Frank and Joan's news for 06 January 2008 in Northern Cyprus

Frank and Joan's Adventures in Northern Cyprus

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

The first weekend issue of Cyprus Today in the new year to take a look at.

The main headline today being the "Dome rescue bid". A £15 million rescue package is being sought to restore the hotel to it's former glory. This used to be the glory hotel of Kyrenia, where anybody who was anybody wanted to be seen. If any of you have stayed there recently will know that it is now very run down and apparently losing £1 million a year. The hotel was originally built in 1939 by a Greek Cypriot hotelier family and it is currently administered by Evkaf a religious and cultural foundation. They seek a 50% shareholder who can fund a restoration. It would be nice to see this hotel restored, but with so many new 5 star hotels one wonders just ow successful it could be.

A champagne party heralded the recommencement of work on the Amaranta Valley project after almost two years. Lets hope we see another such pa

rty when the project is completed.

The first section of the new by-pass is actually going to open this month, between the Ezic chicken restaurant and the Girne American University. The big problem has yet to come, how to handle the linking of the road to the existing Nicosia/Kyrenia road. Officials say they are now planning how to do this. Strange, they have been building the damn thing for two years and are now planning ????? Only in the TRNC.

Another comment about shopping in the south. The writer says that soaring prices and shoddy goods are to blame for people heading south to do their shopping. They also blame the variety of choice, which is something we have been saying. Society here has had an isolated economy for 30 years, so the variety available across the border is very attractive to people. We will have to wait and see if the fact that the south has converted to the Euro from January 1st will have any effect on prices over there.

You know we say that drivers here are not exactly the best, well statistics just issued show that in the last week of 2007, a total of 1,272 motorists were booked. For driving without a licence the total was 110 caught, 92 for using mobile phones and 38 for reckless driving, the rest were speeding etc. Not the best statistics in the world.

President Talat suggests that worsening relations could mean that 2008 is the make or break year for the island. He argues that the February presidential elections in the South could prompt a new drive to end the North's isolation. But he also warns that 2008 could be the last chance for a solution before the United Nations seek alternative ways to resolve the issue.

All this newspaper stuff was followed by a quiet evening in with another DVD, bought yesterday at the indoor market.