Cyprus Mail: News Articles in English, 01-04-22

Cyprus Mail: News Articles in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article

From: The Cyprus Mail at <http://www.cyprus-mail.com/>

Sunday, April 22, 2001

CONTENTS

[01] Pupils 'went on the rampage' in Corfu

[02] Saturday afternoon shopping a reality at last

[03] Youths arrested after street cash snatch

[04] Bird raids: Greens say much more needs to be done

[05] Turkish gypsies begin jail terms

[06] Cyprus gets economic 'Pep' talk from EU

[07] Cyprus trade balance falls again

[08] Business Briefs

[09] News in brief

[01] Pupils 'went on the rampage' in Corfu

EDUCATION Minister Ouranios Ioannides yesterday confirmed he was launching an investigation into reports that pupils from two lyceums caused mayhem at the hotel they were staying in during a school trip to Corfu at Easter.

The reports were initially played down by the minister who said they had been blown out of all proportion.

The Apollon Palace hotel management when contacted by the Sunday Mail took a similar stance, saying nothing had really happened although confirming that some damage had been caused.

“No legal action would be taken,” said a hotel spokesman.

But on Friday, after receiving a letter describing the pupils' behaviour and signed by 31 Cypriot holiday-makers who had been staying at the same hotel, Ioannides immediately ordered an investigation.

In the letter, the holiday-makers said they had witnessed the unacceptable behaviour of the pupils and that beyond the damage and inconvenience caused, they had also defamed Cyprus.

This view was echoed by LTV sportscaster Savvas Koshiaris who was also staying at the same hotel.

It was initially reported that the trouble began when pupils from Nicosia's Kykkos B and Limassol's Lanition A lyceums clashed over a football game between teams from both cities.

But Koshiaris said it was the 200 pupils from Kykkos B who went on the rampage.

The popular journalist was almost lost for words when asked to describe what went on.

“They behaved like barbarians,” he told the Sunday Mail. “Think of 200 pupils shouting all night long.”

Koshiaris said the trouble started the moment the group arrived and went on unabated throughout the night.

They shouted abuse and lewd slogans about female schoolmates, smoked, used the fire extinguishers and then dumped them, and “then they started a lemon war”, Koshiaris said.

They hurled lemons at the hotel bungalows, not caring about their residents, he added.

The investigation would be complete in two to three days, Ioannides said, adding that those responsible would be punished.

Copyright Cyprus Mail 2001

[02] Saturday afternoon shopping a reality at last

SHOPS yesterday stayed open until 5pm for the first time ever on Saturdays after the House of Representatives approved legislation for new opening hours.

Deputies voted on Thursday, before the House was dissolved ahead of next month's elections, to keep the cash tills open until 8.30pm on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays, until 9.30pm on Fridays, and until 5pm on Saturdays.

But the traditional half-day closing on Wednesday was kept intact, with shops forced to shut at 2pm.

Winter closing hours will be 7pm on weekdays and 3pm on Saturdays.

The new legislation did not include statutory lunchtime closing, and the government limited 1-4pm siesta hours to July and August late last year. The ruling ended 70 years of statutory siesta breaks from June through to mid-September.

Copyright Cyprus Mail 2001

[03] Youths arrested after street cash snatch

THREE more 15-year-old boys from Georgia have been arrested in connection with the robbery in broad daylight of a 76-year-old woman in Nicosia, police said yesterday.

A Georgian student, also 15, was detained on Friday after he allegedly snatched £3,900 in cash and £27,000 in a bill of exchange from Eftichia Skettou, who lives in Ayios Dhometios.

Skettou had just withdrawn the money from a Bank of Cyprus branch in Ayios Dhometios when she was robbed.

“As I was walking home, a teenage boy passed by me on his bike and grabbed the envelope I was holding in my hand,” Skettou said.

Skettou is a widow with three children. She planned to spend the money on her son Sotiris, who is a person with special needs.

She said that she had been saving the money for a long time and that her children faced financial problems.

The alleged culprit was reported to have been at the bank at the same time as Skettou and had reportedly followed her when she left the building.

The bill of exchange and most of the cash has been returned to her.

Police said they have also recovered three mobile phones bought after the robbery.

Copyright Cyprus Mail 2001

[04] Bird raids: Greens say much more needs to be done

GREEN party representative George Perdikis said yesterday much remains to be done to stamp out illegal bird trapping, which has become a multi- million pound clandestine industry that could make some bird species extinct.

On Friday SBA police and Cyprus game wardens began a joint campaign to halt the illegal trapping that slaughters an estimated 12 million migrants every year, almost all of them protected species.

Police and game wardens raided several identified trapping sites at Cape Pyla early on Friday morning, and arrested three suspected trappers.

Dozens of mist-nets, tape-machines and speakers broadcasting recorded birdsong to draw in the illegal quarry were confiscated during the raid.

Perdikis said yesterday the real problem is that all trapping equipment is imported and sold freely in Cyprus.

Importation of trapping apparatus is legal but its sale is prohibited.

Perdikis said that bird trapping was also encouraged by politicians and political parties who actively put pressure on the authorities to be lax when it comes to enforcing the 1984 law.

He said that if the Green party is elected into the House of Representatives in next month's elections, they would push for comprehensive measures to clamp down on those who sell trapping equipment and those who buy the birds, which are served up as a delicacy in many tavernas.

Local residents are hostile to the campaign to stop illegal bird trapping in the southeast part of the island, with some of them reportedly deriving much of their income from the illegal activity.

The European Union has repeatedly warned Cyprus that such practices should be halted. Many House deputies, however, insist it is a traditional activity that should be preserved.

Copyright Cyprus Mail 2001

[05] Turkish gypsies begin jail terms

TWO Turkish women yesterday began three-month jail terms in the Nicosia Central Prisons.

They were found guilty by Nicosia District Court of illegal entry into the island on Friday.

The two were part of a group of 45 gypsies who crossed over from the occupied north earlier this month.

Twenty-three gypsies from the group returned to the north on Thursday while 10 have reportedly moved to Paphos.

The women are married to Turkish Cypriots and have three and two children respectively.

Their husbands, along with the three children of one of the women, have been allowed to stay with them at a purpose-built facility within the prison compound.

The court heard that the women entered the island through the occupied port of Kyrenia in 1992 and 1996.

Both women told the court that they had no idea their entry through Kyrenia was illegal because of the 1974 invasion.

Judge Lena Demetriadou said she was surprised at the women's ignorance, and added that their offence was very serious due to the circumstances imposed by the Turkish invasion.

“How is it that Turkish citizens do not know that a large part of Cyprus was occupied in 1974 after an armed conflict?” Demetriadou said.

Copyright Cyprus Mail 2001

[06] Cyprus gets economic 'Pep' talk from EU

CYPRUS, along with other countries seeking European Union membership, has been told to strengthen its financial systems and economic policy management to cope with large and potentially dangerous capital movements as its economy catches up with existing member states.

The warning was issued to finance ministers and central bank governors from Cyprus, Malta, Turkey and eastern and central Europe at a meeting with their EU colleagues in Malmo, Sweden, yesterday.

But the encounter with the candidate countries, some of which may be entering the EU in as little as two years, was clearly a hot agenda item, and one not without an undercurrent of tension.

"As you know a main event in Malmo will be our dialogue with the ministers and (central bank) governors from the candidate countries," Swedish Finance Minister Bosse Ringholms told his colleagues in the traditional invitation letter. The encounter, he said, would provide "the first-ever dialogue".

In a "guidance note" to the meeting, the European Commission cautioned that "large and potentially volatile capital inflows in an environment of financial liberalisation and rapid economic expansion can lead to instability risks and new policy challenges in candidate countries".

The Commission paper said the biggest economic policy challenge faced by the aspirant EU members was "the sound financing of relatively large" deficits on their current account balance of payments.

A shortage of domestic savings and a drying up of privatisation opportunities could drive countries to excessive reliance on foreign borrowing and capital inflows that could easily reverse for reasons ranging from a slippage in policy implementation at home to changes in interest rates relative to those in the euro-zone.

The EU report expressed concern about the financing behaviour of companies and the lack of finance for small- and medium-sized enterprises.

It also said that financial markets were still not able properly to channel savings into productive investments, and some financial sectors were "still very embryonic".

The report drew particular attention to banks which face problems maintaining profits, the quality of their loans, and their capital adequacy ratios in conditions of increased competition.

To help the candidates cope with these problems the EU is launching a 'pre- accession fiscal surveillance procedure' modelled on the existing mutual surveillance of economic policies among member states.

Candidate countries will prepare 'Peps', or pre-accession economic programmes, outlining medium-term policy goals such as public finance targets and priorities for structural reform.

Copyright Cyprus Mail 2001

[07] Cyprus trade balance falls again

CYPRIOT consumers were in an expansive mood last year, spending more than £2.4 billion on imported goods. Against exports of just £592 million, the spending spree left the country with a trade deficit of some £1.8 billion. It's the 40th trade deficit in as many years, and points to a continued weakening of the country's competitive edge in the world market.

The country showed a deficit with its trading partners in every area of the world, with the exception of the Arab and African countries. Altogether, Cyprus imported some £132,276,000 in goods from the Arabs, but exported £154,229,000 for a positive balance of £21,953,000. From Africa, Cyprus imported just £6,685,000 worth of goods, while exporting £9,630,000 worth for a net gain of £2,945,000.

In every other sector of the world, however, the news was different.

Trade with EU countries was clearly the most unfavourable for Cyprus, with £1.239 billion of imports against £215,796,000 million of exports for a net loss of £1.023 billion. That was more than double the imbalance of £471,745, 000 Cyprus had with Asian countries, and four times the imbalance of £244, 274,000 with North and South American countries.

Where Cypriot pounds end up is one story. Another is what they are spent on.

Intermediate imports destined for the local market were the main expenditure last year at £675 million, or 34.3 per cent of outlay. Next on the list was consumer goods valued at £569.6 million, followed by fuels and lubricants at £269 million, capital goods of £237 million, and transport equipment valued at £180.9 million.

Transport equipment is itself an interesting category which includes both passenger cars, motorcycles, and bicycles -- often considered as consumer items. In these three sub-categories Cypriots spent £74,936,000 on cars, and £4,341,000 on motorcycles and bicycles. By contrast, just £2,201,000 was spent in the sub-category of' public-service type passenger motor vehicles', or, in common language, buses.

If anyone doubts that a lot of money is going up in smoke, Cypriots spent some £20,041,714 on tobacco and manufactured tobacco substitutes, including £5,199,419 on imports of cigars, cheroots, cigarillos and cigarettes of tobacco or tobacco substitutes.

But tobacco, at least, was a category where Cyprus did well in its export trade, with £164,725,413 worth of tobacco and manufactured tobacco going abroad. In this category, cigars, cheroots, cigarillos and cigarettes of tobacco or tobacco substitutes are certainly earning their keep, with some £163,557,673 going overseas as re-exports. That alone represents a positive balance for Cyprus of around £160,000,000.

Copyright Cyprus Mail 2001

[08] Business Briefs

'Diversification' key to energy policy

"Since the first production and installation of solar water heaters in the 1960s, a remarkable expansion had taken place," he told the UN Commission on Sustainable Development on Friday, adding that "over 92 per cent of households and 50 per cent of hotels are currently using this renewable energy method".

Zackheos also said that Cyprus is proceeding with two new programmes for renewable energy -- photovoltaic and wind energy.

On the subject of energy and globalisation, he said the role of globalisation in the context of international co-operation for an enabling environment was significant.

“Globalisation should not only have a human face,” he said, “but it should also recognise that the problem of the environment was as crucial as the promotion of markets and prosperity.”

Zackheos was especially critical of nations that fail to make long-term objectives part of their policymaking with regard to sustainable development.

“Actions should not be geared toward the ephemeral pursuit of short-term objectives but, rather, improvements for future generations,” he said.

“It was ironic that that concept, so prevalent among indigenous people, was lost in greedy self-centred advanced societies.”

Cyprus spent some £269.3 million on fuels and lubricants in 2000, up from £152.3 million in 1999. Crude petroleum oil constituted the country's main expense at £147.3 million in 2000, as compared with £82.3 million.

With regard to alternative sources of energy, there are several dozen Cypriot firms that deal in solar heating equipment, but only one for wind energy equipment and none at all for photovoltaic cells.

Cyprus among Myanmar's top investors

Of the leading foreign investors, Singapore ranked first with $1.504 billion, followed by Britain with $1.401 billion and Thailand with $1.264 billion.

Other investors are successively Malaysia, United States, France, Netherlands, Indonesia, Japan, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR), China, Philippines, Republic of Korea, Austria, Australia, Canada, Panama, Germany, Denmark, Cyprus, India Macao SAR, Bangladesh, Israel and Sri Lanka.

Of the 10 sectors into which the foreign investment was injected, oil and gas led with $2.355 billion, followed by manufacturing with $1.552 billion and hotels and tourism with $1.054 billion.

Pinnacle to acquire interests of Cypriot firm in Caspian oil

The Caspian Field is in the independent State of Kalmykia, immediately south of Kazakhstan, site of recent discoveries of world-class oil reserves, and north of the legendary Baku oil fields.

The Caspian Field, drilled in the 1960s and essentially neglected since then, has flowed 950,000 barrels of oil from 12 unequipped wells. London- based Quad Engineering Ltd., a petroleum consultancy, reported on the property and gave it a proven, recoverable reserve of 19.7 million barrels of oil.

Copyright Cyprus Mail 2001

[09] News in brief

Peres visit

Peres will be received by President Glafcos Clerides tomorrow, conduct a series of talks with Cassoulides, and be present at the inauguration of the Larnaca Desalination Plant, to be opened by Clerides.

Before his departure he will give a lecture at the Institute of Eurodemocracy.

Commonwealth chief

He will hold talks with Foreign Minister Cassoulides tomorrow, before attending an official dinner given by the Minister in the evening.

On Tuesday he will be received by President Clerides, meet former House President Spyros Kyprianou and attend a lunch given by Minister of Commerce, Industry and Tourism, Nicos Rolandis.

McKinnon will also give a lecture on the Commonwealth at the Pancyprian Gymnasium.

Road death

Marios Kolas from Yeri died on the spot at 2.30am when his car collided with a car driven by Julia Tsangarra, 20, from Lycavitos, who had as a passenger in her vehicle 22-year-old Savvas Neocleous from Aglanjia.

Both Tsangarra and Neocleous were in a serious condition yesterday.

The accident happened near Saint George's chapel in Athalassa, on the Yeri- Aglanjia road.

Fire in flat

The 2.30pm blaze at the flat belonging to Antonio Javachrian, from Austria, and Elena Heraclidou from Nicosia, on Yuri Gagarin Street was put out by the fire department.

Damage to the apartment was estimated at £10,000.

Car torched

The 1am blaze caused damage worth £300 to the Mitsubishi Colt belonging to Eleni Apahani from Limassol.

The vehicle was parked outside her residence on Vagiazit Street in the Ayios Antonios suburb.

Copyright Cyprus Mail 2001

Cyprus Mail: News Articles in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article