Frank and Joan's news for 21 April 2007 in Northern Cyprus

Frank and Joan's Adventures in Northern Cyprus

Our adventures in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus continue....

My the weeks go around quickly these days, it's newspaper day again, with a major headline that says "Road chaos looms". It seems that in order to complete the connection to the new by-pass in the centre of Kyrenia, it is proposed to close whole sections for one month and divert traffic through Dogankoy, which is a very small village. This would be an absolute nightmare, so guess we have to wait to see what happens.

There is lots going on within CTA, according to the papers. It is suggested that the general manager may be on his way out and that there is a proposed cut in staff levels. This would seem to be all very well but maybe a decision to bring in somebody, with airline experience, would not be a bad idea. But then he or she would be controlled by politicians, with a vested interest, so would be unable to do the job properly. As a matter if interest I went on to the internet and made some enquiries as to August prices for a two week period. I got prices of around £560.00 for two of us and £687.00 from CTA, just a samll difference which is almost the cost of the hire car in UK, for the same period.

More about the Channel 4 program is reported in the newspaper. It seems that John an

d Pam McNicholl contacted Channel 4 as they were aware of their program, Selling Houses Abroad, and wanted to highlight their plight. These people are very rightly upset by the teatment they have recieved by a development company called Kyerson Homes. Kyerson homes are obviously blaming everyone else, such as electricity and water authorities and suggest that they could complete in about two months, this would only be TWO years late according to the original contracts. Clearly a very dodgy company who seem to have closed their offices in Kyrenia; and I can understand the desire by Mr & Mrs McNicholl to use Channel 4 to try to highlight their problem and hopefully to force a satisfactory result. Unfortunatley programs such as this, sieze on these issues and totally ignore the other side of the coin, which damages the industry and the image of TRNC, every time. Would it not be nice if these program makers could seek to redress this, or produce a more balanced program in future.

Something else in the paper which refers to CTA, but this time to the airport services at Ercan. A new has been formed to improve ground handling services and bring them up to International standard. Also the plan is to upgrade Gecitkale airport to handle cargo. Does this mean things are moving on......

Sad news about the ten-fold increase in drug related arrests here in TRNC, in recent years. Police say that they have seized a total of 3,300 ecstasy tablets in the last week which highlights a massive increase in drug use here. We all know where this ultimately leads to, increases in crime, related to the desperate need for money etc.

Lots of talking about the island situation this last week. The President of the Council of Europe's Parliamentary Assembly said that the isolation of Turkish Cypriots must be lifted and he voiced his dissapointment aat the Geeek Cypriots for their rejection of the Annan plan and any progress to a unification of the island. At the same time the Turkish deputy Prime Minister has confirmed Turkish support for the TRNC and said that the rest of the world knew who was responsible for the current situation. He called on the rest of the world to recognise the existance of two entities on the island. There is also a suggestion that the new United Nations Secretary might set up a new team to review the problem on the island. Now where is all this going.