The negotiations concerning the reunification of the island will continue
Nicos Anastasiades and Mustafa Akinci decided this wee to resume the negotiations. The next bilateral round will be held from 9th until 11th of January in Geneva and the two leaders will be joined by the representatives of the stake-holding countries- U.K., Greece and Turkey on the 12th.
The fact that the previous round of negotiations failed, does not mean that the view of the two sides have changed drastically. Apparently, the recent declarations only show that each sides will stand its ground even more firmly.
However, the leaders of the two sides also understand (each in their different way) that it is not wise to stop the negotiation process. A lot has been done already and the whole world urges to reach a consensus.
The bus drivers went back to work
The residents of Paphos were left without bus service for 3 days, due to the strike of the bus drivers. The reason for their protest was because the government did not fulfill its obligation about the purchase of new buses.
In 2017 Paphos will become the Eropean Capital of Culture and a lot of buses are too old now and air conditioning is not working in many of them either. The Council of Ministers acknowledged the existing problem and promised to suggest ways to resolve this matter after 1 month.
The Ministry of transport further stated that the strike, which affected thousands of residents of Paphos, will also affect the image of the city itself.
The current situation with the dams in Cyprus
Over the last 30 years, the area of the water dams has doubled. Such surprising data was published by the European Commission.
Back in the 80’s the water dams took the area of 8 sq.km. and currently it is almost 15 sq.km. Regardless of the fact that area has increased significantly, the shortage of water is colossal.
Currently, it is not possible to imagine the proper life on the island without the desalination plants. According to the report, the increase of area was done due to the construction of the new dams, however they do not hold much water- at the beginning of December they were only 19% full.
According to the CypLive, the long-term forecast is not very positive in that regard, however strong showers are expected in the next few days.
The Ministry of Labor reminds the Employers about their responsibilities.
Before the upcoming festivities, the Ministry of Labor reminds the Employers that it is unacceptable not to fulfill the terms of the employment contracts, in particular it concerns the 13 salary. In case if the contract provides for it, then the Employer has not right to cancel or reduce it, because it is against the law, which protects the rights of the workers.
More precisely, in Cyprus the breach of the term about the 13 salary is a criminal offense. The employer, who officially promised to pay extra end-of-year bonus and then did not fulfill this obligation, can be imprisoned for 6 months and is liable to pay 15,000 Euros fine.
Furthermore, the Ministry published the rules concerning the working hours of the shops during the upcoming festive period. on the Christmas and New Year Eve the shops will close at 18:00. On the 1st, 2nd and 6th of January the shops must remain closed.
Small and specialised shops are allowed to be open, however the employees must receive the double pay.
