Cyprus in brief October 7.

More migrants arrested

POLICE CONTINUED the search for illegal migrants at the weekend, arresting 31 foreigners and six employers for illegal residence, entry and employment. Police carried out their search from Friday to Sunday, as part of a continuing campaign to crack down on migrants illegally residing or working in the Republic, or those who have entered the country illegally.

Immigration police, in cooperation with other law enforcement agencies arrested 22 foreigners for illegal stay on the island, one for illegal entry, and eight for working here illegally. Six employers were also arrested, charged and released in connection with cases of illegal employment.

Police came under criticism two weeks ago when they launched a massive sweep operation in the old town of Nicosia, rounding up 150 migrants from their homes in the early hours of the morning, and arresting 36 for illegal residence. The Interior Minister said this was not the appropriate way to implement the government's migration policy, while the police responded that it was up to them to decide how to go about their business.

Burglars steal safe in Limassol theft spree

BURGLARS managed to steal a 500kg safe that contained e1/420,000 in cash and cheques, from a car-parts shop on Makarios Avenue in Limassol, owned by 58-year-old Stefanos Theodotou, police said yesterday.

"The burglars had broken into the same shop the previous night, but had only taken e1/470 from the cash till. However, it seems that they saw the safe and returned prepared the next night," said Yiannakis Georgiou, Limassol Police Director.

The safe was securely placed on a metal base in the mezzanine floor of the shop and police believe that the burglars used rope that was tied onto the roof to transport the heavy safe to their pick-up truck.

Police believe the burglary took place at around 2.30am yesterday. At around 3am, a pedestrian who happened to be passing outside the shop saw the pick-up speeding away from the shop. The eye witness then noticed that the main entrance of the shop had been violated and alerted police.

"We believe that the same burglars entered the liquor store on Christos Samaras street from where they also took a safe that contained e1/41,180. We are also not excluding the possibility that they are also behind five other burglaries that took place on the same night," said Georgiou.

Based on eye witness reports police have issued arrest warrants against two suspects and continue to investigate the case.

Paphos-Polis road back on track

THE LONG-DELAYED Paphos to Polis motorway seemed to be back on track yesterday after the contactor revised down his demand to the initial amount of the tender, parliament heard.

The Kinyras consortium had won the 2007 tender for the road at an annual cost to the state of e1/430.6 million for 25 years.

But the consortium in March asked for e1/438.8 million per year raising the cost by some e1/4200 million.

The second bidder made an offer for e1/432.8 million.

"The successful bidder was told that this could not be accepted -- a 30 per cent increase equal to an amount over e1/4200 million," Communications Minister Nicos Nicolaides told lawmakers.

The bidder then revised the tender down to the original amount but the new proposal contained "essential changes" and could not be accepted.

Kinyras finally reaffirmed its initial offer of e1/430.6 million with no strings attached.

The minister said the project's committee will meet Kinyras today to confirm its position.

Nicolaides said it would be confirmed this month whether Kinyras will stick to its bid or the "committee would have to move to other directions."

The committee set up a fresh meeting for October 27 for the minister to brief deputies on the developments.

The road is seen as exorbitantly expensive for an infrastructure project that would see just eight minutes shaved off the travelling time between the two locations.

It has been described one of the most complicated road works that has taken place so far that would include tunnels, flyovers and much more.

It has also been plagued with delays, the original idea dating back to 2000.

Label of origin to control produce from the north

A LAWMAKER has tabled a bill aiming to put a halt in the uncontrolled trade of produce from the occupied areas or Turkey or elsewhere without labels with their place of origin.

DISY's Lefteris Christoforou said he tabled the bill that would "stop the uncontrolled and arbitrary trade of products originating in the occupied areas or Turkey or other countries that move in the Cypriot market without having labels or carrying their place of origin."

The bill forces all who trade in agricultural products to label their goods with the place of origin, name of producer and name of packager so that "Cypriot consumers are fully informed and at the same time Cypriot producers know that their product is not mixed or sold with a different identity," Christoforou told reporters.

The bill was discussed earlier before parliament's trade committee where deputies scolded state officials for not taking any measures or preparing any legislation to avert such phenomena.

"My worry is how to inform Cypriot consumers that this tomato comes from the occupied areas and Turkey," DIKO deputy Angelos Votsis said.

State officials however, explained to deputies, that to pass this bill would need approval from the European Union.

Agriculture Ministry official Giorgos Kyrris said EU officials were negative during a discussion of the issue.

He also told deputies that they can only implement such a law only in the case of potatoes because they were not covered by the relevant EU directives.

And even if the EU accepts such an exemption, it would only concern local products and not imported.

Home-alone toddler falls off balcony

POLICE ARE looking into the circumstances in which a four-year-old boy who was left home alone fell off a first floor balcony on Monday night.

The young boy fell around two and a half metres from the first floor balcony of a block of flats in Nicosia at around 10.30pm. Police were called to the scene, and found the boy with an injured leg. He was rushed to Nicosia general hospital where doctors confirmed that he had suffered a fracture on his right leg and head trauma. He was transferred to the children's ward at Makarios hospital where he is being kept for treatment.

According to unconfirmed reports, the mother was later located and told police that she had gone out to buy cigarettes. Lykavitos police are investigating the possibility of charging the mother with abandoning an underage child.

Birdwatchers unite to spot feathered friends

CYPRUS participated in the EuroBirdwatch event over the weekend with six different birdwatching events all over the island. In total 52 people took part, and all together they observed a total of 4,592 birds, belonging to 107 different species. The species with most counts in Cyprus were Spanish Sparrows Passer hispaniolensis with 1,230 counted, second came the Barn Swallow Hirundo rustica with 700 counted and third were House Sparrows Passer domesticus with 381 counted.

Bi-Communal cultural heritage cleanup project kicks off

CLEANING and restoration work at the mosque in the village of Avdimou was started yesterday, as part of a bi-communal project by a committee specially set up for this purpose following the agreement during the ongoing Cyprus talks.

"This is a project of exceptional importance," said Takis Hadjidemetriou, head of the Greek Cypriot team for the Committee for the Preservation and Restoration of the Immovable Cultural Heritage of Cyprus.

"We cleaned up the village mosque and undertook some small repairs to its structure, as part of our joint effort to restore cultural heritage monuments on our island," he added.

Yesterday marked the beginning of an island-wide project for the restoration of mosques and churches, with the church of Saint Therapon in Angastina village being next in line.

"We have compiled a list with priority monuments that require restoration work and will be working through this list. Other monuments on the list include the church of Saint Pantelimon in Myrtou viollage," Hadjidemetriou confirmed.

The next cultural monument clean-up will take place on October 15 in Angastina village in the north.

70 per cent live in urban areas

THE POPULATION of Cyprus in the government-controlled areas came to 796,900 at the end of 2008, recording a one per cent increase compared to 2007, according to information released by the Statistical Service yesterday. The total head count in the Nicosia District came to 313,400, for Famagusta 44,300, Larnaca had 133,300, Limassol 228,900 and Paphos 77,000. Urban areas remained the most attractive dwelling spots for citizens, with around 70 per cent of the population settled there, while the remaining 30 per cent are found in rural areas.

Policeman dies in road accident

Nicos Orthodoxou, 31, a police officer serving with the Nicosia Crime Prevention Unit, died following a road accident at 8am yesterday.

According to police reports, Orthodoxou was riding a high-powered motorbike along the Tseri-Analionta road in Nicosia district, heading for the Analionta police firing-range. Under circumstances that are still being investigated, Orthodoxou apparently lost control of the bike. Nicosia traffic police head Alkis Kyriacou said that the bike slid for about 50 metres along the road verge, ending up in a neighbouring field.

Orthodoxou suffered critical injuries, and died while in transit to Nicosia General Hospital. He leaves behind a pregnant widow.

Tourist drowns in Protaras

A 79-year-old German tourist lost consciousness yesterday while swimming off Protaras. He was taken by ambulance to Famagusta General Hospital, where doctors pronounced him dead.

Paralimini police are investigating the circumstances surrounding the drowning.

Cypriot student wins road safety engineering award

MARIOS PHILIPPOU, a student at the Polytechnic School of the University of Cyprus has won first prize for road safety engineering in a competition organised by the European Transport Safety Council (ETSC).

Philippou was presented with his prize -- won for his 2008 "Roads to Respect" (R2R) project -- on 30 September at this year's R2R Camp, held in Brussels.

Under the R2R scheme, ETSC staff tour universities in the participating countries, giving a one-hour lecture on infrastructure safety engineering and high-risk site management. Selected students then participate in a one-week camp in Brussels for training on infrastructure safety and effective road safety lobbying.

Students then return to their home countries and try to apply their newly acquired skills to convince their local politicians or local administration to fix a high-risk roadsite they had previously identified.

Philippou chose the road connecting Lakatamia and Deftera in Nicosia district. He identified suitable low-cost measures for increasing road safety and then successfully lobbied the Public Works Department, which has already implemented some of his recommendations.

Shots fired in Nicosia

Nicosia police are investigating an incident yesterday involving shotgun fire.

Shots were heard in Kallipoleos Avenue around 11.00 am, apparently directed at the veranda of a third-floor flat.

The Crime Investigation Service found damage to the veranda's awning, but also found traces of blood in the street. Having found evidence of buckshot damage to nearby railings, police suspect that the shotgun used may have malfunctioned, injuring the shooter.

Police are interviewing residents of the apartment block as they pursue their enquiries.

Unemployment up in September

Unemployment went up a further 5.6 per cent in September, following a similar rise in August.

According to data released yesterday by the Statistical Service, the number of registered unemployed rose to 17,618 at the end of September, giving a seasonally-adjusted official figure of 19,781.

The rises by sector or classification are: construction 2,022; retail 1,198; estate agency and business services 754; hotels and restaurants 696; processing 612; public administration 481; new arrivals in job market 844.

The latest figure is 7,299 higher compared to September 2008, a rise of 70.7 per cent.

Copyright Cyprus Mail 2009

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