Cyprus Mail: News Articles in English, 01-06-10

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

Sunday, June 10, 2001

CONTENTS

[01] KISOS meets to decide when to meet

[02] CY delays as engineers work to rule

[03] Finish road works quickly, says minister

[04] 'Food poisoning' report ready

[05] Man 'killed wife, then shot himself'

[06] Balcony faller 'out of danger'

[07] Wanted: three fire-fighting helicopters

[08] News in brief

[01] KISOS meets to decide when to meet

SOCIALISTS KISOS, tails between their legs after taking a hammering during the parliamentary elections, were yesterday afternoon meeting to decide when to hold an electoral conference.

The conference will signal the official end of 82-year-old Dr Vassos Lyssarides' three decades-long stint as party leader.

Lyssarides came under fire from all sides when he refused to step down immediately after his party's dismal showing in the May 27 polls. The veteran politician eventually announced he was going two days later. His announcement was followed the next day by the resignation of the entire KISOS political bureau, throwing the party into turmoil.

KISOS, which won five House of Representatives seats as EDEK in the 1996 elections, secured only four seats in the new parliament. The party garnered just 6.7 per cent of the vote on May 27, 1.7 per cent down compared to 1996.

The KISOS central committee convened just after 3pm yesterday to set a date for the party's electoral conference. A decision was not expected until later yesterday evening.

Lyssarides, who founded EDEK 31 years ago, has made it plain he will not seek re-election at the conference and two men are favourites to succeed him. The hopefuls are veteran deputy Takis Hadjidemetriou and KISOS number two Yiannakis Omirou.

Despite 25 years in parliament, Hadjidemetriou failed to get re-elected on May 27, even though he received more preference votes than any other KISOS candidate.

Omirou, who was Defence Minister during EDEK's brief stint as coalition partners in Clerides' government in 1998, did make it into the new House.

Hadjidemetriou -- among the first to criticise Lyssarides for holding on to power -- has vowed that, at 67, he would only stay at the party's helm for three years if chosen.

KISOS' poor showing is generally put down to two things: the decision to change its name from EDEK when it merged with two smaller groupings last year, and Lyssarides' decision to go into government with Clerides after the 1998 presidential elections.

The May 27 elections were won by left-wing opposition party AKEL, which secured 20 parliamentary seats, pinching one seat from runners-up DISY, the governing right-wing party, which secured 19 seats.

Copyright Cyprus Mail 2001

[02] CY delays as engineers work to rule

HUNDREDS of passengers faced long delays at Larnaca Airport yesterday as Cyprus Airways (CY) engineers began enforcing a 'go-slow' to demand wage increases.

Among those stranded by the work-to-rule protest was Labour Minister Andreas Moushiouttas, who was, along with 154 other passengers, meant to catch the 10.30am CY flight to Paris. The flight eventually left at 5pm.

Similar delays were experienced for other Cyprus Airways flights during the day, but the airline said things were expected to return to normal by the evening.

Minister Moushiouttas hit out at the striking engineers, saying they were acting “irresponsibly”. He added that if they had complaints, these could be addressed at the industrial disputes tribunal.

The engineers' union, ASYSEKA, is set to continue its work-to-rule action today and into next week unless management agrees to wage rises it says were first demanded ten years ago. ASYSEKA is also threatening to escalate its strike action by calling 24-hour or 48-hour stoppages.

CY spokesman Tassos Angeli said he had no comment on the strike action.

The national carrier has a long history of disruption caused by industrial action by its employees.

Copyright Cyprus Mail 2001

[03] Finish road works quickly, says minister

COMMUNICATIONS and Works Minister Averoff Neophytou visited the Nicosia- Limassol motorway yesterday to check on road works and told the contractors involved to work overtime so the job is completed as soon as possible.

Neopthytou visited the stretch between Myria Court and Amathus Beach Hotel to the Four Seasons Hotel.

Meanwhile, a large section of the Nicosia-Limassol motorway has begun deteriorating badly just four months after it was resurfaced. It is being re-laid after an investigation showed that poor quality materials were used for the section between Latsia and Lymbia.

The work is expected to be completed by the beginning of August.

Copyright Cyprus Mail 2001

[04] 'Food poisoning' report ready

THE STATE lab yesterday handed its report on a food poisoning outbreak that hit 75 tourists at the Avlida Hotel in Paphos two weeks ago to the Health Ministry.

State broadcaster CyBC has reported that the salmonella outbreak was down to lax kitchen hygiene at the hotel. A state lab expert confirmed yesterday that the report was ready, but said she could not divulge any details.

No one was available for comment from the Health Ministry yesterday.

Sixty elderly Austrian tourists were among the 75 hotel guests laid low by suspected food poisoning on May 31.

Avlida Hotel management have blamed the outbreak on contaminated water in Paphos town, but local water authorities deny that there have been any problems with the water supply and only Avlida guests seem to have been affected.

Copyright Cyprus Mail 2001

[05] Man 'killed wife, then shot himself'

A PARALIMNI couple were found dead in their home in the early hours yesterday, the wife in a pool of blood with a kitchen knife next to her, the husband on his back on a settee, a hunting gun by his side.

Police said the bodies of 57-year-old Nicolas Hadjiandreas and his wife Katelou, 55, had been found by their son Savvas when he went to their home on October 28th Street at 1.10am yesterday. Nicolas died of a shotgun wound to the neck while Katelou died of multiple stab wounds. Savvas found his mother in the bedroom and his father in the living room, police said.

Police said they were treating the deaths as a “family” affair and were not looking for anyone else in connection with the gruesome incident. They gave no further details.

Neighbours said Nicolas, a former municipality worker, had suffered from mental problems and had often threatened his wife in the past. One neighbour reported hearing a shotgun blast at around 10pm on Friday.

Copyright Cyprus Mail 2001

[06] Balcony faller 'out of danger'

THE 21-year-old British tourist critically injured on Friday was yesterday pronounced to be out of danger.

Eyewitnesses said John Pilling appeared to be drunk before he fell off the first-floor balcony of an apartment block in Ayia Napa. He was taken to a private clinic in the town where doctors established he had a skull fracture and bleeding from the left ear. They described his condition as critical.

Ayia Napa police told the Sunday Mail that Pilling is now in a stable condition.

Copyright Cyprus Mail 2001

[07] Wanted: three fire-fighting helicopters

THE GOVERNMENT yesterday invited tenders for three new fire-fighting helicopters, but the flying reinforcements for the war against forest fires will not be ready for this summer.

Tenders for the helicopters do not have to be submitted before August 3, and the lengthy process of choosing a winning bid means the main 'burning season' will be over by the time the hovering fire-fighters can be brought into action.

Earlier this summer, the government leased two fire-fighting helicopters from Greece to cover this summer's needs.

More than ten forest and brush fires have been reported so far this month.

Copyright Cyprus Mail 2001

[08] News in brief

Crash victim

John Sotiriou was driving home on the Coral Bay Road near Peyia at 6am when he lost control of his car and crashed.

The Fire Department had to be called to remove his body from the vehicle.

He was taken to Paphos General Hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival.

Drugs suspects

Their car had been stopped during a routine traffic check. Police proceeded to search the car, and say they found a syringe containing a liquid which was confirmed to be heroin. All three were then searched bodily and another syringe was found, police say. They were then taken into custody and in a subsequent search again, police say they discovered a third syringe.

£10,000 stolen

Charalambos Georkouros had parked his car on Kyriakos Matsis Street and gone to a nearby cafeteria between 6pm and 8pm on Friday night.

He later discovered that a bag containing £10,000 had been stolen from his car, which he had left unlocked.

Moi leaves

Moi attended an official farewell held by President Glafcos Clerides at the Presidential Mansion yesterday morning. He also had last-minute meetings with several Cyprus ministers before leaving for Larnaca Airport.

Copyright Cyprus Mail 2001

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