Books, Music and the Sea                                   courtesy of  the cyprus weekly                  

Li Guobang is a good table tennis player and also likes walking but his favourite pastime is reading historical books and biographies.  He occasionally plays basketball and loves going to the sea  but does not describe as a good swimmer.

“I like standing by the sea . I like the sound of it. I swim, but I’m not that good. “The coastal towns of Cyprus are beatifull-Larnaca, Limassol, Pafos,” he says.

He loves art and music-traditional and classical,with Tchaikovsky being his favourite composer.

“I like traditional music, tpp. Not just Chinese , from various countries. I am familiar with the cypriot one yet,” he says.

He has also a soft spot for paintings and when he was serving in Ukraine, he used to visit a street full of artists over the weekends.

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MEDICAL TOURISM IN CYPRUS

Cyprus can be as medical tourism  , Cyprus  offers enviable climatic conditions with more than 300 days of sunshine each year . the island with Mediterranean climate, a unique blend of sandy beach….

Cyprus has a good standard  of health, and a very low rate of epidemic or infectious diseases  throughout the island. No vaccinations are required for people entering Cyprus. The medical and public health services department continually monitors the safety of local food and water supplies.

Healthcare in Cyprus is provided through the private and public sector. There are government general hospitals in all the main cities, as well as a network of smaller hospitals, clinics and dispensaries throughout the country. There is also a large private health sector in urban areas, dominated  by many individual doctors in private practice the food/local kitchen is excellent with plenty of fresh fruit and fish.

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“Team Cyprus” debaters going to Qatar

Five local high-school students will be competing for Cyprus in the world  School Debating Competition(WSDC) in Doha, Qathar from  February8-18. Representing the newly established English-Speaking Union(ESU) Cyprus, the five were selected in December 2009 following a debating competition organised by ESU  Cyprus.  Now known as “Team Cyprus” the group consists of Avgi Loizidou, Marilia Paraschou, Mimi Kyprianous, George Varnavides, and Zoe Orphanides.

They will be accompanied by their coach and team manager Michael Persianis and Chairman of ESU Cyprus, Garo Keheyan.

ESU Cyprus’ Honorary Patron is First Lady Elsi Christofias.

The Esu is an international charity organisation founded in order to promote global understanding through the English language.

The WSDC takes place each year in a different country, hosted by a national debating body. Recent venues have  included Sydney, London, Johannesburg, Singapore, Peru and Wales. Past patrons of the Championship include Tony Blair and Nelson Mandela.

There will be more than 50 nations present in Doha this year. All debates are completed in English and carried out by 3-5 member squadas made up of individuals aged under 19.

In the past the majority of the teams were made up of native English speakers, but this has changed in recent years and most team members have English as their second language.

This helps competitors learn that despite differences in language, accents and experiences of debating, the fundamentals of good debating remain the same.

If you are interested in supporting Team Cyprus which is still in need of funding contact info@pharosartsfoundation.org or 22-663871

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CROSSING IS SET TO OPEN FOR JUNE

The yesilirmak border crossing could be opened by June- a year after  presidents Mehmet Ali Talat and Demetris Christofias agreed to the move.

Tenders have been opened for the project with Greek Cypriot news paper Simerini reporting that three Turkish Cypriot companies have made bids.

Work on the road improvement project which will pave the way for the border crossing to be opened is due to start in March , with contractors from both sides of the island working together on the project.

Greek Cypriot  government spokesman Stefanos  Stefanou said implementation of the Yesilirmak agreement was going ahead as planned, despite claims of delays.

“if  all goes well, works will start early March, depending on which consortium takes on the project,” said Mr. Stefanou adding that all the necessary preparations, including expropriation of land, had been carried out.

Work on the seven-kilometre road project follows a joint feasibility study done by Greek and Turkish Cypriot engineering companies.

About 2.2 km of the road will be in the buffer zone and 4.5 km in the North Cyprus.

The 11 million euro , European union-funded project is being implemented through the United Nations Development Programme’s Partnership for the Future Programme.

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ANOTHER GIRNE(KYRENIA-NORTH  CYPRUS) BYPASS FINISH DATE REVEALED

Motorists frustrated by years of delays to the Girne bypass have been given a welcome pledge.

Public works and transport Minister Hasan Tacoy has said the link between the Girne(Kyrenia) to Lefkosa  (Nicisia) road and Erener petrol station , on the Lapta road, will be finished by the end of March-a month ahead of schedule.

Mr.Tacoy said the completion of the road, which has been left half-finished for years ,was very important for the government.

The new 7.5km-long section of the bypass, being completed by Turkish firm Onur Taahut  as part of a 70millionTL project, will start just below the Laughing Buddha Chinese restaurant and at Erener Petrol station.

Girne to Lapta-bound traffic will be able to connect to the bypass, with a subway for traffic heading towards Lapta and a roundabout for traffic heading towards Girne town centre.

Motorist heading towards Lefkosa will still have to wait for a link from the  bypass to be built . this will go under the main Lefkosa to Girne road.

A spokesman for the Turkish highways Co-ordination Centre   in Lefkosa told  Cyprus today last week that the aim was to finish by the end of April. But Mr.Tacoy  said this week “I can say with confidence that this road will be completed by the end of March”.

Onur Taahut has also pledged to complete the Mersinlik to Kaplica section of the Northern Coastal Road within 650 days.

The twin road schemes-the Girne bypass and Northern Coastal Road-were initially put out to tender in 2004 with a completion date of 2007. Problems with the tender delayed the start date until 2006, then rising costs added to the delays.

Turkish firm mets construction was kicked off the scheme in 2008 after cash ran out. Onur Taahut won the new tender in June  last year to finish the roads.

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