, January 22, 2000

[06] Papandreou buoyant, but no Turkey visit set for Simitis

GREEK Foreign Minister George Papandreou said yesterday that improving relations with Turkey would help end the 25-year division of Cyprus.

Nevertheless, Prime Minister Costas Simitis said in Athens that he had no immediate plans to take up an invitation to visit extended on Thursday by Turkish premier Bulent Ecevit.

Papandreou, on the first visit to Ankara by a Greek foreign minister since 1962, said the easing in relations between the two ancient adversaries -- and Nato allies -- over the last six months had helped to establish an atmosphere of trust.

"This momentum is going to help resolve problems (on Cyprus)," Papandreou told Turkish journalists, according to Anatolian news agency. "There could be nothing as natural as the two sides on Cyprus coming together. There is a process in progress and we are trying to create a process both sides can agree on."

During a televsion interview, Papandreou said: "I want to see a happy marriage in Cyprus instead of a successful separation."

Later Papandreou flew from Ankara to Istanbul to meet businessmen and the Greek Orthodox Patriarch, Bartholomeus. Afterwards he publicly backed a request from the patriarchate for permission to re-open a Greek Orthodox seminary on the Turkish island of Halki, closed since 1971 as an illegal education institution.

Papandreou’s visit, ending today, crowned half a year of intense diplomacy since relations chilled after fugitive Kurdish rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan was given refuge in the Greek embassy in Kenya. In August there was a wave of sympathy and aid from Greece when an earthquake in Turkey killed over 17, 000 people. Turkey reciprocated weeks later in what became known as "seismic diplomacy" when a tremor hit Athens.

A Greek embassy official in Ankara said a long-standing dispute over the construction of embassies had been settled. A joint working group will tackle Greek plans to build an embassy on wasteland on Ankara's main boulevard and, in exchange, Turkey will receive land in an Athens suburb for the same purpose.

United nations "proximity talks" between Cyprus President Glafcos Clerides and Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash, opened in New York last month, are due to continue next Thursday in Geneva. The aim is to pave the way for face-to-face negotiations, possibly by the summer.

Saturday, January 22, 2000

[07] Water crisis: ‘People of Limassol will suffer’

MORE and prolonged restrictions on water use, especially in the Limassol area, will have to be endured if Parliament’s vote against a new desalination plant at Zakaki is maintained and the rains continue to fail.

That was the warning yesterday in the wake of the refusal by deputies to fund the new plant. Agriculture Minister Costas Themistocleous warned bluntly that the people of Limassol would suffer as a result.

"Parliament is not helping the government solve the crucial water problem," he said following Thursday’s vote. "That means the people of Limassol will suffer more if we don't have the (Zakaki) desalination plant ready in time."

Themistocleous told the Cyprus Mail he would brief the cabinet in the coming days, and it would discuss how to proceed.

Water Development Department (WDD) Senior Water Engineer Nicos Tsiourtis echoed the minister. He warned that if the rains continued to fail, and the Zakaki veto stood, "we are going to have more restrictions" on water use and they "will be prolonged" for as much as the two years it could take to find another site and build a plant. Limassol residents would suffer the most, he said.

The deputies’ vote denied the WDD the funds to run power poles to the planned site of the plant, and to run a pipeline from the site to the Limassol water authority pipelines, Themistocleous said.

The 21-18 vote against the funding came as the WDD is weighing seven tenders to build the plant, Tsiourtis said.

Akel and Edek members were joined by Disy deputy Stelios Stylianou and Diko Deputy Marios Matsakis in defeating the Zakaki funding in Thursday's vote. Matsakis won special Diko approval to break party ranks and vote with his conscience. Tsiourtis said the vote surprised him because Disy, Diko and the United Democrats together had a majority in the House, but "not enough members were there" from the three parties.

Matsakis denounced the government response as "a trick". He said Themistocleous "will be using the water restrictions as a blackmailing tactic because it has been proved beyond doubt that applying water restrictions does not save water". "People just have bigger tanks and they store the water during the time the water is not restricted," Matsakis said.

He said the real restrictions were needed in farming, where he said water was wasted growing surpluses of water-intensive crops. "I strongly believe that it is the wrong decision to place the desalination plant in the (Zakaki) location."

He proposed two alternative sites. One near the Vassiliko power plant, where there is already extensive industrial work, the other in Episkopi Bay, within SBA territory, but far from any built-up area.

Akel Deputy Andreas Christou and Edek’s Doros Theodorou said they voted against the Zakaki site because it was too close to beaches where thousands of tourists and Limassol residents swam in the summer, and because of faulty environmental site studies.

"We propose the same plant at another place," Christou said. Theodorou blamed the government for failing to carry out a thorough environmental study of the area before deciding on Zakaki.

The Zakaki site sparked popular opposition from the moment it was announced. Residents of Ayios Theodoros similarly protested at government plans to site a desalination plant in their village. But Theodorou claimed the Ayios Theodoros plan was shelved "only because someone with big interests intervened".

Former defence minister Yiannakis Omirou, of Edek, called on the government to carry out a thorough environmental study before building the plant. "We want a credible study on which we can take a decision. We cannot pick areas, they have to prepare several studies for the environmental consequences. That's the key," he said.

© Copyright Cyprus Mail 2000

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