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Cyprus Mail: News Articles in English, 00-12-13
CONTENTS
[01] Police chief shares minister's concerns on immigrants
[02] Doctors threaten New Year strike over pay
[03] Butchers blame supermarkets for plummeting sales
[04] Three seized on heroin charge
[05] A day of hostage liberation and sniper practice
[06] Losses are `perfectly normal'
[07] Meningitis cases up, but only one fatal
[01] Police chief shares minister's concerns on immigrants
POLICE Chief Andreas Angelides yesterday said he shared the Interior
Minister's worries about the illegal immigrant problem, assuring the public
that the force was doing everything it could to stem the influx, which has
increased in recent days. On Monday, Interior Minister Christodoulos
Christodoulou lambasted the police for failing to prevent boatloads of
illegal immigrants from landing on the island. Christodoulou said it was
unacceptable that patrol boats never spotted illegal immigrants before they
landed, despite using the Cape Greco sea area 15 times in one month. The
minister accused district police directors of not implementing relevant
plans: rather, he claimed they acted as press spokesmen merely announcing
how many immigrants had landed and been arrested. Yesterday, Angelides
refrained from engaging in a war of words with Christodoulou. "The
minister's worries are our worries too," he said. "We have taken measures,
we are taking measures, and we will step them up further," Angelides added.
He dismissed suggestions that the minister's attack was directed against
him, adding that Christodoulou had clearly singled out district police
directors. Replying to a question, Angelides said he was not trying to
cover anyone, rather he stressed his determination to take measures against
members of the force who were not doing their jobs. "They should do their
jobs and leave the press to the police spokesman," he said. Angelides said
the police had an urgent need for sea surveillance radars and thermal
cameras, which would help officers locate boats during the night. The
purchase of the radars is currently on hold because of alleged
irregularities in the tender procedure. The Police Chief said that even
countries with better means and equipment like Italy, Spain, and Greece,
were experiencing huge problems with illegal immigrants. He also noted that
patrolling the Famagusta sea area was difficult due to the Turkish
occupation. Ten illegal immigrants were arrested near Cape Greco on
Saturday and another eight landed in the area on Thursday. On Sunday night,
30 illegal migrants, including 12 women and children, were flown back to
Syria. The immigrants had landed in Cyprus in mid-November. It was expected
that a further 35 people would be returned to Lebanon in the next 48 hours.
[02] Doctors threaten New Year strike over pay
DOCTORS are threatening to strike in the New Year, unless the government
approves a new multi-million pound salary package for state doctors, still
under review by the Health and Finance Ministries. But the government is
battling with tight budget constraints and under increasing pressure to up
teachers' salaries after a wave of recent strikes. "We have to pay
attention to everyone, but we can't give a positive answer to everyone at
the same time," Permanent Secretary at the Finance Ministry, Andreas
Tryfonides told the Cyprus Mail yesterday. "We are now asking our members
what they want to do. We're going to visit district hospitals to discuss
whether we want to go on strike. I think we could do so in the beginning of
January," said President of the Pan Cyprian Doctors Union, Stavros Stavrou
yesterday. He slammed doctors' salaries as inadequate on three counts:
pension, pay and overtime. The heart of the matter is a new system for
manning state hospitals at night, weekends and during public holidays, in
which doctors will have to stay in hospital when they are on call, rather
than going home. "This system would give a better service to the public and
organise the hospitals in a better way. But the element of cost is a major
consideration and we have to decide if that additional cost is worth it,"
said Tryfonides. The expense is expected to run into millions of pounds:
just how many though, is still uncertain. Stavrou said the government had
suggested halving overtime rates from £10 to £5 an hour, despite the
inconvenience of staying in hospital for the full 24 hours they are on
call. The other sticking point is that senior doctors are ineligible for a
full government pension, only awarded after 33 years' employment. "Let's
say that a doctor starts aged 32 and he works until he's 60 - that's only
28 years," said Stavrou. "Yes, this is a problem and we have to try and
find some solutions," agreed Tryfonides. He confirmed that the government
had not yet decided what to do about the doctors' appeal. Stavrou also
complained that doctors' salaries were the same as teachers', regardless of
the longer and more specialized training necessary to qualify. "At the
moment we earn the same as the teachers. We study 12 years, whereas they
train for only three or four years," he said. Tryfonides said this was
incorrect, adding that doctors earned more than teachers. The Civil
Servants' Union meanwhile yesterday confirmed that they opposed the
introduction of the National Health Scheme, which would bring an end to
their free medical care. All employees, including civil servants, would
have to make a contribution for the scheme, whereas the public service
currently enjoys a free health package funded by the state. But the union's
Secretary General Glafcos Hadjipetrou yesterday said that there was no
chance of industrial action, contrary to press reports.
[03] Butchers blame supermarkets for plummeting sales
THE GROWTH of supermarkets is being blamed for a 26 per cent fall in the
number of independent butchers on the island. The Federation of Butchers
claims some of the major outlets are selling products at a loss to raise
their share of the market, but this idea has been rejected by some shops,
which say buying in bulk gives them a better price. There used to be in
excess of 1,000 independent on the island, but today that number has fallen
to just 724. "I believe the big stores are buying lamb at £3 a kilo and
selling for £1.50 and turkey at £1.10 and selling for 55 cents. They are
able to do this because they make so much profit on other goods," Costas
Livadiotis, the President of the Federation of Butchers told the Cyprus
Mail. Nick Mort, the Manager of the Nicosia branch of Orphanides, however,
disputes this. "We don't make a loss on meat by selling it for less than we
bought it for. We are able to buy and sell in such large quantities simply
because we pay less for it in the first place." The Federation remains
sceptical and says the government should do more to protect small
businesses from competition. "The current situation is not fair. We have to
pay for the rent of our shops, our staff, our electricity - how can we stay
in business when we are being undercut this way?" Livadiotis argued. He
also holds the Cyprus Milk Organisation responsible for what it describes
as its "excessive intervention" and says: "It wants to control the meat
business, and supplies supermarkets with both cattle and lambs at a very
cheap price." Supermarkets are increasingly being seen as a more convenient
way to shop and a growing number of people are attracted to them because
they save time and offer free and convenient parking. The UK has already
witnessed a similar problem and thousands of smaller shops have been put
out of business by bigger retail outlets. The Consumer Association says it
is not concerned about the matter, because the public still has plenty of
choice. Petros Markou, the President, said: "I don't believe too many
operations will be affected - only those that are very small. For example,
I live in Acropolis and we have three butchers there that are all doing
extremely well - certainly no-one has complained to us." The Federation of
Butchers though, is appealing for new legislation, which would prevent
superstores from selling meat at a loss, and it says that if some sort of
regulation is not introduced, more small businesses will be forced to fold.
[04] Three seized on heroin charge
By a Staff Reporter THREE men were yesterday remanded in custody for six
days after they were allegedly caught taking heroin during a police raid in
Larnaca. The men were arrested at around 10.30pm on Monday when the drug
squad, acting on a tip off, raided a flat and allegedly found the three
suspects shooting heroin. The three men were named as Cypriot Antonakis
Elia, 38, 41-year-old Ukrainian Zaourbek Brisyveu, and Chaplet Vladimir, 36,
from Russia. Police said they confiscated various drug paraphernalia and
chemicals used to break down heroin. They also found a bottle containing
10 grams of beige powder thought to be heroin, and a syringe ready to be
injected. The court heard that Elia and Brisyveu had admitted they were
shooting heroin, while Vladimir denied he was doing anything wrong. The
suspects objected to their remand, Elia telling the court: "I admitted to
the offence, I need medical treatment."
[05] A day of hostage liberation and sniper practice
THE POLICE Special Antiterrorist Squad and Rapid Reaction Unit (MMAD)
yesterday put on a display of force and determination in an exercise
designed to show their readiness in dealing with potential terrorist
attacks. The exercise took place near the village of Analiontas outside
Nicosia yesterday morning and was watched by United States ambassador
Donald Bandler, and other American experts. It included combat and sniper
shooting, and a tactical response exercise. The display began with pistol
shooting at targets from various distances and progressed to sub-machine
gun shooting. What impressed most onlookers was their ability to fire short
bursts at targets while the squad leader was passing in front of the
targets. "It take a lot of trust between the members of the squad to do
that," a high-ranking officer said. Equally impressive was the nerve and
trust women recruits had toward their colleagues who fired bullets at
targets, just inches from their heads. The display then moved to sniper
shooting from 100 to 300 metres, with the unit's sharpshooters successfully
blowing their balloon targets. Rappelling - sliding down a sheer surface
with a rope -- was next on the programme. Officers used rapid rappelling to
force their entry into an apartment and `clean out the baddies', one of
them shooting at targets with his MP-5 sub-machine gun while rappelling
down the building. But the main part of the exercise was a hostage-
liberation scenario after the seizure of a mini-bus driver by terrorists.
According to the scenario, the anti-terrorist squad deployed its personnel
around the house were the hostage were being held and took all necessary
steps for their release. A negotiating team contacted the terrorists while
a tactical operation centre was being set up. Intelligence concerning the
terrorists, house plan, hostage condition, began to flow while the assault
unit arrived and began its briefing. The modern equipment carried by the
men - bullet-proof vests, shotguns, communication systems, pistols,
surveillance equipment -- was impressive, although the men lacked bullet-
proof helmets, which are widely used by special forces around the world,
and goggles to protect their eye from smoke and flying debris. Instead they
had to resort to their own sunglasses. The assault plans were drawn, the
viewers were moved to a better place in order to catch all the action, and
the teams took their positions. The plan was for the teams to enter the
house from two different doors, thereby surprising the terrorists, who
appeared to take their role quite seriously. The assault begun with the
explosion of a petrol container, which almost sent viewers to the ground,
and the simultaneous entry of the squads inside the house. The men entered
firing live rounds at static targets inside the rooms, `killing' two
terrorists and arresting one. Taking every precaution, officers cuffed the
hostages and frisked them while they were lying on the ground. This was to
ensure that no terrorist was hiding among the hostages. The exercise ended
with both the US ambassador and Chief of Police congratulating
participating units for a job well done.
[06] Losses are `perfectly normal'
The market took a slight step backwards yesterday, losing 0.68 per cent as
investors gave into the urge to cash in on the mini-boom of the past six
days. Trading opened on a downward trend at around 267 and dropped as far
as 260 before shooting up 10 points after which prices came under heavy
selling pressure forcing the index back down to close at 264.5. The
FTSE/CySE index also lost ground, closing 0.91 per cent down at 1,198
points. Volume for the day was a high 22.8 million. While most sectors
ended in the red with losses ranging from 0.17 per cent for investment
companies to 1.69 per cent for manufacturing firms, five sectors recorded
slight gains. The hotel sector was the best performing of the day, gaining
2.43 per cent, followed by fish culture companies, which added an average
of 2.24 per cent. The banking sector lost 1.18 per cent with Bank of Cyprus
(BoC) shedding five cents to end at £3.83 and Laiki dropping six cents to
close at £3.78. In Athens BoC stocks reflected the trend of the general
index and banking sector there, which dropped 1.97 per cent and 1.05 per
cent respectively, by falling 1.48 per cent to close at 2,330 drachmas
(£3.89). Both BoC and Laiki yesterday had to hand over the crown of most
active share to Louis Cruise Lines. Heavily traded Louis stocks gained two
cents to end at 54 cents on a volume of £1.9 million or 3.6 million shares
traded. Hellenic Bank also made the most active list adding two cents to
£1.52 but GlobalSoft was left out in the cold for the second day in a row.
The share ended at £5.28 after giving up 12 cents. Brokers had warned on
Monday that prices would come under pressure after six days of gains
tempting some investors to take advantage of a higher index. "Today's
losses are perfectly normal and were expected given we just witnessed six
continuous sessions of gains. These retreats are healthy and we do want
them," one CSE analyst said. "It is very unhealthy for a stock exchange to
move towards one direction only. That is what happened last year and we all
know what took place."
[07] Meningitis cases up, but only one fatal
THE MINISTRY of Health says members of the public should not be disturbed
by the five-fold increase in the number of people suffering from meningitis,
as the majority of cases have not been life threatening. So far this year,
there have been 134 incidents, but more than three quarters have been viral
- the others bacterial, of which only four were meningococcal, one of the
most dangerous types. The Department insists there is no particular reason
for the numbers of viral meningitis being so high, and that no one area of
the island has been worse affected than another. Since the beginning of
2000, the Ministry of Health has been using the mass media to try and
educate people about the precautions they can take to reduce the spread of
viral meningitis. "There were more outbreaks at the start of the year and
we have been running adverts to teach people to be more hygienic,"
Chrystalla Hadjianastassiou, the Chief Medical Officer says. She
emphasises the number of casualties can be reduced simply by raising
people's awareness. "For example, everyone should make sure they wash their
hands thoroughly with hot water and soap after they have used the toilet.
The door handles of bathrooms should be kept clean and children should be
discouraged from inserting items such as pencils into their mouth as this
can spread the infection." In addition, glasses and cups should not be
shared and those responsible for changing nursery children's clothes that
have been soiled should make sure they wash their hands between children.
Hadjianastassiou also advises that windows be opened regularly to help
maintain a clean and fresh environment. To date this year there have been
24 cases of bacterial meningitis, compared to 17 in 1999 and 18 in 1998. Of
these just one proved fatal and in that incident the victim had the
meningococcal strain.
SYMPTOMS Fever Severe headache Nausea and vomiting Stiff neck Sensitivity
to light Drowsiness Rapid Breathing A change in mental status.
Cyprus Mail 2000
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