Cyprus Mail: News Articles in English, 98-03-06

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From: The Cyprus Mail at <http://www.cynews.com/>

Friday, March 5, 1998

CONTENTS

[01] Drastic steps needed to combat drought

[02] Van den Broek calls for discretion as talks get under way

[03] US steps up efforts to restart talks

[04] Britain did block delivery of radar parts

[05] Bullish Market charges ahead to overshadow Popular results

[06] University pleads for more flexibility

[07] Keep your dogs under control

[08] Noise polluters could face £10,000 fine

[09] Why no medals for our heroes?

[10] UN protest over Armenian monastery conversion

[11] Kyprianou warns against implicit recognition

[12] Turk freed after court hears of persecution

[13] Man killed in road crash

[14] Ekas man in airport fracas

[15] Woman fined for psychic hoax

[16] Pay rise for conscripts

[17] Top security chiefs to brief MPs on guards

[18] Court rules against Diko rebels pending trial

[19] Omirou replaced in House

[01] Drastic steps needed to combat drought

DRASTIC steps are needed if the island is not to run out of water by the end of the year, officials said yesterday.

Water Development Department official Andreas Panayiotou admitted there are currently no plans in place to counter such an eventuality.

The warning came as farmers urged the government to declare a state of emergency over the crisis.

Figures released yesterday by the Meteorological Service showed that total rainfall in February was only 24 per cent of normal for the month, and the lowest since 1989.

The current drought is the third worst this century, the government says. But Water Department officials say that with new cuts there will be enough to last until the end of the year, even if it does not rain.

"There is no plan yet, but in the next few days we hope to complete one and submit it to the Council of Ministers," Panayiotou said.

The plan will include drastic cuts combined with conservation and recycling measures designed to make low reservoir supplies last.

Some of the reservoirs are 90 per cent empty.

According to Panayiotou, the new measures will include cutting supplies, mainly to agriculture. He said the restrictions will probably involve cutting the supply of water from the current 80 per cent to 25 per cent.

The authorities also hope to increase capacity from the Dhekelia desalination plant and to recycle sewage for irrigation in Limassol.

Panayiotou said tourism would not be affected because the Dhekelia plant would supply the needs of Larnaca and Famagusta, while Limassol and Paphos, he said, had plenty of underground supplies.

"We don't plan to cut for domestic use more than we did last year," Panayiotou said. "Most of the severe measures will be in the agricultural sector."

A similar announcement by new Agriculture Minister Costas Themistocleous at the House Agriculture Committee yesterday left farmers baying for blood.

Themistocleous made it clear the priority problem in agriculture was the drought, and that it was here cuts would be made first.

Farmers organisations attending the meeting said a state of emergency should be declared.

"It was tragic last year but this year it's worse than tragic," one spokesman for the farmers said. "We have to declare a state of emergency."

The committee chairman, Akel deputy Christos Mavrocordatos, said everybody was talking about drinking water and tourism, but little was being done to find alternatives for the water problems in agriculture. He said he was "deluged" by calls from desperate farmers.

"Help must be given to farmers," he said. "Two million tonnes of water are going on a golf course every day and there are plans for more."

Mavrocordatos called for a study to determine how economically sound such a policy was when "agriculture is being abandoned for the sake of tourism".

[02] Van den Broek calls for discretion as talks get under way

EU COMMISSIONER Hans van den Broek yesterday began contacts aimed at securing Turkish Cypriot participation in Cyprus-EU negotiations.

Speaking after a meeting with President Clerides, the EU External Affairs Commissioner said the discussions had centred on "ways and means" of pushing the process forward.

Britain's EU presidency envoy Sir David Hannay, who arrived on the island just ahead of van den Broek on Wednesday, joined the President and the Commissioner for a joint meeting after private talks between the latter.

"We had an exchange of views with President Clerides and obviously in view of the upcoming negotiations for membership of the EU, we have explained what can further be done to prepare in the best possible way for this event, " van den Broek said.

He also mentioned the "vivid and very committed interest of the international community" in assisting Cyprus to have a more united and prosperous future.

"We have been discussing ways and means to give as much substance and operational significance to the conviction that we all have, that membership of Cyprus should benefit both communities. That is our common goal and our common objective," van den Broek said.

The EU Commissioner said more meetings were planned in London next week at the European Conference, and two weeks later when the negotiating process gets under way in earnest.

He also said the resumption of UN-led direct talks "which we consider to be very important", had been among the issues discussed with the President.

"The number of visits taking place during these weeks show very clearly the vivid and very committed interest of the international community - not only the Europeans but also Americans and distinguished representatives - to see Cyprus is being assisted towards a more united and prosperous future," van den Broek said.

The Commissioner refrained from disclosing any details of his talks, and called for a "certain confidentiality" that could contribute to bringing the whole process forward.

[03] US steps up efforts to restart talks

Miller, whose visits to the island usually precede those of US presidential emissary Richard Holbrooke, is expected to arrive on Monday as part of a visit to the region, government spokesman Christos Stylianides said yesterday.

According to Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, the US places Cyprus high on its political agenda.

Speaking to an American government committee, Albright said: "The administration places a very high priority in resolving the Cyprus dispute and we are actively engaged from the President down on this."

Albright said the US had assembled a "very strong negotiating team on this", which was supporting UN efforts to solve the Cyprus dispute on the basis of a bizonal bicommunal federation through direct talks between the two sides.

"With President Clerides re-elected, we are now re-engaging very actively to get them to talk to each other," Albright said.

She assured the Committee that Cyprus "is high on our agenda, and now that the elections are over, I think we will be able to re-engage more actively."

Referring to Cyprus' EU accession process, Albright said: "part of the issue has to do with Cypriot accession to the EU and the various problems in trying to assemble a delegation and trying to get those two processes working together."

Albright also noted the US has been working hard to "create a positive climate in which UN settlement talks can resume."

[04] Britain did block delivery of radar parts

BRITAIN'S decision to block the delivery of spare parts to a National Guard radar system was confirmed to the Cyprus Mail yesterday.

But informed sources said that the spare part ban had nothing to do with the island's air defence network, which is monitored by a French radar system.

Problems with the French equipment for the Troodos radar are thought to be causing technical difficulties for the National Guard.

Air defences could be crucial if a threatened pre-emptive Turkish strike on S-300 missile systems - due to be deployed later this year - were to materialise.

It is understood the delivery of parts for the British-made GEC-Marconi radar was blocked by the British government because it was seen as upgrading an existing installation.

Last year, the British government set out restrictive guidelines for military exports to Cyprus, based on UN resolution 1062.

The UN resolution states "serious concerns about the modernisation and upgrading of military forces" on the island.

But sources told the Cyprus Mail the British ban was in no way linked to the planned deployment of the controversial S-300 missiles.

According to reports, the National Guard has taken steps to secure radar parts from other countries following the British government's decision.

The National Guard says all its radar systems are in excellent working order.

[05] Bullish Market charges ahead to overshadow Popular results

THE CYPRUS Popular Bank, the island's second largest financial institution, said yesterday that its pre-tax profits rose by 18.2 per cent in 1997 to £32.7 million and that it would pay a dividend of 12 per cent over and above the eight per cent it had already paid last September.

The results, however, came as no surprise to investors and were overshadowed by an exceptionally busy day on the stock market where the all- share index climbed to yet a new high.

"Today was the best day in the market since it became official in March 1996," said Neophytos Neophytou of United Stockbrokers. "This is shaping up to be a very good year for the market. Everyone is bullish," he added.

The Popular Bank's results, announced by chairman and chief executive officer Kikis Lazarides in a news conference, had little impact on the bank's shares - they rose by 1.3 cents to close at £3.49-£3.50 with 57,747 stocks changing hands. The bank's warrants (1993-1999) closed slightly up at £1.21-£1.22 with 138,722 of them changing hands.

Lazarides said operating profits also rose by 20.8 per cent last year to £44.4 million on revenue of £231.7 million.

"The results are excellent," he declared. "Provided that there are no unforeseen developments, prospects for 1998 are also favourable."

Turning to overseas operations, Lazarides said they had contributed 17.3 per cent of the group's profits in 1997, compared to 15.7 per cent the previous year. Profits of the bank's operations in Greece and the United Kingdom, he added, rose by 41.4 and 29.6 per cent respectively in 1997.

Market traders said the results were more or less what they had been expecting and that the market's bullish mood had little to do with yesterday's announcement of the Popular Bank's results.

The index yesterday rose by 1.26 per cent to close at 84.13 points, a 1998 high and also the highest level in 14 months. Volume was exceptionally high at £2.37 million - nearly four times the market's daily average for most of 1997.

All sectors, except that of industrial companies, rose in yesterday's trade with the sub-indexes of the commercial and tourist companies gaining the most - 6.22 and 4.14 per cent respectively.

The lucrative bank sector, which usually attracts more than half of the market's trade, rose by 1.05 per cent, while the insurance sub-index moved up by 1.76 per cent.

"It was the best day in a long time," said Christos Samaras of Starinvest, a Nicosia-based securities firm. "It was very bullish."

The Popular Bank's results came a week after the Bank of Cyprus, the island's biggest, announced its own results for last year, posting a rise in pre-tax profit by 13.3 per cent to £27.4 million.

Hellenic Bank is due to announce its own results on Saturday, and Samaras said they were expected to be better than those of the other two in terms of percentages.

"The market is now firmly focused on the stock market incentives adopted by the government and referred to parliament for approval and the fact that the economy is looking much better this year, particularly tourism," one trader said.

The economy is officially forecast to grow by 4.5 per cent this year, up from 2.5 per cent in 1997 and 1.9 per cent the previous year. Tourism, which recovered last year from a dismal 1996, was expected to show marked improvement with more tourist arrivals than last year's 2.06 million.

But in his press conference, Lazarides struck a note of caution about the longer-term prospects of the economy.

"Beyond the immediate prospects and developments, the Cyprus economy, faces... serious structural problems, both in the productive base as well as in the institutional framework with the result that productivity remains low thus eroding the international competitiveness of the economy."

[06] University pleads for more flexibility

THE UNIVERSITY of Cyprus wants greater economic flexibility and a more sympathetic ear to plans to set up new schools.

And it is unhappy about postgraduate scholarships and cuts in the number of new positions approved for this year.

These were among the main points raised by university rector Miltiades Haholiades at yesterday's examination of the university budget for 1998.

Haholiades said the university wanted its budget to be given as a block grant - and be allowed to decide by itself how the funds should be spent. This, and adoption of another university proposal for three-year budgets, would allow better planning and more efficient use of the funds.

The university's plans to set up a polytechnic school had been rejected by the Planning Bureau. Failure to set up the school would be more costly to the island's economy than paying to set it up, he argued.

The government had also again turned down a proposal to set up a course of European studies. Rejection was particularly bitter since the government was bound under a protocol signed with the German government to employ a German language professor.

Haholiades said the university was also planning to set up a postgraduate medical school, which would require only four professors, and a law faculty.

The university is unhappy about the proposed scholarship programme for post- graduate students. Weaknesses listed include the fact it would cover only tuition, not living costs, apply only for masters and not postgraduate programmes and not be available for students from mainland Greece.

On the actual budget, Haholiades argued that the state was only increasing the university's budget by £500,000 or 5 per cent over the previous year, excluding expenditure on the new campus.

And he said even though the University, in defence to the government's plea for economy, had requested only 24 new academic and 28 administrative positions. Only 11 and 10 were approved respectively.

The Planning Bureau's response was that the university had been generously treated considering it had 40 approved positions not filled. On the budget, it said the increase over actual expenditure in 1997 was £4 million, not £500,000.

Proposals for block grants and three-year budgets would be studied once submitted, in line with the fiscal situation.

The scholarship programme covered 28 per cent of the students, equivalent to £20,000 while another £140,000 was given to the university to fund employment of postgraduate students by the university. This, Planning Bureau officials said, worked out at £3,100 per postgraduate student, and it was up to the university to distribute it as it thought fit.

This had committee chairman Sofoclis Hadjiyiannis of Disy to request the criteria used to employ postgraduate students and the names of those benefitting. Akel's George Lilikas said this was unjustified interference in the work of the university.

[07] Keep your dogs under control

The bill follows a spate of attacks by dogs resulting in injuries - particularly to children. It comes about a year after a five-year-old child was mauled to death by a German shepherd in Larnaca.

As the law currently stands, the prosecution has to prove that owners had reason to believe their dog would attack, and therefore were responsible for not preventing them. The explanatory report accompanying the bill notes this meant that prosecution was only successful in those rare cases where witnesses could be presented to testify that the dog had previously shown aggressive behaviour.

The same report points out the spate of attacks has showed the need for owners to be held more accountable for their pets. This is achieved by dropping the requirement that dogs must previously have shown aggressive behaviour.

The bill is subject to the approval by the plenary.

[08] Noise polluters could face £10,000 fine

The draft bill, submitted in the House of Representatives yesterday, would multiply the existing maximum fine for the offence from £450 to £10,000.

According to the explanatory report accompanying the bill, there has been a dramatic upsurge in the use of loudspeakers without permission, leading to a huge problem of noise pollution, particlarly in tourist areas.

The existing penalty was considered inadequate and useless as a deterrent because more money was made by using loudspeakers outside the permitted hours than was lost by paying the fine.

The report also notes that since confiscating the loudspeakers is part of the penalty, then the value of the object being confiscated must be equivalent to the maximum penalty provided by the law. The proposal is subject to the approval of the plenary.

[09] Why no medals for our heroes?

The issue was raised in the House Defence Committee yesterday by Disy deputy Antonis Karras amid general consensus that it was unfair for Cypriot soldiers not to have the privilege to earn a medal for services rendered.

Greeks serving in the National Guard do have medals, the deputy noted.

National Guard commander Nicolas Vorvolakos said he too had noticed the discrepancy. He said the issue had been raised by some officers regarding the period of the Turkish invasion. But he said that for such instances there would first have to be an inquiry in view of the fact that the invasion had been preceded by the coup.

He suggested that as a first stage, authorities should work on regulations for medals to cover the period of peace, and leave the war period for further inquiries.

The committee agreed and Defence Ministry officials pledged to have regulations submitted to the House before the summer holidays.

[10] UN protest over Armenian monastery conversion

In a letter to the UN Secretary General, Zackheos said the conversion was in violation of the 1954 Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed conflict.

As such, he added, the illegal conversion "will do irreparable damage not only to the Armenian people and the Armenian church but also to the cultural and historical character of Cyprus."

The St Makar monastery in the Pentadaktylos mountain range is considered to be one of the most important Armenian religious sites in the world, serving for centuries as a resting place for pilgrims heading to the Holy Land.

[11] Kyprianou warns against implicit recognition

Kyprianou believes the government is ready to buckle under pressure from the EU and the Americans to allow Turkish Cypriots on board during the accession talks.

He also feels that President Clerides has already made dangerous concessions on the issue during behind-the-scenes negotiations with international envoys.

Kyprianou criticised the government for its willingness to accept a formula that would allow the Turkish Cypriot side recognition as a separate entity, despite statements to the contrary.

"If the issue of Turkish Cypriot participation means accepting a formula that directly or indirectly amounts to recognition of a separate entity, there will be no Cyprus problem left to discuss," Kyprianou told a press conference yesterday.

[12] Turk freed after court hears of persecution

A TURKISH man arrested for entering the free areas illegally was freed by a Larnaca court yesterday.

Mehmet Aslan, 26, entered the free areas on Monday after arriving at the occupied port of Famagusta from Turkey on February 27.

Aslan was arrested and remanded for three days and faced a prison sentence after pleading guilty to the charges.

But the court allowed him to go free after it heard that the man had been condemned to 12 years in prison by the Turkish authorities for belonging to a banned left-wing party.

Aslan left Turkey before the outcome of his appeal against the sentence.

Entering the free areas near Frenaros, Aslan stopped a passing motorist and asked to be taken to the nearest police station so he could give himself up.

He told the court that if he was sent back to Turkey his life would be in grave danger and said he would rather go to a Cyprus prison than live in fear.

Judge Tefkros Economou agreed that the man's flight from a military regime and the fact that he had given himself up were strong mitigating factors.

"As we have a democracy in this country, a prison sentence would serve no useful purpose," said Economou.

The judge also agreed that the Turk had not entered Cyprus illegally in a bid to find work.

Economou said it was not up to the court whether Aslan should be sent back to Turkey or not.

[13] Man killed in road crash

George Savvides' vehicle collided with that of Xenios Maltas, 21, at around 4pm. Savvides was taken to Nicosia General Hospital where he later died of his injuries.

Police are investigating.

[14] Ekas man in airport fracas

Andreas Kanaris pleaded later guilty to breach of the peace, and swearing at a policeman, but denied a separate charge of improper behaviour.

Two years ago, Kanaris had been at the centre of the notorious saga of Ekas - a shadowy clandestine right-wing group accused of plotting to overthrow the government.

Police yesterday said the 39-year-old became violent at Larnaca airport when police barred him from boarding a flight to Malta. Kanaris was on a stop list because of a case pending against him at Nicosia district court concerning a stolen artefact.

Kanaris was freed on £200 bail pending sentencing on March 23.

[15] Woman fined for psychic hoax

The court heard that Ekaterini Demetriou, 62, had been selling embroidery door-to-door and had convinced two householders that they were cursed and that she could lift the curses.

She then gave them pieces of dough in return for money, and said the curses would be lifted.

When nothing happened, the two women alerted police, who arrested Demetriou and found she had also been charging £10 a time for coffee-cup readings that she claimed could predict the future.

Demetriou was offered a choice of the fine or 45 days in prison and chose the fine, which she paid straight away.

[16] Pay rise for conscripts

The proposal, the first review of soldiers' stipends since 1993, was submitted by the government and given the green light yesterday by the House Defence Committee.

It introduces a 20 per cent increase to national guardsmen - with privates seeing their monthly stipend rising from £25 to £30 a month, and officers from £55 to ,65. There are corresponding increases for soldiers with dependents - but the total monthly stipend will still remain a very basic £80 a month for a national guardsman with three dependents.

Akel, which in the past had submitted its own proposals for higher allowances, is expected to press for a further increase.

[17] Top security chiefs to brief MPs on guards

He added that committee members had agreed not to make statements about yesterday's meeting, which took place behind closed doors.

Next Thursday's meeting will be attended by the Chief Constable, the Head of Special Intelligence and a military representative, all of whom will be involved in the decision making process.

[18] Court rules against Diko rebels pending trial

The six have gone to court to contest the legality of their expulsion and were seeking the injunction pending the final outcome of the trial.

But the court yesterday ruled that as the expulsion was a party matter, Diko leaders had the right to force the six out until the matter officially came to trial.

Former party vice-president Dinos Michaelides, Deputy Katerina Pantelidou, Larnaca Mayor George Lycourgos and three others were expelled from the party after they refused to toe the party line in supporting George Iacovou as the party's presidential candidate.

The trial has now been set for April 6.

[19] Omirou replaced in House

Myrianthous, 31, was the Edek runner-up for the Western District of Paphos in the 1996 parliamentary elections.

© Copyright Cyprus Mail 1998

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