THE DISAPPOINTMENTS in last Monday’s televised election debate were not the presidential candidates, but the four journalists who stayed glued to the Annan plan.

Until 2003, the 1974 coup featured prominently in the election agenda. From 2004 onwards, after the rapprochement of the hard core Makarios and Grivas supporters, the main agenda of elections has become the Annan plan. 

In reality, this agenda has no takers outside the political and journalistic communities. It is out of place and time and those who invest politically in the ‘no-vote’ of nine years ago have no contact with current reality.

If the Annan plan had to be discussed in the election in this campaign, the issue should not have been who voted for or against it. The debate should have focused on the revelation by Giorgos Lillikas that Tassos Papadopoulos, in his five years as president was handling the national issue under ‘false pretences’.

During the TV debate Lillikas made two important revelations. First, he said that condition – ‘with the right content’ – for accepting a bi-zonal, bi-communal federation (BBF) by Papadopoulos was a ruse for indirectly rejecting bi-zonal federation. Second, the July 8 agreement, by which Papadopoulos committed himself to BBF with his signature, was also a ruse to ease the pressures that followed the rejection of the Annan plan. However, according to Lillikas, the (UN Under-Secretary General Ibrahim) Gambari letter followed and it annulled the commitment to BBF.

If Lillikas made these revelations out of honesty rather than stupidity, he would also have said that the interpretation given to the Gambari letter was also a scam. In this letter the UN Under-Secretary General explained the implementation procedure for the July 8 agreement. How could a third party, annul an agreement that was signed by the leaders of the two communities?

The letter contains an ambiguous reference (Lillikas knows well how this slipped into the letter) which the Papadopoulos government interpreted in the way it suited it, because at the time, as Lillikas admitted, the government was not engaging in conventional politics but in trickeries.

Lillikas assertion that BBF was never on Papadopoulos’ agenda is an admission of the following:

- When in 2002-2003 he was pledging that, if elected, he would negotiate the Annan plan he was consciously lying to the electorate.

- When he sent letters to the UN Secretary-General which circulated as official UN documents, claiming he wanted a settlement based on the Annan plan he was lying to the international community.

- When he was declaring in Brussels that he wanted a settlement based on the Annan plan, before Cyprus’ accession to the EU, he was taking EU officials for a ride.

- When he went the Burgenstock he refused to engage in negotiations because he did not want any improvements made to a settlement plan he did not believe in.

- The poisonous reports against the plan filed from Burgenstock by reporters, briefed by the Papadopoulos government, were just another act of the government-staged theatre.

Lillikas told us that Papadopoulos did not want BBF but did not have the political courage to say so, hiding behind the condition for the ‘the right content’ instead. Through continuous tactical manoeuvring and trickery we arrived at decision-time. Instead of the president taking responsibility, he played with people’s emotions, fuelling their fears so that this political farce could acquire popular legitimacy.

In these conditions, with Christofias staging his own theatre, there was one political leader, who had the guts to go against the flow, standing up and taking a clear position. And instead of this honest stand being respected, our journalists have been demanding, for the last eight years, that he apologise for staying true to his beliefs.

They should apologise together with Lillikas for the false pretences and not Anastasiades for a position that was not tested. Theirs was and we all know where it has led us.

A FEW weeks before we elect a new president, perhaps it would be worthwhile to consider the staggering powers enjoyed by the President of the Republic constitutionally. In effect the president could be likened to an elected dictator, because once installed in office he or she cannot be touched. The legislature could block the state budget, reject the laws that are submitted to it and make it difficult for the government to rule but that is as far as it could go, because in a presidential system there is no such thing as a vote of confidence.

The Cyprus president is unaccountable for the five years he is in office and could do pretty much anything he pleases until his term is up. We witnessed this constitutional abuse of power in the five years of Christofias’ rule during which he drove the state to bankruptcy, through his inaction, without anyone being able to intervene. There were countless warnings by politicians, former ministers, business people, the Central Bank, and the European Commission but the president ignored them all and did nothing, with catastrophic results for the country. No practical steps could be taken to stop the slide towards the economic abyss, because there are no constitutional provisions to check presidential power.

The problem dates back to 1963 when the Turkish Cypriots withdrew from the Republic. Under the 1960 constitution, there was a Turkish Cypriot vice-president who had veto powers and could thus exercise control over the Greek Cypriot president, but after the breakdown of the bi-communal state the checks on balances on the president vanished. And without checks and balances there is no accountability either. There is the illusion that government decisions are taken collectively by the Council of Ministers, but this is chosen by the president who can fire any member of the Council that does not toe the presidential line.

Understandably, no president has ever considered his excessive powers and lack of accountability to be a problem. But none of the political parties have expressed concerns about this constitutional imbalance that gives dictatorial powers to the president. In the aftermath of Mari, Giorgos Lillikas suggested there should be a constitutional procedure for unseating the president. While this was an idea worth exploring, the more pressing need is the imposition of checks and controls on presidential powers, in order to make the head of state more accountable while in office. It could be too late, as has been proved, to wait until the next elections to make a president accountable for all the damage he may have caused the country while exercising his unchecked powers.   

WOULD you like to go to the theatre more often but find it’s all Greek to you? Greek speakers and the hearing impaired can now enjoy the Cyprus theatre organisation’s (THOC) Greek-language productions featuring ‘surtitles’ projected above the theatre stage.

The surtitles are in English and Greek and are still only available for specific productions and on set dates. There are two theatre productions this coming week that fit the bill.

Spring Awakening by Frank Wedekind is a play dealing with the sexual and spiritual awakening of teenagers and their conflict with parents, religion and teachers. Paphos’ Markidio theatre will use surtitles on Tuesday and the new THOC theatre will offer them on Friday and Saturday.

If teenage angst is too much, perhaps the quirky musical Kali-Kantzar and Company will be on also on Friday and Saturday. The play’s premise is an unexpected noise heard by a patrol in the city’s New State Theatre. The noise comes with a bunch of strange creatures. “Sudden occupation? Why? By whom? For what reason?” 

Surtitles are commonly used during operas to help people follow the plot, and have previously been used in Cyprus by the international theatre institute, said THOC director George G Papageorgiou. 

“With a new theatre, we wanted to put in a very conscious effort to reach more and more people such as non-native speakers of Greek,” said Papageorgiou.

“Large portions of our population are non-Greek speakers but we are openly inviting them to visit our theatre,” he said.

THOC moved in a new building last year and they are keen to welcome visitors to Cyprus as well as the thousands of non-Cypriot who live permanently on the island. They started using surtitles in September, although the move has not been widely publicised.

“I think people are not yet aware of this,” Papageorgiou said.

Money permitting, more productions may feature surtitles, perhaps permanently, but Cyprus is not there yet.   

For example, a private institution funds surtitles in Israel, but THOC does not even own the kind of projector necessary for surtitles but rents it out on specific dates and hires a technician to operate it, Papageorgiou said. Businesses are welcome to sponsor the scheme, he added. 

Last week, THOC featured Andrew Bergman’s Social Security with surtitles, a satire on high society, featuring a controlling and invasive woman who disrupts a couple’s isolated life in Manhattan, “without children or parents”.

Call THOC at 22-864300 for more information.

The quirky musical Kali-Kantzar and Company

WHEN a family of nature-loving Germans took me on my first trip to the tip of the Karpas peninsula in the late 1980s, it took a whole day to get there. 

Having left Kyrenia early one September morning, and stopping only for mittagsessen und pipi on the way, our ropey Volkswagen bus didn’t reach the beach that everyone now calls Golden Sands until late afternoon. 

We parked on the edge of a dune and ran, our faces beaming ecstatic smiles, down the slope to be met by nothing but a vast expanse of sand and sea as far as the aqua blue horizon. We were totally and utterly alone with only nature to keep us company. The stars I saw that night were the brightest and most numerous I’d ever witnessed.

Apart from a ragged shepherd with a donkey, the last people we had seen were in the village of Rizokarpaso (or Dipkarpaz, as the Turks have called it since 1974). Beyond the village, on the road to the monastery of Apostolos Andreas, which lies a few kilometres short of the island’s most eastern tip, I remember being wracked with joy at finding myself in a landscape so miraculously unspoilt. Carob and olive trees laden with their fruits dotted gently rolling, maquis-covered hills that led step-by-step, terrace-by-terrace down to the sparkling Mediterranean. Even the road we drove on, which was barely more than a metre wide, seemed to speak of journeys made by men, women and beasts long since dead. 

We had to drive slowly; we had to avoid potholes; we had to be careful. But we didn’t mind, because these were the things that slowed down the destruction we’d already seen devour once-loved places like Kyrenia, Famagusta and Bellapais. 

Today the journey that used to take a day can be completed in just couple of hours on fast, wide roads that shrink the journey from Nicosia, and it’s only once you’ve left the last village of Rizokarpaso, heading towards the tip, the sea and Syria, that you can still imagine you are in a Cyprus before the advent of tarmac, concrete and the car. 

Last Sunday, having heard of the Turkish Cypriot administration’s plans to repair that old road from Rizokarpaso and Apostolos Andreas, a group of around fifty concerned Cypriots (mostly Turkish, some Greek) travelled to the area to see for themselves what they feared was taking place. Their anxieties were confirmed when they saw that rather than repairing the road, huge mechanical diggers were now forging a brand new one designed to cut out the numerous meanders and twists of the old one. 

“It is as if they put a ruler on a map and followed its line,” head of the Society for the Protection of the Karpas National Park Umut Akcil told the Sunday Mail. He added: “They have already torn down hundreds of carob, olive and juniper trees, and they have flattened two hillsides highlighted by [the EU’s] Natura 2000 project as important nesting sites for migratory birds”. 

Akcil says he has learnt that the Turkish Cypriot administration is planning to build a ten-metre wide road between Rizokarpaso and Apostolos Andreas, and at it will be built in three phases. The first phase, which is already underway, takes the road a few kilometres out of the village as far as the Blue Sea Hotel, which lies at the boundary of one section of the national park deemed more sensitive to development than the areas including and surrounding the village of Rizokarpaso. The second and third phases will take it all the way to Apostolos Andreas, a distance of around 15km.   

Last week’s mini protest may have bought one minor success for the demonstrators. The road-builders, under instruction from the north’s ‘environmental department’ now say they will limit the width of the highway to six, rather than ten metres. Akcil is of course not satisfied with this supposed compromise, as the width of the road is not the only issue at stake. Moreover, in light of earlier statements that the environment would not be harmed, he has no reason to believe them.

Sadly for Akcil, many of the residents of Risokarpaso don’t support him or others who put the interests of the environment before those of land developers, road-building companies, and, ultimately, job-hungry villagers.  A group of them - prompted by loudspeaker announcements by the local mayor and Imam that “looters, Greek-sympathisers and infidels” had descended on the village to interfere with their road - turned up to scupper the demonstration. 

They passionately informed the environmentalists that the existing road caused accidents, damaged their tyres and wore out their cars. Plus, they highlighted the fact that if the road was better, more people would come to enjoy the beaches and spend money in the shops and cafés and restaurants. In short, they want the road because they imagine the road would bring them an income.  

One cannot really blame them for not seeing the benefits that living in a real national park might bring. Officially, there is no national park in Karpas – not even if one recognised the ‘TRNC’ – since the existence of the area as a national park has never been declared by the administration. 

All that exists are yellowing proposal for a national park that no ‘government’ has ever had the political will or guts to implement. Moreover, local residents, who are all Turkish mainlanders (apart from a handful of aging and enclaved Greek Cypriots) generally oppose the idea because they see it simply as something that would restrict their development and their incomes.

Among the most defiant of the speakers on Sunday was ‘mayor’ of Dipkarpaz Mehmet Demirci, who arrived at the demonstration to announce that the road was “an urgent necessity” because of “a major festival” that would be taking place this summer in the Karpas. This festival, he boasted, to the horror of the protesters, “will do a great service for Turkish Cyprus by putting the TRNC on the map”.

 The festival referred to by Demirci is the unfortunate brainchild of Turkish Cypriot businessman Hilmi Ekrem. Ekrem told the Sunday Mail that the ill-conceived event plans to bring around 30,000 techno music lovers to a place inside the park area this September. 

A visit to the silkroute-festval.com website is yet more disturbing than what Ekrem told me on the phone, as it brags that the festival will host up to 80,000 people. It also gives the impression that the three-day festival will take place on Golden Sands Beach, which it won’t apparently. Ekrem says it will be staged in a field. “The beach will only be used for swimming,” he says, as if that made everything okay. 

The website includes a countdown to the festival date, and as I write I can see the sane people of Cyprus have just 206 days, eleven hours, six minutes and 52 seconds to stop this disastrous folly from taking place. 

Unsurprisingly, Ekrem says he has the sanction of the authorities for his festival. He denies however that the road project has anything do to him.

“Turkey is building it,” he says blithely. 

If anyone is in any doubt about the value of the Karpas peninsula to the ecological wellbeing of Cyprus, they should go and see for themselves. There are more wild flora and fauna in a square metre of Karpas than in square kilometres of other parts of our sadly degraded island. 

Failing that, one should look at data compiled by environmentalists working in Cyprus and the EU, which, incidentally, spent €5 million ascertaining what species needed protection in the Karpas, and making proposals for their maintenance and preservation. 

Now those very species are being destroyed. Biologist Hasan Sarpten, in a letter to a Turkish Cypriot paper entitled “Goodbye Karpas” on Thursday, sought to remind readers of the area’s value and uniqueness, telling them that of the 1,410 species known to live in Cyprus, 75 per cent of them live in the Karpas. 

And of the 47 endemic Cypriot plant types, 24 of them can only be found there. Twelve of the 16 reptiles under protection in Cyprus are there, as are 147 of the 215 bird types found on the island. Moreover, of the 238 types of fauna found in Cyprus, 166 of them thrive in the Karpas. Monk seals, of which there are only 400-500 left living in the Mediterranean, visit the Karpas coast regularly, and the green turtles’ third most important nesting site in the Mediterranean is in the Karpas. His list goes on and on and on and ends with the warning that “in a short time, the last bastion of nature in Cyprus will be changed beyond recognition - all because of a road”.

The road before the arrival of bulldozers and diggers

How the road looked during the week

The unspoilt Golden Sands Beach an attraction for festival-goers

Hundreds of trees have been cut down

Work is continuing despite protests

Group of individuals sought after man shot 

POLICE were yesterday seeking a group of individuals – thought to be foreign EU nationals – suspected of shooting and slightly injuring a 29-year-old Nicosia man after a squabble on Friday night.

Police said the man was driving home near Anthoupolis at around 10.20pm when at some point he noticed a group of people blocking the road.

The man got out of his car and asked them to move but they refused and when he turned around to return to his car, the 29-year-old claimed he was shot in the back.

He went home and then to hospital where he was examined by a state pathologist who found a superficial wound caused by small pellets.

The type of weapon used was not immediately known

Wages stolen in Limassol 

THE owner of an industrial unit in Limassol reported to police that thieves broke into the company’s offices and stole €30,000 that was intended to pay the workers’ salaries for January.

The 62-year-old woman told police that the unit, located in Ypsonas, had been burgled between 6.30pm and 9.45pm on Friday.

Woman critical after church fall 

A 69-YEAR-OLD woman was in critical conditions yesterday after suffering head injuries when she fell down the steps of a church in Nicosia.

Police said the incident happened at around 6pm Friday at a church in Anthoupoli.

The woman was rushed to hospital where she was put on a ventilator. 

Domestic worker arrested in Paphos 

PAPHOS police arrested a Filipina domestic worker yesterday after the owner of the house reported the theft of €50,000 worth of jewellery and a computer.

The 42-year-old Peyia permanent resident told police that the theft took place last Thursday between 3.30pm and 9.30pm. The woman said her home had been burgled.

Drugs arrest 

A 36-YEAR-OLD woman was yesterday remanded in custody for eight days in connection with possession of three kilos of what is thought to be synthetic cannabis and 89 ecstasy pills.

Police said they were also seeking the woman’s 41-year-old husband.

The drugs were found in the man’s home in Nicosia.

Health and well being in focus 

THE FORTHCOMING Paphos health and well being festival will see numerous exhibitors, lecturers and practitioners come together to promote alternative health and beauty issues.

A full programme of free lectures, workshops and fitness classes will be available as well as 40 stands showcasing projects and services.

The event is being organised by Paphos based company, ‘In any Event,’ who have taken over organising the popular festival for the past two years. This year, for the first time, it will be held at the Aloe hotel in Kato Paphos on Sunday February 17.

Anita Hopkins of ‘In any Event’ said: “ This year we have a wider range of participants, from sports clubs to holistic medicine, plastic surgeons and dental hygiene. Last year around 600 people attended”

She added: “With the two euro entry fee, people will be given free raffle tickets and there will be an option to buy more. Some of the proceeds will go towards helping two local charities; The Paphos cancer patients support group and the Archangel Michael hospice.”

The event aims to promote health and well being as well as beauty and fitness. Lectures, workshops and classes will take place in three separate locations at the Aloe hotel and a timetable of events is available at the ‘In any event’ website.

The festival will be open from 10am to 6pm.  For information: Anita Hopkins 99 387 311 or www.in-any-event.biz

Global dishes at cost price 

THE HIGHER Hotel Institute, Cyprus yesterday announced the re-opening of its Student Training Restaurant as from February 13. The restaurant will be open to the public for lunch from 1.30pm until 3pm on Wednesdays and Thursdays, and charges are set at cost price.  Places are limited and you are advised to reserve a table in advance.

The restaurant is operated by students under the supervision of their instructors and offers a superb variety of culinary delights for the public to experience, featuring Scandinavian, French, Chinese, Japanese, Southeast Asian, Indian, Mexican, Barbecue, ‘healthy’ SPA and Vegetarian cuisine, carefully cooked and presented. 

Lenten dishes will be offered during the Lenten fast starting on March 18 and ending on April 18, 2013. 

For reservations please contact the institute at the following numbers: 22404816 or 22404800. 

New green centre opens

THE ENVIRONMENTAL Information Centre in the village of Episkopi some 12km from Paphos opened its doors for the first time yesterday. 

According to head of the Episkopi local council Andreas Charalambous, the centre includes a reception hall, exhibition hall, a screening room, environmental education room and a workshop while the centre’s exterior will host a botanical garden.

The exhibition hall contains various photographs, stuffed animals and birds, audiovisual presentations of the natural environment, butterfly and insect collections, and wood and other geological exhibits.

Inside the screening room, visitors can watch a film production on local flora and fauna, vegetation, traditional buildings and other important elements of the region.  

STILL WONDERING who to vote for in this month’s presidential election, or whether to vote at all? 

Having a hard time deciding which candidate represents your positions on key issues? 

The Cyprus University of Technology (TEPAK) has come up with a new online tool which helps Cypriot voters find out which presidential candidate is closer to their positions. 

The ‘Choose4Cyprus’ website, found at www.choose4Cyprus.com, is described as “an interactive, entertaining and informative online application that enables voters to discover the degree of proximity of their political positions with the positions of the presidential candidates”. 

The application has already registered 4,000 users since it went online on Wednesday.

TEPAK chose to develop the tool to provide access to comprehensive and clear information regarding the positions of presidential candidates on key economic and socio-political issues in Cyprus. 

The new “electronic voting advice application” provides this capability in an interactive, entertaining and informative manner.

The ‘Choose4Cyprus’ website is a joint academic initiative carried out by researchers from TEPAK’s Department of Communication and Internet Studies, the University of Zurich’s Centre for Democracy Aarau, and the Department of Public Administration at the University of Twente. 

A number of graduate and undergraduate students at TEPAK were also involved in the design and implementation of the application. 

A TEPAK announcement stresses that the application is strictly academic and is not connected with any political party or movement.

The operating mechanism of Choose4Cyprus is simple: before the election, the policy positions of the presidential candidates are encoded on a range of issues (questions) by a group of academic researchers. 

Users of the application are used to fill out the same questionnaire and express their preferences. The system then compares the candidates' answers to those users. The end result is a ranking of candidates based on the degree of proximity between them and the users.

The results appear in multiple graphs. The selection of the questions is the result of long discussions and analyses among political scientists, social psychologists and sociologists. The encoding of the positions of the candidates is based on the responses of the candidates themselves, in combination with an expert survey. 

The collection and processing of (anonymous) data will only be used for academic research purposes.

THE interior ministry is preparing a bill designed to minimise risks to people with disabilities or reduced mobility when accessing roads and buildings, the government said yesterday.

“The objective is to ensure that every road and structure will be planned and constructed so as its use will not entail unacceptable dangers,” Interior Minister Eleni Mavrou said.

She stressed that it was not just people with disabilities who had accessibility problems – there were also those who will possibly experience reduced mobility at some stage in their life like the elderly, pregnant women and small children.

 The bill stipulates that every plan submitted for approval would be in line with the technical provisions regarding accessibility and safety.

Mavrou said her ministry was also looking into ways of providing incentives to owners of existing buildings to implement the provisions of the new bill.

Access to the natural and build-up environment was high in the ministry’s effort to afford people with disabilities a dignified living and unobstructed movement, the minister said.

“The state must see to it that the infrastructure and the services on offer must be accessible to all citizens without exception, in the highest degree possible,” Mavrou said.

THE company tasked with assessing the recapitalisation needs of Cypriot banks ahead of a bailout delivered its final report yesterday but the results were not made public.

“The results will be published when the memorandum of understanding between the Republic of Cyprus and its international lenders is signed,” the Central Bank said in an announcement.

A final agreement is expected after the new government takes over, sometime in March. By that time, a detailed plan will be drafted that will define the banks’ needs, the announcement added.

Investment managers PIMCO were hired to carry out due diligence on bank portfolios that would determine their needs ahead of a bailout sought by Cyprus in June last year.

A preliminary estimate of a draft bailout deal said Cyprus could need up to €10 billion to plug holes in its banking sector, though this is a worst case scenario that island is trying to avoid. 

On that basis, Cyprus’ total bailout, including fiscal requirements, could reach €17 billion to €17.5 billion, equivalent to the island's annual economic output.

Cyprus fears that a bailout on that scale could push its debt to unsustainable levels and prompt additional austerity measures, including privatisations of public companies.

Government spokesman Stefanos Stefanou said yesterday that Cyprus would continue to push for PIMCO’s baseline scenario, which is reportedly between €6.0 and €7.0 billion.

“Selection of the adverse or the baseline scenario is not a matter of methodology, it is a matter of will,” Stefanou said. “And this is why we should focus on this, to try and convince those circles who insist on adverse scenarios.”

The government has offered an alternative solution to those who insist on implementing the worst-case scenario so that banks can be prepared for any eventuality, Stefanou said.

 President Demetris Christofias has asked the EU to provide the funds foreseen in the baseline scenario and if conditions worsen, additional financing can be sourced directly from the European Stability Mechanism (EMS), which will be up and running by then.

Direct recapitalisation will not burden the public debt.

PIMCO’s terms of reference involved an asset review of five Cyprus-based banks and a stress test to determine the capital needs of each. It also covered a representative sample of co-operative credit institutions.

Its report was handed over to a steering committee comprising representatives from the European Commission, the European Central Bank, the European Stability Mechanism, the International Monetary Fund, the European Banking Authority, the Ministry of Finance, the Central Bank, and the cooperative bank supervisory service.

IT APPEARS that those hoping to see a new ambulance service being rolled out early this year will have to wait, as the long-awaited and much-needed upgrade has fallen victim to the economic crisis plaguing the island.

Despite training the personnel and procuring the equipment, the finance ministry appears unwilling or unable to release the necessary funds, around €250,000 per year, to get the programme running.

The state trained 49 rescuers, although the plan was to initially hire 24 to staff four new ambulance stations around Cyprus – Klirou, Peyia, Limassol town centre and Oroklini.

AKEL MP Irini Charalambidou has submitted a question to the finance minister, asking why the long delay in making the new service operational.

“The reorganisation of the ambulance service and the immediate operation of the four stations will result in rescuing human lives,” Charalambidou said.

There has been no official response yet.

The health ministry wants the service running as soon as possible.

Yiannakis Leontiou, the head of the ambulance service, told the Sunday Mail that the health ministry planned to ask the cabinet to approve the positions, hopefully next week

This could provide a ray of hope for the 49 rescuers who have been in limbo since their graduation in October last year.

Many are now unemployed since they were forced to quit their jobs to be able to attend the intensive one year course. According to Leontiou, the course normally takes 18 months but daily training was extended in order to do it in a year.

The rescuers acknowledge been told there was no guarantee they would get a job after graduation, but why would a state spend some €200,000 training them and equipping the stations if it did not plan to hire them?

There were also statements made by officials that at least 24 would be hired to staff the four stations.

The rest were expected to either be absorbed by the private sector or replace current ambulance drivers as they retired.

This would have been made possible through legislation making it compulsory for anyone offering an ambulance service to have specialised staff aboard.

Crews in state ambulances currently consist of a nurse and a driver – who undergoes basic training.

That bill is still pending, though Leontiou said it was almost ready.

Michalis Savva, one of the rescuers, found it hard to believe that a state could not raise the money to get such a vital service up and running.

“We are all very disappointed, indignant. We don’t know what to do,” Savva said.

He said this was not just about them getting a job.

“It is necessary to have the stations, for the people, not us.”

The delay also meant that Cypriot rescuers would have to face potential competition from other EU nationals – mainly Greece -- if and when the positions eventually open.

Until now, Cypriot rescuers were somewhat protected because of a clause that would require any foreign EU national to acquire a local driving licence.

That however is either no longer in force or will soon be abolished, as Cyprus had to harmonise with EU rules on the exchange of driving licenses in the EU.

ONLY TWO weeks away from elections that will peacefully free us from the communist yoke and allow us to view the future with a little less pessimism, our establishment feels it should take a superficial look at the candidates and help its customers decide, at least, whom not to vote for.  

Before writing anything, Patroclos did the test prepared by TEPAK (the state technical university), which processes your answers on a set of election issues and informs you which candidate’s positions you are closest to, as this was easier than reading up all the campaign bumph prepared by them.

It was a cute test (www.choose4cyprus.com) that informed me that my right-wing, neo-liberal, anti-communist beliefs had only 8 per cent compatibility with Malas’ positions, 14 per cent with Lillikas’ and 42 per cent with the Fuhrer’s. The big surprise was that 36.8 per cent of my views were compatible with the LASOK candidate’s, Lakis Ioannou, which got me a bit worried because I always thought he was a bit of a fruitcake; obviously he is not.

I mention the results of the test in order to warn customers that there may be a bit of bias in the negative write-ups of the candidates, but at least our establishment does not take money to present their election promises in prominent positions like other publications do – this is not for ethical reasons, but because nobody has offered to pay us.

LILLIKAS, for instance, has been paying for a box on the bottom right hand corner of Phil’s front page. The box has been a front-page fixture in every edition since January 12, with the exception of Sunday’s, and informs the paper’s readers of all the super-miracles the rags-to-riches village boy will perform when he becomes president.

For the first couple of weeks, this was presented as a news-story and only when the reader turned to the inside page read more about the miracle was he informed that it was a ‘paid briefing’. Why did the paper not call this gimmick by its proper name, ‘advertisement’? Lillikas was paying for space in the paper to say what he wanted and sell his candidacy to Phil’s customers, just like suppliers of beer, cars etc do, so why was this not an advertisement.

I bet it was the super-smart Yiorkos’ idea to label the advertisement a ‘paid briefing’, because he does have a talent for misleading people, and Phil was not going to turn down the opportunity to make a bit of dosh in these very difficult times for newspapers.

IN THE END, Yiorkos’ idea worked out a treat for Phil, because the Fuhrer also decided to have a ‘paid briefing’ on its front page. He took the top left hand corner from January 25, even though his ‘briefings’ do not feature miracles on the scale of the Panayia miracle-worker, nor his picture.

Since Nice Nik booked space, Phil has decided to have the ‘paid briefing’ label on the front page as well. Yiorkos has also been using Simerini’s front page for his ‘paid-briefing’, occupying the top-left-hand corner of the paper.

Unlike the millionaire candidates, the poor, indebted Malas, has had to rely on the ‘unpaid briefings’ on the front page of Haravghi, which are unlikely to attract any undecided voters. I am surprised the commies have not yet made an issue about the unfair advantage the millionaire candidates have over Malas. 

And there is no Andreas Vgenopoulos around now to contribute to the campaign fund of the AKEL candidate as he reportedly had done five years ago.

GOING through Lillikas’ paid briefings for newspaper readers, I cannot hide my admiration for the miracles he plans to perform. 

Apart from cashing in on the natural gas and disengaging from the memorandum in 2013, within a year of his election the national health scheme would be in operation, the taxpayer would not pay for the banks’ needs, he would ensure small businesses would pay less interest on their bank loans and have the repayment period extended, create jobs for the young, bring transparency everywhere and eliminate corruption, modernise SGOs, give power to the citizens and introduce all-day school. 

And on the seventh day he will not rest; neither would the Almighty if he had the Cyprob to solve. Yiorkos will work on a solution that would rid us of all Turkish occupation troops, ensure all refugees returned to their homes (including those who did not want to return) and all Turkish settlers returned to Anatolia.

There will be more extensive coverage and unpaid briefings of the elections next Sunday, when we hope to offer our customers a clearer idea of who not to vote for.

IN NORMAL countries rioting mobs are usually made of the poor and dispossessed. But last Thursday in Kyproulla we saw a mob of investors storming the Bank of Cyprus headquarters in Nicosia to protest because they were no longer being paid interest on the high-yield bonds they had purchased a couple of years ago.

The investor mob who have been staging protests for months now, claiming they had been cheated by the B of C and Laiki that had sold them convertible bonds on the promise of yields of 6 and 7 per cent, gave a security staff at the HQ a big fright and police had to restore order. Their demand was that the bonds they invested in should not be turned into bank shares, which are almost worthless nowadays.

Members of the mob, with bonds worth hundreds of thousands of euro to their name, claimed in front of the cameras they had been ruined financially. One of the leaders of investors – a man with long hair who loves appearing before the cameras – undermined this campaign for public pity, when he told journalists that if the B of C did not make a satisfactory proposal, it would lose many millions, because the bond holders would move their deposits to other banks.

LAST WEDENSDAY, the front page of Phil reported that Cypriot bankers suffered their “first strong shock” after meeting PIMCO and realising that the analysis of their books featured “unpleasant surprises”.

According to the paper’s information, “the banking institution that ‘cried’ after seeing the audit carried out by PIMCO was the Bank of Cyprus.” It did not say who wiped the banking institution’s tears, but added that PIMCO, while refusing to explain the methodology it used, informed the weeping bank of some of the assumptions it had made.

But where did the paper get its information from? The previous evening B of C chairman Andreas Artemis met Central Bank Governor Professor Panicos and expressed his strong objections to the methodology used by PIMCO to calculate the bank’s financial needs.

Artemis did not speak to Phil about the meeting so who leaked the info about the bank’s tears to the paper? Professor Panicos will no doubt report the leak to the Attorney-General and demand a police investigation.

STAYING on the subject of leaks, I am very surprised there has been no leak about the findings of the investigation by Alvarez and Marsal, which was called in by Professor Panicos to find out who was responsible for the problems of the banks so they could be brought to justice. While the report has been delivered there have been no leaks.

We can only deduce it did not find the former Governor of the Central Bank guilty of any major wrongdoing, which was the main objective of the investigation, not having seen anything about it in the press. There would be no leaks about the man who sank Laiki, Andreas Vgenopoulos, if there were allegations of wrongdoing in the A&M report, because he is under the high protection of comrade Tof and Akel.

PROFESSOR Panicos, finally realising that his eagerness to punish the banks, by supporting the tough methodology and extreme assumptions used by PIMCO to calculate their financial assistance needs, has caused insurmountable problems for the economy has embarked on an arse-covering operation.

Maximising the financial needs of the banks and making our public debt unviable may have pleased his comrade benefactors at AKEL, but could jeopardise his career prospects under the new government. So now, efforts would, supposedly be made to lower the amount needed by the banks. 

Yesterday the Central Bank announced that the PIMCO report, which would have been released today, would be made public when the memorandum is signed, presumably so that Panicos could try to bring the re-capitalisation figure down.

The Phil web-site yesterday reported that while PIMCO put the figure at €10b, the Central Bank believed it should be €6.5b. Professor Panicos will no doubt report the leak to the Attorney-General, even though it shows him in a positive light, and demand a police investigation.

COMRADE Tof may have become accustomed to being snubbed and ignored by fellow leaders when attending meetings in Brussels, but he is obviously not willing to tolerate any such shows of disrespect in his own backyard.

This explains why the Chief of Protocol at the foreign ministry, Nearchos Palas wrote to the president of the Honorary Consular Corps Cyprus, to register the government’s displeasure for the poor turnout of honorary consuls at a reception at the presidential palace on January 8.

The reception, given by the President and the First Lady for the diplomatic and honorary consular corps, is an annual fixture and held at the beginning of the year. In his letter, Palas noted that of 121 honorary consuls only 26 attended, which constituted 21.4 per cent of the corps.

The Chief of Protocol expressed “displeasure for the low attendance rate” and wrote that the “issue would be raised with the Diplomatic Office of the President of the Republic.” He concluded his letter as follows:

“I consider it unacceptable for Honorary Consuls of foreign countries in Cyprus to receive an invitation from the Head of State and not respond.”  

Palas must release the names of the consuls who snubbed Tof, so we can send them a ‘thank-you’ note. 

THE ABOVE was attached to a letter sent by the President of the Honorary Consuls Corps, Panayiotis Antoniades, to all members. Antoniades also said the low attendance rate was “unacceptable” and never before had there been such a low number of consuls at the reception.

“We all have to respect the President, irrespective of our personal political beliefs, in order for the Consular Corps to be respected and continue(sic) to be invited to such events,” wrote Antoniades. It was all a matter of respect, according to Antoniades, who added: “I urge all honorary consuls to attend these events out of respect to the countries that entrusted us to represent them, out of respect towards the President of the Republic and in order to increase the status(sic) and respect of the Honorary Consular Corps to the level that it deserves.”

A little respect for the English language would also help increase the status of the Corps to the level that it deserves.

I KNOW that state visits are arranged months in advance, but Tof the Terrible’s official visit to Serbia during the week could not have been more badly timed. As if it were not bad enough having all of Europe making money-laundering allegations against Kyproulla the comrade went on an official visit to of all places Serbia, the country that under his fellow commie Milosevic, helped us acquire our money-laundering reputation. Even on the rare occasions he does not mean to cause harm to the country, he still does.   

LABOUR minister Sotiroulla ‘Pourekka’ Charalambous on Friday thought it appropriate to boast about the huge amounts of money the government wasted on social benefits and led the state to bankruptcy. Social benefits increased by 42 per cent since 2007, she said, proudly adding that from December 2009 to today, the state had spent €308 million on welfare benefits to pensioners. This spending reduced the number of pensioners living below the poverty line, a proud Pourekka said. She avoided mentioning that the state’s bankruptcy achieved by the caring commies dramatically increased the number of non-pensioners living below the poverty line.

WE WOULD like to report an incident of mass child abuse to the Commissioner for the Protection of Children’s Rights Leda Koursoumba. AKEL has been recruiting kids under 10 and making them chant commie slogans. I thought only in North Korea did the communist party take children and brainwash them, but I was wrong. A video on You Tube shows that this totalitarian practice also takes place in EU member-states and I hope Ms Koursoumba will do something to protect these poor kids. She can see the video for herself at:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eV9AFyg-978.

ONLY 14 days left for the elections and 25 days before Tof starts life as a pensioner living above the poverty line. 

The brainwashing of commie kids

THE RECESSION could not have left industrial relations unaffected. Unions have gone on the warpath after the announcement of a universal pay freeze by employers’ organisations and the many years of industrial peace appear to be over. Unrest had been simmering, with construction workers on an indefinite strike and unions considering a general strike, but the employers’ announcement was seen as a declaration of war.

The decision, made jointly by the Employers’ Federation and the Chamber of Commerce, was announced just a couple of days before the first wages of 2013 were due to be paid. This resulted in a small number of businesses that had agreed to give very small pay rises this year to change their plans, incurring the wrath of the unions, which felt obliged to react. They saw the employers’ announcement as a provocation they could not accept because it would be a direct admission of their weakness.

Both big unions of the private sector, PEO and SEK, issued announcements slamming the employers’ organisations for undermining industrial relations and threatening industrial peace with their unilateral action, which they felt was a violation of collective agreements. They warned that if OEV adhered to its decision it would be exclusively responsible for the industrial unrest that would be caused. Labour minister Sotiroulla Charalambous, whose pro-union bias is no secret, also joined the fray calling employers to respect the industrial relations code. 

The timing of the KEVE/OEV announcement was wrong, coming two days before wages were due to be paid, but it was, in reality, an irrelevance. Struggling businesses were not waiting for them to issue an announcement to reduce their labour costs. They had done this a long time ago with the consent of the unions which have shown a commendable readiness to agree to pay cuts in order to protect jobs. OEV’s decision, which may affect a tiny number of businesses, was a belated attempt to show its members that it was defending their interests, something many of them had doubts about.

The truth is that the deregulation of industrial relations has already begun. The system that had served workers so well for the last two decades is falling apart because it can no longer be sustained. Annual pay-rises two and three times higher than productivity increases inevitably took their toll on businesses and the economy and are being corrected by the market. This is what we are witnessing at present and no amount of social dialogue or labour ministry mediation can stop the trend.

We are entering a new era of industrial relations in which unions, drastically weakened by soaring unemployment will no longer be able to impose their wishes on impoverished businesses struggling for survival. The collective agreements that governed work conditions and pay in every sector of the economy will eventually be phased out, diminishing the influence of both unions and employers’ organisations. Each company will now negotiate terms directly with its workers according its economic capabilities instead of accepting across-sector, collective agreements, which were based on what the biggest companies in the sector were willing to pay, thus turning the screw on their smaller competitors.

This is the way things need to be done and the market is already taking care of it. The practice of representatives of unions and OEV sitting together in an office and agreeing distorted wages that did not reflect market conditions cannot continue. The labour shortage that pushed wages sky-high and wrecked competitiveness is a thing of the past -unemployment hit a new high in December, reaching 14.7 per cent. Falling demand and excess supply of labour are pushing wages down in what is a market correction.

The correction has been taking place for the last couple of years and was not triggered by OEV’s announcement. Unions may have made a fuss about it, but the truth is that they have adapted to the new market conditions in order to save jobs, agreeing to pay-cuts, changes of working hours and reduction of benefits. Before long they will also come to terms with the fact that the obsolete and rigid system of industrial relations, which fixed wages at unjustifiably high levels through collective agreements, has been emphatically defeated by market forces. The benefits to the economy will be evident in the not too distant future. 

GREEK Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots are mobilising to try and stop the carving up of one of the last bastions of nature in Cyprus, the remote Karpas peninsula in the north, which is being destroyed for the sake of a road but no one is listening. (See extended report by Simon Bahceli in Features) 

People on both sides have been left shocked and horrified at photos posted on social media during the week showing the extent of the destruction being visited on the last remaining wilderness in the north, and the second last on the island after the Akamas.

Reports suggest that the widening of the old country road leading from Rizokarpaso to Apostolos Andreas is being carried out to facilitate a techno music festival to take place at the unspoilt Golden Sands beach in September, which locals hope will attract up to 80,000 visitors, according to the organisers’ website.

The Karpas peninsula is home to a diverse range of species and wildlife now being destroyed by bulldozers and trucks, protesters say.

“The Karpasia SEPA (Special Environmental Protection Area) is under direct threat even though it is still unclear which agency or authority is behind the project,” a statement from Greek Cypriot activists said.

An online petition has been set up under the title ‘Hands off Karpas’, which was sent to the ‘government’ in the north but without success, and the works are continuing.

Last Sunday, having heard of the Turkish Cypriot administration’s plans to ‘repair’ the old road from Rizokarpaso to Apostolos Andreas, a group of around fifty concerned Cypriots (mostly Turkish, some Greek) travelled to the area to see for themselves what they feared was taking place. Their anxieties were confirmed when they saw that rather than repairing the road, huge mechanical diggers were now forging a brand new one designed to cut out the numerous meanders and twists of the old one. 

“It is as if they put a ruler on a map and followed its line,” head of the Society for the Protection of the Karpas National Park Umut Akcil told the Sunday Mail. He added: “They have already torn down hundreds of carob, olive and juniper trees, and they have flattened two hillsides highlighted by [the EU’s] Natura 2000 project as important nesting sites for migratory birds”. 

The Greek Cypriot group said the reasons behind the construction of the wider road are unclear. “Some say it’s the work of the Turkish embassy... others claim the project is run by the municipality of Rizokarpaso ahead of the festival. The details are unclear and the only clear fact is the destruction of the Karpasia SEPA, happening as we speak,” they said.

“It seems that the local residents felt threatened by the activist presence against the development of the road, since they had been given promises about improvements to their quality of life and development for the area.”

It said locals were being seduced by the promise of more jobs and added income, and were unable to realise that protection of the natural heritage they are surrounded by, was their best available tool for long-term and sustainable development through ecotourism. 

“Instead, they were ready to verbally and physically abuse the activists, despite the presence of the police who flared up rather than calm the situation,” said the group,

Despite the protests, the work is continuing and activists say their greatest fear is that development will not stop with a mere road, despite warnings from the European Commission, which has funded environment assessments in the area.

Diggers and bulldozers are carving up the Karpas to build a road

THE RESIDENTS of Pera-Chorio Nisou closed off two chemical factories on Sunday, found within the village’s residential area, which are supposedly responsible for serious health problems being experienced by many villagers.

The demonstrations began on Sunday and continued yesterday with residents closing-off the entrance to the factories which produce chlorine and paint.

 “It is time for the residents to take action to protect their own health,” Green Party MP Giorgos Perdikis said. Perdikis who was present at both Sunday and Monday’s demonstrations told reporters he believed it was time for the people of the village to stand against the threat to their health and to their quality of life.

“According to the recent Ombudswoman’s report, government departments did not manage to protect the residents from the factories’ illegal actions and they have every right to protect themselves and their health,” he added.

Perdikis explained that in the recent Ombudswoman’s report, there were many omissions by government departments which allowed the unchecked operation of the two chemical factories within the village’s residential area, resulting in an increase in cancer cases in the area.

The residents have said they would continue their demonstrations with a possible indefinite closing off of the factories unless their demands for the government to shut them down and move them to an industrial area are met.

Perdikis revealed that a plot of land has been assigned to relocate the chlorine factory but without financial help from the government it would be impossible to build a new factory there.

Local students and organised members of the community all took part in the demonstrations.

Residents of Nisou protest (By Christos Theodorides)

A SERIES of misunderstandings was responsible for a pregnant woman being told by hospital staff that she had suffered a miscarriage when she hadn’t, Health Minister Androulla Agrotou said yesterday.

Maria Stylianou, 26, who was in her eighth week of pregnancy, lodged a complaint recently after she believed she was told by doctors at the Makarios Hospital that she had had a miscarriage.

“She (the doctor) was absolute about what she was saying,” Stylianou told Sigma television at the time. “She announced it was a miscarriage.”

Stylianou said she left the hospital distraught but was later convinced to visit a private gynaecologist who ascertained there was nothing wrong with the embryo.

Agrotou yesterday revealed the results of an investigation carried out by an experienced gynaecologist.

According to the report, an ultrasound which was carried out on January 21, 2013 on the pregnant woman, showed an endometrial gestational sac without foetal elements.

As the ultrasound was unable to display foetal data or to show any heart function as expected in a seven-week pregnancy the woman was instructed to take a large amount of a chorionic hormone over the next 48 hours. 

She was told to come back two days later when the effects of the hormone would give the doctors a clearer picture. The report said the doctors involved had given assurances that at no point did they recommend that the woman terminate her pregnancy despite their concerns at the ultrasound scans.

The gynaecologist who compiled the report said that although a heartbeat can be found in a six to seven week old foetus, it is often misdiagnosed, and that the absence of a heartbeat does not necessarily mean there has been a miscarriage.

In response to the question, why was a heartbeat not found at the Makarios Hospital on the same day that one was found at a private clinic, the gynaecologist answered that the private doctor the woman visited was an ultrasound specialist and had hi-tech equipment.

The report reached two conclusions. The first concluded that the doctors who examined the pregnant woman did not express themselves correctly or were not clear in their diagnosis, resulting in the patient misunderstanding the situation and becoming upset.

The report suggested they could have asked the woman to come back for testing in 48 hours without revealing their concerns. 

The second conclusion stated that the doctors had little experience with ultrasound, and that the equipment used was slightly dated.  The report said that the hospital does have newer equipment and the doctors could have referred the woman to a more experienced colleague. 

 “We express our sympathy towards the woman, and the whole issue will be examined by medical services and the public health service, which has been instructed to take measures to prevent similar incidents,” Agrotou said. 

“There was a miscommunication with the woman, resulting in her getting upset and although the Makarios Hospital has the capabilities to carry out an ultrasound through an experienced doctor, it didn’t happen,” she added.  Agrotou said that the doctors would have been held responsible if the examinations they had carried out were not the appropriate ones. 

“What the doctors wanted to ascertain was if the sac was empty,” Georgiou said. “It’s a fact that between the sixth and seventh week of pregnancy there is a possibility that a heartbeat might not be found,” she concluded. 

Agrotou also said she had ordered an investigation into the recent case of a dead foetus which was disposed of as medical waste at Limassol General Hospital instead of being sent to the morgue for burial. 

A pregnant woman visited the hospital because she had stopped feeling her baby move. The foetus had died at 21 weeks, and the woman had an operation to have it removed. Under regulations a foetus less than 20-weeksd old would be disposed of as medical waste.  

Agrotou said there were many points which needed to be cleared up. She said that an investigative officer would be assigned today at the latest.

“Based on everything that has been submitted up until now, I have seen fit to give instructions for a disciplinary investigation, the aim of which will be to clear up the incident,” she said. 

Health Minister Androulla Agrotou

FOR THE first time since Cyprus joined the European Union nearly a decade ago, its partners have financial leverage to press for a settlement of the island's almost 40-year division.

Yet there is no sign that Brussels is preparing to use its advantage to achieve a reunification that narrowly eluded negotiators when Cyprus joined the EU in 2004.

Indeed the most powerful member states, Germany and France, may be content to see the frozen Cyprus conflict fester rather than deal with the potential consequences of a resolution that would bring Turkey closer to EU membership.

Nicosia desperately needs around €17 billion from its euro zone partners, equivalent to a whole year's economic output. That amounts to €19,722 for every man, woman and child in the government-controlled  part of the island.

This ought to give Brussels a crowbar to pry the Greek Cypriots into cooperating with the Turkish Cypriots on a loose bi-zonal federation of the kind proposed by then UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan in 2004.

At the time, the Turkish Cypriots voted in favour of the Annan plan, encouraged by Turkey.

Safe in the knowledge that they would be admitted to the EU even if they spurned the reunification blueprint, the Greek Cypriots rejected the Annan plan in a referendum a week before they entered the Union.

EU officials and especially Guenter Verheugen, the bloc's enlargement commissioner at the time, felt betrayed.

"The understanding was quite clear when we gave Turkey  candidate status in 1999 and even clearer when we concluded negotiations with Cyprus in 2002: the Greek Cypriots would not allow the peace plan to fail, and if it failed due to the Turkish Cypriots, then Cyprus could join," Verheugen told Reuters in an interview.

"We came very close. The problem was that in the end, we didn't have any leverage over the Greek Cypriots any more since they knew they would join anyway," said Verheugen, now honorary professor of European governance at the Europe University in Frankfurt-an-der-Oder in Germany.

The favourite to win the February 17 presidential election, conservative Nicos Anastasiades, voted for the Annan plan. The United Nations is reviewing the state of play in the talks and UN special representative Alexander Downer is expected back on the island in March.

Yet some EU diplomats say it would be politically dangerous to apply diplomatic pressure by exploiting Cyprus's economic plight. Any linkage could backfire and benefit hardline nationalists on both sides, they warn.

Sceptics say it suits Berlin and Paris just fine to keep the Cyprus problem in long-term stalemate, because that prevents Turkey advancing towards the EU's door.

"Europe itself is divided on the Cyprus issue. There are several countries that have no interest whatsoever in solving the problem because Turkish accession would be moved forward," said a former mediator on the island, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he is still involved in diplomacy.

The United States used to be actively engaged in trying to settle the Cyprus dispute, which it saw as a potential flashpoint for instability in the eastern Mediterranean.

But US interest in twisting arms seems to have waned since Cyprus found large amounts of natural gas beneath its waters and began working cooperatively with Israel, Washington's biggest regional ally, to tap the offshore wealth.

The seabed bonanza may eventually help Nicosia out of its bailout problems. One way of paying off rescue loans may be to borrow against future gas revenues due to start flowing in 2019.

At that point, any incentive to reach a settlement with the Turkish Cypriots may evaporate in a haze of gas. So if European countries want to wield some influence, it's now or never.

While Brussels may temporarily have more leverage over the Greek Cypriots, its sway over Turkey has shrunk, and the Turkish Cypriots elected hardliner Dervis Eroglu in 2010. He favours independence for the ‘TRNC’. "Turkey is in no way as willing to compromise as it was in 2004," the former mediator said.

This is partly because few Turks believe the EU will ever admit their country, and hence two-thirds now oppose membership, but also because Ankara has been so economically successful in the last decade that it has much less need to join the bloc.

Deputy Prime Minister Ali Babacan says the EU accession process has helped Turkey to implement democratic and economic reforms and strengthen the rule of law, underpinning a decade-long economic boom in which GDP per capita has tripled.

"EU membership is a strategic target for us," Babacan told reporters in Davos, Switzerland. "We have been working for this target since 1959... It seems we are still going to take a long time to reach it, if it (ever) happens."

While the EU process had been very effective in drawing in investment, full membership "is less of a target for us now because some of things being done in the EU we don't agree with too much," Babacan said, citing what he called choking labour market regulation.

So far no one has linked a Cyprus bailout to a diplomatic settlement, meaning that possibly the last chance of a Cyprus settlement may go begging for lack of European interest.

(Additional reporting by Michele Kambas in Nicosia)

Does a divided Cyprus suit Brussels in some way?

THERE are around 3,000 new cases of cancer a year in Cyprus, Health Minister Androulla Agrotou revealed yesterday in a speech to mark World Cancer Day. 

According to the minister, cancer has become an epidemic with one in three Europeans likely to develop the disease at some stage of their lives.

“Cancer is the second most frequent cause of death in Europe and has increased on a global scale,” she said. “In some countries it is now the first cause of death, surpassing cardiovascular diseases,” she added.

She revealed that the Council of Europe had decided in June 2008 to take measures in an attempt to reduce the number of cancer incidents with the ministry of health one of the first ministries which acted immediately, following the council’s decisions. It developed a complete strategic plan, based on prevention, treatment, relief and research.

“This is the first time, through the National Committee, which was created by the cabinet, that Cyprus is giving an organised answer on the subject of cancer,” she said. “Last year, head of the Committee, Dr Adamos Adamou, issued an action plan against cancer,” she added. “The committee worked hard and systematically in reaching many goals, with the ministry developing exceptional health treatment programmes based on healthy lifestyle choices,” she continued. “At the same time, the programme to promote health in different communities has been wholeheartedly accepted by the public,” she concluded.

She went on to explain that the screening process for breast cancer was being continually improved with the introduction of a hi-tech digital mammography machine. “Cypriot women today are in a privileged position compared to many others in Europe,” she said.

Speaking about the digital mammography method she mentioned that it enables better visualisation and even the smallest changes in the morphology of the breast can be seen with the additional advantage of less radiation exposure to women.

“Each medical centre has been given the new technology of tomosynthesis,” she said. “Which is the possibility for realistic tumour imaging in thin slices through digital media, to enable a detailed study of the separation from the surrounding tissue,” she added.

Agrotou revealed that a new test will be undertaken, starting from the Larnaca district, in an attempt to find people who could possibly be suffering from cancer of the colon. “The programme follows European guidelines and offers free stool sample examinations, in order to detect blood which is not visible to the naked eye, to men and women aged between 50 and 69,” she said. “In cases of positive results, citizens will be offered a free colonoscopy and a biopsy of the sample,” she added.

On the subject of treatment, the minister said that the health ministry had all of the modern treatments and techniques available, so patients would not feel deprived in comparison with other European citizens.

She ended her speech by revealing that the action plan had prioritised the creation of two centres, one to help the prevention of breast cancer and the other to prevent any gastrointestinal cancer, which are the two most common cancers.

Health Minister Androulla Agrotou

THE island’s two big banks seem to support a proposal to appoint a mediating committee to look into allegations that people were misled into buying high-yield bonds, effectively losing their money after a write-down of Greece’s debt caused Bank of Cyprus (BoC) and Popular’s huge losses.

Phivos Mavrovouniotis, the head of the association of investors said the banks backed a proposal to have a foreign mediator who, along with Cypriot judges, would  examine individual cases.

BoC and Popular stopped paying interest for the high yield securities after a Greek sovereign debt write-down in late 2011, but many investors claim they were not told this was a possibility.

Last year, the securities and exchange commission (CySEC) said banks followed regulations by listing the risks, but allowed for the possibility that people were not informed by those selling the product.

According to a leaked Central Bank probe, it appears the banks tended to stress to investors the benefits of a high yield but downplayed, or omitted mentioning, the risks.

BoC has proposed paying investors a premium to mitigate the loss – details will be announced in the next few days.

“There will be a big loss (based on the banks’ proposals) to the bond holders so each one will have the right to go to the arbitration committee,” Mavrovouniotis said. “The “Bank of Cyprus, as they told us, is prepared to pay compensation” if the committee finds an investor had been mislead.

Last week, dozens of angry investors stormed the BoC HQ in protest.

They also stormed parliament last December.

THE Natural Gas Public Company (DEFA) has received eight proposals from companies interested in supplying the island with limited quantities of natural gas.

The deadline for the submission of proposals was yesterday.

Cyprus is seeking to secure short-term supplies of the fuel as not exceeding 1.2 billion cubic metres per year as a stop-gap solution until such time as it can bring ashore its own gas.

Under the terms of the call for expression of interest, actual supply of gas should begin no later than early 2015 and up until September 2018.

Having initially received 17 expressions of interest, DEFA shortlisted 14 companies that met the minimum criteria. In January of this year, DEFA sent these companies the tender documents so that they would submit their proposals by February 4.

Negotiations leading to the selection of a supplier are expected to take some weeks.

DEFA reiterated yesterday that the details of the bids were bound by a confidentiality agreement between itself and the interested parties.

In addition to supplying the fuel, interested parties must also make all infrastructure arrangements.

In terms of technology the tender is open-ended: liquefied natural gas (LNG), compressed natural gas (CNG), or any other technology. The top criteria are time and cost.

DEFA has said it reserves the right not to conclude any deal should it decide that the price of electricity generated by natural gas will be higher than that currently produced from diesel.

Commerce Minister Neoclis Sylikiotis explained earlier that the approximate date of January 2015 - by which the island should generate power from natural gas - was set for two reasons. The first was to allow time for the necessary receiving infrastructures to be built and go online.]

Secondly, the EAC has undertaken to begin electricity production from natural gas by 2015 as a condition for qualifying for a €130m loan from the European Investment Bank.

Last year the bank agreed to finance the EAC for the construction of unit 5 at Vassilikos power plant to boost electricity supply on the island.

ATTORNEY-GENERAL Petros Clerides said yesterday the unit for combating money laundering (MOKAS) would probe allegations of dodgy financial dealings implicating the law firm of presidential candidate Nicos Anastasiades.

The investigation is being launched at the request of Anastasiades, the top law enforcement official clarified.

Clerides said Anastasiades had contacted both he and MOKAS, supplying the latter with documentation to help with the investigation.

Two investigators from MOKAS would be appointed to look into the allegations, said Clerides, adding that the findings should be in by February 17 – the date of the first round of elections – as also requested by Anastasiades.

Responding to newsmen’s questions, Clerides hinted the findings would be made public.

Earlier in the day, Anastasiades’ election HQ released a statement saying they had asked authorities to investigate the allegations.

The request was deliberately made to clear Anastasiades’ name, the statement said.

It was obvious the claims were part of a mudslinging campaign in light of the elections, it added.

The statement was issued after AKEL leader Andros Kyprianou prodded Anastasiades to come clean on the media reports.

“DISY and his cohorts daily pretend to be incorruptible, caretakers of the Constitution and flag-bearers of transparency and meritocracy,” Kyprianou said.

“Yet not a word about the loan dealings concluded by Mr Anastasiades’ law firm. Why is that? Does it not bother them, especially at a time when Cyprus is unjustifiably being accused of engaging in money laundering?”

The matter came to the fore after Greek website ‘Pandora’s Box’, which deals in investigative journalism, linked Anastasiades’ law firm to allegedly suspicious dealings, among them with Russia’s Sobinbank.

The website said two Cyprus-registered companies with a share capital of a few thousand euro somehow managed to get loans worth millions from the bank. Anastasiades’ law office acted as nominee shareholders for these companies.

It went on to ask why Anastasiades would have dealings with a Russian bank with a tainted track record.

In September 2000, citing US court papers, Reuters and the Wall Street Journal reported that Sobinbank was at the heart of a massive money laundering scheme in which Russian businessmen and mobsters illegally funnelled about $7 billion through accounts at the Bank of New York Co. Inc.

Responding, Nicos Chr. Anastasiades & Partners said the initial loan agreement with the Russian bank was concluded with Consulco Ltd, a Cyprus-registered company that had no link to their own law firm.

The deal for the €9.9 million loan was signed on 29 October 2007 by Consulco Ltd acting on behalf of Evalesco Holdings Ltd, the sole shareholders of the foreign company which secured the loan.

On 14 November of the same year, Evalesco Holdings Ltd asked Anastasiades’ law firm to transfer its shares (by trust) to Compaservus (Nominees) Ltd and Mareplex Services Ltd, companies owned by the Anastasiades law office.

Thus the loan deal predated the contentious transfer of Evalesco’s shares to companies controlled by the Anastasiades law firm.

Moreover, the assets of the foreign company that got the loan are “15 times” the size of the actual loan, the law firm pointed out.

Another allegation by the Greek website concerned the sale of the shares of a Cyprus-registered company - Makra Investments Ltd - for US$50m whereas its initial share capital was worth a few thousand euro.

Makra Investments Ltd was registered by the Anastasiades’ law firm and ultimately owned by a firm of which the shareholders were Anastasiades’ wife and Anastasiades’ two partners in the law firm.

Makra was founded in November 2003 as an offshore company.

In an evidently loaded comment, the website observed that the deal went through around the time of the referendum on the Annan Plan.

Hitting back, the Anastasiades law office said Makra Investment Ltd’s shares were transferred to auditing firm PriceWaterhouseCoopers on February 5, 2004. A month later, on March 12, and on the instructions of PriceWaterhouse Coopers, some US$50m worth of Makra’s shares were sold via Compaservus in its capacity as escrow agents for Makra.

Calling the allegations “malicious” and “guided,” Anastasiades’ law firm threatened to sue the website should it pursue the story.

The DISY leader on the campaign trail

RUSSIA said yesterday it was considering extending the maturity of a €2.5 billion loan to help Cyprus manage its debt crisis, rather than offering a new loan.

"We are ready for softening (of the terms)... Restructuring of the debt is possible and we'll see about the rates." Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said.

Hit by its exposure to Greece and shut out of international financial markets for nearly two years, Cyprus asked Russia last month to extend the five-year loan that Moscow provided Nicosia in 2011.

Last year Cyprus also asked Russia for a new €5 billion loan.

"We are more looking into the second option (extension)," Siluanov told journalists.

He also reiterated Moscow's position that the island would still need additional financial aid from Europe.

"Our concessions will not solve the problem of Cyprus," Siluanov said.

Last week, Cypriot Finance Minister Vassos Shiarly said he expected Russia to extend the maturity of the existing loan to 2022 from 2016.

A draft memorandum of understanding between Cyprus and the EU and IMF says the island could need up to €10 billion to recapitalise its banks, undermined by an EU-sanctioned write-down of Greek government debt in early 2012.

A company tasked with assessing the recapitalisation needs of Cypriot banks ahead of the bailout delivered its final report on Saturday.

Details were not made public, but reports suggested the total amount PIMCO came up with was around €10 billion, something Cyprus was trying to avoid.

The government and the Central Bank have been trying to convince PIMCO since a preliminary report came out in December.

“Unfortunately the differences between the two sides remain,” Shiarly said. “A new discussion will follow until a common and final position is found.”

The minister said PIMCO promotes the worse-case scenario in the case of Cyprus’ bailout.

“It is really adverse and very far from baseline scenario,” Shiarly said.

The baseline scenario provides for €7.0 billion.

On top of the €10 billion the government needs up to €7.5 billion for its own budget.

On that basis, Cyprus’ total bailout, including fiscal requirements, could reach €17 billion to €17.5 billion, equivalent to the island's annual economic output.

Cyprus fears that a bailout on that scale could push its debt to unsustainable levels and prompt additional austerity measures, including privatisations of public companies.

To make things worse, some euro one member states, notably Germany, have expressed unease at the island's close business ties with Russia, and questioned its commitment to fighting money laundering. Cyprus says it has all the safeguards in place.