Hundreds of amazingly good bargains for
Expats & British Forces.
Wherever you live on the island, if your are looking
for a
NEW
or USED, DUTY PAID or DUTY FREE CAR.
Simply
click here now to contact our Cyprus car finder with your
requirements.
He will
cut you a very good deal on any of his 250 new or used cars in stock.
|
New flights to Cyprus
01.MAR.10
New flights are to be launched by EasyJet and Jet 2 to Cyprus.
From April EasyJet will fly from Bristol to Paphos four times
a week and from Edinburgh to Paphos twice a week.
Jet2 will fly from Newcastle and East Midlands from April
until October.
Jet2 estimates it will carry 82,400 passengers in 2010
compared to 37,000 in 2009, while EasyJet will be able to
carry 225,000 passengers in 2010 compared to 155,000 in 2009.
Cyprus to have natural gas
network by 2014
Cygas calls for pipeline tenders -
Cyprus will have its own natural gas network according to
Giorgos Shammas, Chairman of the Cyprus Energy Regulatory
Authority who was briefing the House Finance Committee on the
regulator’s budget for 2010.
Meanwhile, the Natural Gas Public Company (DEFA) announced a
call for tenders for the provision of consultancy services for
the development of a gas pipeline network, Cygas.
DEFA is the administrator of the government’s natural gas
energy policy, and among other things is tasked with inviting
and evaluating tenders for the supply of natural gas.
Last December it received
expressions of interest for the supply of liquefied natural
gas (LNG) from 13 companies, and has now compiled a short list
of these.
The gas pipeline grid will provide LNG to industry and
households.
DEFA chairman Costas Ioannou said they would have an idea of
the cost of the network after the engineering consultants
furnished information about the work that needed to be done –
feasibility and environmental impact studies, which would then
determine the specifications.
The call for tenders ends on April 16.
In a separate but parallel process, the Electricity Authority
of Cyprus is seeking strategic partners for the development,
financing, operation and management of an LNG processing
terminal. The quasi-official expected time of arrival for the
facility is 2014.
Smoking
ban is too extreme to be fully successful
February 20, 2010
IT APPEARS that the draconian law banning smoking in all
public places will not remain in force in its current form for
much longer. A group of deputies from across the political
spectrum have undertaken the initiative of having the law
amended because as it stands “it goes against our culture and
our human rights.”
This initiative might not have been undertaken had there not
been so much pressure from restaurant, bar and nightclub
owners who claim that they have suffered a 40 per cent drop in
business since the introduction of the ban. Nobody could give
an accurate figure for the drop, which could also be
attributed to the recession, but it is unlikely the owners
would have made such a big fuss if they were not certain that
the ban had affected their financial interests.
The claim that the ban “goes against our culture” may sound
ridiculous – nobody cites fondness of smoking as part of a
country’s culture – but it has relevance. When the law was
being drafted, we had argued that it would be wrong to impose
a blanket ban in a country in which smoking was permitted
everywhere and there were a relatively high number of smokers.
There was bound to be a reaction and violations of the law,
especially in places frequented by the young - reports about
people smoking in clubs are becoming more widespread.
The ban has not been unsuccessful because restaurants have
remained smoke-free zones, with diners going outside for a
cigarette, and the same is true of offices. But the blanket
ban was never going to be accepted as it inconveniences
smokers too much, and there are still a lot of them. The
sensible approach would be to have small, well-ventilated
smoking areas in clubs, bars and restaurants if the owner
wants to provide one. There would be establishments that
maintained a total ban and people affected by smoke could go
to these.
The law was just too extreme to gain full public support in
Cyprus, which is why the amendment is now being considered.
Fanatical anti-smoking campaigner and Green deputy Giorgos
Perdikis has already begun campaigning against any amendment
of the law, but it is unlikely he will find much support. A
compromise solution will eventually have to be proposed by
deputies. We will not return to the pre-2010, ‘smoke wherever
you like’ situation, but smokers will be able to light up
indoors in some establishments, which would be no bad thing.
The middle way is often the best solution to a dispute that
causes deep divisions.
CTO chief meets British travel agents
01.March
2010
Cyprus Tourism Organization Chairman Alekos Orountiotis held
on Thursday and Friday a series of meetings in London with
most important UK tourist agents and airlines in the framework
of the government’s and CTO efforts to boost tourism in
Cyprus.
A CTO press release said that the meetings took place in a
constructive spirit, aiming at Cyprus’ promotion as a tourist
destination. As it is stated, the goal of the CTO is the
increase of tourist arrivals from the UK.
During the meetings, it was agreed that new flights would be
launched by EasyJet and Jet 2 to Cyprus. EasyJet will begin to
fly from April 14 from Bristol to Paphos four times a week
while it will also conduct flights from Edinburgh to Paphos
twice a week. Jet2 will fly from New Castle to East Midlands
from April 4 until October 31.
What will you do for a settlement?
February 14, 2010
WAVERING between opinions and action, it has become common to
hear Cypriots make demands for a settlement to their national
question from their government and outside powers, but it is
rare to witness one ask what one can do for Cyprus to help
achieve a solution to the national question….
This approach has haunted every peace process since they
began. But this week a senior politician and DISY MEP Ioannis
Kasoulides set a lustrous example for others to follow when he
offered to give up his European Parliament seat to a Turkish
Cypriot if we reach a Cyprus settlement.
“As soon as there is a settlement, I am ready to resign and
offer my seat to a Turkish Cypriot to take it if we are in a
period between elections,” announced Kasoulides in an
interview this week with Turkey’s Zaman newspaper.
Politically, Kasoulides’ move can be interpreted in many ways.
Could it be that he knows there is no chance of a solution,
hence an offer that is politically risky but not going to
happen? Or perhaps in the event of a solution being reached,
Kasoulides is aiming to secure his candidacy for President of
the United Federal Republic of Cyprus? All politicians have to
be opportunistic to some degree to advance in their career.
But whatever the case may be, cynicism will not serve anybody.
First, it cannot be overlooked that his act is completely
voluntary and that he is the only Cypriot MEP to offer his
seat to a Turkish Cypriot to date. Turkish Cypriots have been
demanding that the two MEP seats which belong to Turkish
Cypriots are given to the community to represent itself in the
EU – now that demand may be met.
Other MEPs have remained irresolute over the issue. Second,
Kasoulides’ timing is crucial. As if aimed at supporting the
talks, by sending a message to Turkish Cypriot community, his
gesture is a small one in the context of the unity talks but
immense in goodwill terms. It is immense because it a gesture
by a right-wing politician, which is rare in Cyprus. In
Cyprus, there has long been a wide gap between left and right
politics, both unable to work together, while smaller parties
and people are pushed to negative positions.
Despite being a stalwart supporter of the talks, Kasoulides is
from DISY, a political party which was at one time identified
with hard line nationalists who would rather break skulls than
break bread with their fellow citizens.
The party, however, has transformed into something of a
respectable European Christian Democrat Party that is now
pro-solution and conciliatory towards Turkish Cypriots. DISY’s
Katie Clerides has done great work across the divide for years
and DISY leader Nicos Anastassiades took the first step to
reach out to the Turkish Cypriot National Unity Party (UBP),
whose modernisation still has a way
to go.
Finally, Kasoulides is in opposition, where all too often it
is easier to sit back do nothing or attack the AKEL-led
government; complain loudly about everything including the
peace talks. Although both part of the administrations south
and north, DIKO, EDEK and UBP to date have not been as
actively supportive of resolving our national question as all
these parties could be.
We await the progressives and moderates in these parties to
lead the way… But DISY has been supportive of the unity talks
led by left-wing Cypriot leaders from AKEL and CTP and
arguably AKEL could not have gone as far as it has without
DISY’s support in the National Council.
However, perhaps the most crucial point of Kasoulides’ offer
was neither the offer itself nor its political meaning but the
mere invitation to shift the paradigm way of thinking it is
proposing. On a wider, non-political scale, we are used to
making demands as Cypriots.
It is after all an aspect of the unity talks between Demetris
Christofias and Mehmet Ali Talat and one which Cypriot
politicians, lawyers and experts refer to as a point of
reference all the time. But the offer by Kasoulides of his
seat, whether a political stunt or not, puts the JF Kennedy
call out to everybody: ask not what your country can do for
you but what you can do for your country.
It is a way of thinking most are unaccustomed to and one
Cypriots ought to consider seriously. In the search for a
shared solution to a shared problem, the peace process
requires such an approach and mode of thinking, and the good
will it will generate to bless the process.
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Paphos District

2 Bedroom Maisonette
* Sea & Mountain Views
* Quiet Location
* Near Amenities
* Viewing Recommended!
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Digital TV starts in Cyprus
03.March 2010
CyBC has launched its digital platform, alongside the present
analog system, allowing any viewers with the correct
television to watch clearer digital pictures, access
interactive services and view extra channels.
CyBC 1, CyBC 2, ERT and Euro News are available on channel 33
from the new digital transmitters at Troodos and near Larnaca.
It is expected the entire population will be covered by the
end of 2010.
Cyprus will stop analogue TV transmission in 2012.
We’ll close down all the clubs in Cyprus
January 8, 2010
CLUB OWNERS yesterday threatened to close down all
establishments and lay off staff over the smoking ban. At a
meeting in Limassol, the Cyprus Club Owners Association said
they were prepared to take drastic measures, including
challenging the smoking ban, which came into effect on January
1, in court.
“Both on an individual basis and as an association we
will definitely be going to the Courts for justice. We have
decided to suggest an amendment to the law allowing for
exceptions to the smoking ban to small clubs, so that owners
themselves can decide what rules their establishment will
follow and obtain a relevant licence,” said Fanos Leventis,
the association’s president following the ad hoc meeting in
Limassol.
Yesterday’s meeting was initially organised as a gathering of
the district branch of the association, but club owners from
all over Cyprus flocked to Limassol to discuss the problems
they face following the implementation of the smoking ban.
Approximately 80 individuals attended the meeting that took
place in a volatile atmosphere, with club owners expressing
their desperation at the state of affairs. “We have enough
power in our hands to convince those people who have not yet
comprehended the serious problems created by the law and I am
certain that they will hear what we have to say,” said
Leventis. Leventis did not rule out the possibility of a
general close-down of clubs throughout the island, while
announcing that club owners will have to lay off staff.
“Even if we don’t implement a general close-down
measure, clubs are in danger of closing as customers are
frustrated and complaining. As for firing staff, this is not a
threat but a necessity for the survival of our businesses,” he
said. The next meeting of the association has been set for
Hundreds of amazingly good bargains for
Expats & British Forces.
Wherever you live on the island, if your are looking
for a
NEW
or USED, DUTY PAID or DUTY FREE CAR.
Simply
click here now to contact our Cyprus car finder with your
requirements.
He will cut you a very good deal on any of
his 250 new or used cars in stock.
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