Daily Archives: April 25, 2013

Further to the very interesting and constructive article on photovoltaics (Sunday Mail, April 14), is it worth questioning why applications for photovoltaic, (PVs), installations take so long to be processed and approved? I am an electrical engineer and a great supporter of PVs.

Cyprus has plenty of hillsides ideally suited for large PV installations, and often not suitable for other uses. And since the cost of producing electricity from PVs can compare favourably with all other means of production, I see no reason why approval for these applications/installations should not be pursued with urgency.  

D. Pnevmaticos, Tychonas, 

The whole of Cyprus is hurting due to the mess left by the Greek haircut and the previous government. Surely the sensible thing to do now, would be to abandon the euro, and go back to the Cyprus pound. Yes, it would cause even more pain in many quarters, but it would save the extra pain that will come in a very few years when the euro collapses. It is better to have it all in one dose than have a double dose of hardship.

Our View (April 11) about the attorney general makes several valid points. It does however miss the main point which is that this man should be removed from office. 

As the attorney general his behaviour in relation to legal matters has to be beyond reproach. He should not, for example be preventing the execution of court orders authorising the confiscation of government property so that those who are owed money by the government can recover it.

Ever since the middle of March we’ve been urging our friends and everyone we know, through texts and emails, to buy local fruit and veg and Cypriot manufactured products in general. The only problem is that it doesn’t always state clearly on a packet (where the information is usually miniscule and needs a magnifying glass to read) whether something has been produced in Cyprus or imported and just packed here. It would help a lot if somebody – the Consumers Association or the Ministry of Agriculture – could provide a list of products grown/manufactured here. 

Is it right that doctors in private practice have not agreed to reduce their fees?

Many are still charging over 100 euro an hour. In my experience it is advisable to phone around to ask the price of a consultation or medical test before making an appointment. Some doctors have reduced their prices considerably.

Name and address supplied

THE shock that our country is going through these past weeks is one that most of us have not been prepared for. It has shaken the very foundations that we have been securely building and obliviously standing on, and it now puts to test the values that will either keep us together, as people, or tear us further apart.

All of us encounter the growing realities of despair by those hit the hardest by Cyprus’ abrupt economic austerity. These are the realities of the unemployed amongst us, of the ones who fear losing their homes, of the pensioners and bankrupted business owners, of the mentally and physically disabled and of the elderly too frail to support themselves.

Your article “Tourism takes centre stage but it’s no magic bullet” (Sunday Mail April 7) makes interesting reading however there is always a ‘but’.

I am not a professional in this field, only an observer who has had some experience when dealing with the Cyprus Tourism Organisation (CTO) when I had my small food take-away in Limassol.

Yes you might well ask what the hell the CTO has got to do with a food take-away outlet. Well they authorise the license after conducting numerous inspections, which I might add, the requirement always change on every visit. Not only that, there is the Health and Hygiene department, who come along and either undo or add more requirements.

The bold-as-brass revelation by the incumbent Attorney General that he intervened to stop the prosecution of his son for driving offences was compounded by his attempt to justify it on the grounds that he regularly does this sort of thing for others! Presumably, he means, for example, the notorious lawyer nicknamed variously as ‘La Stigette’. Sorry, but such a self-justifying argument is nothing short of sleight-of-hand sophistry designed to cast attention away from the fact that it is wrong. As detectives know, if you want to hide something, hide it in plain sight.