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Cyprus Mail: News Articles in English, 00-11-28
CONTENTS
[01] Shares start the week with a hammering
[02] Immigrant problem 'getting worse'
[03] 'Please give us a proper home'
[04] Primary schools to close for strike today
[05] Local official hits back at nepotism claims
[06] Man to go on trial for 1995 murder
[07] Three killed over the weekend
[01] Shares start the week with a hammering
THE CYPRUS Stock Exchange hit another year-low yesterday, as the all-share
index sank 4.57 per cent to close at 243.55 in a session dominated by waves
of panic selling. By noon, the capitalisation of the entire CSE stood at £6,
783 million - the same amount totalled by the Bank of Cyprus and Cyprus
Popular Bank alone one year ago. The index opened and fell like a stone.
The rock-bottom prices encouraged some people to buy in mid-session,
pushing the index up to an intra-day high at 11am, but then the panic set
in again. From then on, the index headed south to close in the doldrums an
hour later. Total traded volume scraped £17.45 million. The launch of new
listings continues to drain the market of liquidity. Yesterday was the day
that ERA rights and new Logicom shares released from exercised warrants
joined the market. "This is an everyday phenomenon and it is choking the
market. All these right issues and bonus shares are too much for the local
market. Our market is too small to sustain these issues and yet they keep
appearing every day along with new listings and new investment companies.
All we are doing is digging our grave deeper," one analyst said. Just 15
companies reported price gains yesterday to 150 that headed down. The
banks were the day's biggest losers. Bank of Cyprus shed 18 cents to close
at £4.39 while Laiki Bank lost 15 cents to finish at £5.45. The sector as a
whole slipped 5.34 per cent. The outlook for the rest of the week is hardly
cheerier. Demos Stavrides of AAA Stockbrokers predicts more losses for
today and tomorrow. With the index crawling on its knees, the impact of
volume is felt much more keenly. The more shares sold, the lower the index
spirals, but as the index gets lower, less transactions are needed to send
it down. The negative psychology that has dogged the stock market since the
summer has sunk to new depths. Long-running investors, not just those who
dabbled, are now dumping shares despite the rock-bottom prices. Internet
analysts yesterday advertised the CSE as an international yardstick for
what not to do, should other countries want to establish an exchange, and
accused brokers of giving misleading and confused messages to the media,
exacerbating investor uncertainty. Technology stocks marked a 4.36 per cent
loss on the back of just £2.62 million worth of transactions. Things were
also grim for the finance sector, measuring a drop of 3.54 per cent.
Tourism came in close behind with a 3.51 per cent fall, manufacturing
companies were down 3.32 per cent and trading firms fell 3.21 per cent.
[02] Immigrant problem 'getting worse'
By a staff Reporter INTERIOR Minister Christodoulos Christodoulou said
yesterday the illegal immigrant problem was getting worse and was expected
to continue well into the New Year. In past months, the influx of migrants
from the Middle East has steadily increased, prompting the government to
take emergency measures to deal with the problem. Speaking after a meeting
with the ambassadors of Lebanon and Syria, Christodoulou said he had
requested to visit the two countries to hold talks with his counterparts
about ways of enhancing co-operation in combating the problem of illegal
immigrants who sail to Cyprus from ports in Syria and Lebanon. The minister
said that the problem had become more serious in the past few months,
adding that the trend was expected to continue in the next year. "The
purpose of the meetings will be the discussion of ways of further enhancing
co-operation with these countries to tackle the migrant problem more
effectively," Christodoulou said. The co-operation would focus on exchange
of information and finding effective ways for the early return of the
immigrants to their country of origin or departure. Christodoulou said they
had discussed the issue of 43 immigrants, who sailed from Syria and landed
on the island 10 days ago, and are currently being held in a purpose-built
facility at the central prison in Nicosia. The Minister quoted the Syrian
ambassador as saying his country was positive on the return of the
immigrants, but that there had been a delay due to the bureaucratic
procedures. Cyprus is a regular drop-off point for immigrants who seek a
better future on the island or use it as a transit point to Europe.
[03] 'Please give us a proper home'
A REFUGEE mother and daughter, both with health problems and living on
minimum welfare benefit, yesterday pleaded for government help them move
out of the decrepit house where they are currently living. The women, who
scrape together barely £300 a month between them, have asked the government
to provide them with a decent place to live, but the Refugee Care Services
say there are hardly any vacant state houses. Widow Eleni Adamou, 75, and
her unmarried daughter Tasoulla, 55, come from Loutro village in the
occupied areas. Tasoulla's brother and two sisters are married. But she
still lives with her mother in a house in Ayios Dhometios, Nicosia, which
is on the verge of collapse. The house was built in 1921 and has not been
renovated since. The walls are full of cracks and some of the windowpanes
are broken. The two women cannot work because of health problems. Tasoulla
receives a state allowance of £160 a month and her mother's income is a
pension of between £120 and £140 a month. They pay £80 a month in rent.
Eleni, who suffers from severe back problems and can barely move, yesterday
got out of bed to talk to the Cyprus Mail, hoping officials might help her
out once they heard about her plight. "We moved in here nine years ago. The
state of the house was about the same as it is now. The local authorities
were about to demolish it but the owner talked them out of it, promising to
renovate it. But instead, he sold it to someone else. The new owner is
planning to demolish it. Where does that leave us? The Refugee Care
Services have not inspected the house in eight years, despite the fact that
we have repeatedly asked them to. "We have asked the government to provide
us with a decent house to live in, but they are doing nothing. We are poor
refugees and we are entitled to a state house so we should not have to pay
any rent. Apart from feeding ourselves, we can afford almost nothing.
Eleni's daughter Tasoulla has severe respiratory problems and cannot work.
Apart from her back problems, Eleni also has kidney stones. Neither can
afford proper medical care. "I cannot go to the hospital as I can hardly
move and I don't have anyone to drive me there. Taking a taxi is out of the
question as is going to a private doctor," Eleni said. Paying the bills is
an ordeal for the two women. Tasoulla said she had had to borrow money from
friends to pay a £45 electricity bill. A few years ago, when Eleni's
husband was still alive, the Refugee Care Department offered the family a
tiny room on a refugee estate in Strovolos. "But we could never live
there. It was only big enough to fit a car," Tasoulla said. Their house in
Ayios Dhometios is of average size, but has no heating or air conditioning.
"It is almost impossible to stand the heat in the summer. When temperatures
reach 45 degrees, we sleep in the yard outside at night, and we freeze in
the winter." But Refugee Care Services' director Nicos Petsas said it was
becoming impossible to house any more refugees. "The availability of vacant
houses is very limited. We could try to find an apartment for the two women,
but I realise that Eleni's condition would not allow her to use the stairs
and there are not always lifts in those buildings. And there are very few
ground floor flats left." Senior Welfare Department official Chloe Coromia
said the benefit that Tasoulla Adamou received was what she was entitled
to. A deprived person is entitled to an allowance of £118 a month, plus
extra money for rent.
[04] Primary schools to close for strike today
PRIMARY and nursery schools across the island are to remain closed today as
teachers escalate their strike action in search of higher pay. An
emergency Ministerial Committee meeting yesterday decided to refer the
thorny issue to tomorrow's Cabinet meeting, failing to break the deadlock
between teachers' union POED and the Education Ministry. Teachers last
night appeared unmoved by parents' pleas for the all-day work stoppage to
be called off and their warnings of unspecified action should the strike go
ahead. After the afternoon meeting of the ministerial committee, Finance
Minister Takis Klerides said the strike action seemed unavoidable. Earlier
in the day, POED chief Sofoklis Charalambides had warned that only
"phenomenal developments" could avert the strike. He said teachers wanted
the ministerial committee to position itself on their demands. But the
Ministers decided to pass the hot potato to the Cabinet. POED want their
members be put on a wages par with their colleagues in secondary education,
who were recently promised pay rises by the government. Wary of a public
backlash against their strike action, the union yesterday took out full-
page advertisements in newspapers defending its positions. The islands 4,
500 primary and nursery teachers, who last Tuesday staged a two-hour
warning strike, are threatening to escalate their strike action if their
pay demands are not met. Education Minister Ouranios Ioannides yesterday
said that deciding on the teachers' demands was not just a matter of
"saying yes or no", but rather had to involve negotiations with all
concerned parties, including secondary school teachers' union OELMEK and
civil servants' union PASYDY. Ioannides has condemned the teachers' strike
action, saying they should have awaited the conclusion of official
negotiations on the pay issue. The Pancyprian Association of parents of
primary school teachers warned that they would be meeting today to decide
on counter-strike action if the stoppage went ahead. "We have to stop
being the fools in the whole thing," said association chairman Heraklis
Papandreou. He declined to say what action the parents might decide to
take. Papandreou charged both POED and the Education Minister with
"destroying" all-day primary schools. As part of their strike action,
teachers have since last Tuesday been refusing to supervise the afternoon
lessons offered at selected primary schools. The experiment in all-day
school, popular with parents, was being killed off by the strike action and
the Minister's failure to thrash out a deal with POED, Papandreou said. "We
say all-day school is now already dead, Mr Charalambides and Mr Ioannides
are just writing its epitaph," he said. This is the first year that all-
day school has been tried out on a broad scale.
[05] Local official hits back at nepotism claims
By a staff Reporter THE CHAIRMAN of the Ayios Tychonas Community Council
yesterday dismissed an Auditor-general's report condemning him for making
an irregular appointment. "Our legal advisor says the appointments were
totally regular, that is the opinion of our legal advisors," said Bambos
Ioannou. Digging his heels in hard, the Community Council chairman also
warned he would fight the Attorney-general's moves to revoke the
appointments. According to Auditor-general Chrystalla Yiorkadji's recently
released annual report, Ioannou abused a legal clause allowing him to hire
"any workers necessary for the execution of any project" within his
community. The council chairman, Yiorkadji found, appointed an Ayios
Tychonas councillor as a "specialised labourer". The "labourer" in fact
worked in an office, the Auditor-general reported. A technician's post was
later created to accommodate the same councillor. The technician post was
never advertised and the councillor took up the position without giving up
his councillor status, Yiorkadji noted. Ioannou, according to Yiorkadji,
also appointed his son to the post of Ayios Tychonas cultural officer.
Following complaints from both the Auditor-general's office and the
Limassol District Office, the job description for Ioannou's offspring was
changed to that of "special labourer". The nepotism reported by Yiorkadji
has not gone unnoticed by the Attorney-general's office. Attorney-general
Alecos Markides has asked the Interior Ministry to order the two suspect
Ayios Tychonas appointments to be revoked. But Ioannou yesterday made
clear he would not stand aside while his appointments were cancelled. "He
will have to deal with our legal advisors," Ioannou warned Markides. The
law office of seasoned anti-nepotism campaigner, DISY deputy Christos
Pourgourides, represents the community council.
[06] Man to go on trial for 1995 murder
By a staff Reporter A MAN who has confessed he was behind the "unsolved"
murder of Sotiris Nicolaou at Flasou five years ago was yesterday referred
to the Nicosia Criminal Court for trial. Thirty-two-year-old Christakis
Michael admitted to police that he had committing the murder earlier this
month after he was found in possession of the G3 riffle thought to have
been used in the murder in the Troodos mountain village. Both the victim
and his confessed killer come from Tembria, but car mechanic Nicolaou moved
to nearby Flasou after marrying a girl from the village. The killing took
place on November 14, 1995. Police got nowhere with the murder
investigation for years, but got their lucky break when Michael was
arrested for failing to return his army-issue G3 to the National Guard. An
examination of the automatic showed it was the gun used to kill Nicolaou.
Appearing before the Nicosia District Court without a lawyer earlier this
month, Michael said he "confessed to everything". The same court yesterday
referred his case to the Criminal court.
[07] Three killed over the weekend
By a staff Reporter THREE more people were killed in road accidents over
the weekend, a 27-year-old father-to-be from Limassol, a 19-year-old
National Guardsman from Nicosia and a 72-year-old Larnaca woman. The first
death occurred on Limassol's Akadimias Avenue at around 8.40 pm on
Saturday. According to police, Kyriacos Olsen, 27, who was delivering
pizzas on his moped, collided head-on with a car driven by a 50-year-old
Filipino. Kyriacos, whose wife is nine months pregnant, was killed
instantly. It was not clear yesterday whether he had been wearing a helmet.
The driver of the car, who was unhurt in the crash, was arrested soon after
the crash. He was later released without charge. The second death occurred
at about 5.20 am on Sunday morning on the main Kokkinotrimithia to
Anthoupolis road, West of Nicosia. According to eyewitnesses, National
Guardsman Christodoulos Mitillos, from the Strovolos suburb of Nicosia,
lost control of his car and veered onto the wrong side of the road. The 19-
year-old's car collided with three oncoming vehicles before stopping,
police reported. Christodoulos was killed instantly and one of the
passengers in one of the other cars, 33-year-old Ilias Ilia, was seriously
injured. Police said the National Guardsman had not been wearing a seat
belt at the time of the accident. The third death occurred on Sunday
afternoon, when 72-year-old Christodoula Kyriacou, from Larnaca, died in
the town's hospital of injuries she sustained in an accident on Saturday
morning. According to a police report, Kyriacou was hit by a car while
trying to cross Larnaca's busy Grivas Dhigenis Avenue. All three fatal
accidents are being investigated by police. Cyprus has one of the worst
road death rates in Europe, with over 100 people killed in an average year.
Cyprus Mail 2000
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