Paphos Life

Paphos Mayor Phedonas Phedonos went public with the names of people, including a prominent businessman and a former minister, who allegedly held Turkish Cypriot property worth millions without being eligible.

It followed revelations the previous day about Turkish Cypriot properties in Paphos in the possession of people who made money off them and in some cases did not even declare the revenue to the tax department.

Following the 1974 Turkish invasion, properties abandoned by Turkish Cypriots in the south were, by law, put under the protection of the interior ministry, or the guardian of Turkish Cypriot properties.

Because of the need to house Greek Cypriots who were displaced from the north, it was decided to allocate such properties to them – usually for a small fee – on condition that the owners would not lose their rights.

Speaking on privately owned television station Sigma on Wednesday evening, Phedonos named businessman Nicos Shacolas, former defence minister Elias Eliades, and a number of other people, including Dionisis Malas, father of presidential candidate Stavros Malas.

The mayor said Shacolas had been given 230 donums of Turkish Cypriot land next to his golf project in the area of Limni, near Polis, for which he paid €2,085 per year when according to the use, he should have been paying €66,482.

The mayor said the company was not eligible to be given Turkish Cypriot land.

He also named businessman Elias Eliades, who was defence minister between 1985 and 1988, as being in possession of Turkish Cypriot real estate without being a refugee.

Malas’ father Dionisis also held land on Tombs of the Kings Avenue, which he sublets to a restaurateur for €1,200 a month.

Phedonos named several other cases, including one that the municipality had reported to the tax department.

“A few months ago, I sent the municipal auditor to report the case to the internal revenue department. There was no response,” the mayor said.

There was also the case of an individual who was given 1,300 donums of farmland, for which he collected subsidies – between €40 and €50 per donum — “with his feet up,” the mayor said.

Following Phedonos’ accusations on Tuesday, Interior Minister Constantinos Petrides said the cases the mayor was referring to where known to the ministry, which was in the process of identifying and correcting the mismanagement.

http://cyprus-mail.com/2017/08/24/phedo ... ty-affair/

I have repeatedly heard that the main reason why settlement of the Cyprob is avoided at all costs by most of the “old family” nomenclature, is that quite a lot of this skullduggery has gone on. Inevitably, if the Cyprob were to be resolved, dubious holdings of Turkish Cypriot land in the south would be exposed to unwelcome scrutiny.

Good for Phedonas - let's hope he's squeaky clean himself and that he also has all his security in order as he is certainly putting his head above the parapet....
It sounds like he's a force to be reckoned with. Long may it continue!

from Phedon Phedonos Facebook.

My statement about Shacolas Group of Companies
It is, of course, the right of everyone to respond to public complaints made and concerned by him. Shacolas Group of Companies is trying to prevent continued investigation of my complaints by announcing that it will take legal action against me. I am sure that this announcement also aims to prevent the media from debating the issues concerning this particular group of companies. One thing I want to emphasize, these methods not only do not bend me, but they reinforce me to go on.
Below I quote from the General Auditor's Report of the Republic of 2015, where everyone can draw his conclusions.
(B) A particular company, in addition to its request for the exchange of certain T / C items that were enclosed in the proposed development of golf courses and related facilities in Polis Chrysochous, with other proprietary items of the same (a subject which was also examined by our Service and The findings are reported in our Annual Report for 2014), requested a long-term lease / lease of 22 T / C items at the outskirts of the proposed development in Polis Chrysochous for landscaping purposes.
On 22.6.2012, the first lease agreement was signed, covering 20 t / t pieces of land totaling 272,447 sq. M. For a period of 15 years with an annual rent of € 2,085. On 8.8.2014, a second lease agreement was signed, covering a t / c piece of 16,389 sq.m. For a period of 13 years with an annual rent of € 215. In this respect it is stated that the calculation of the annual market rent in the above contracts was made by the TWG as if the pieces were leased as "agricultural land", which does not reflect the real purpose of the leases.
Subsequently, the company requested the lease of another piece of land for the same purpose for which a preliminary lease contract, starting 1.1.2016, was prepared for a period of 3 years with automatic renewal from year to year. The annual rent was set by the landowner of the T / C Property Management Division at € 1,500 a year, with an increase of 7% every two years. This annual rent was calculated on the basis of the provisions of the Property Law (Chapter 224) as "space for the main tourist facilities".
It is stated in this respect that, according to the existing legislation, the letting of a tangible property to legal persons is allowed on the understanding that the control or the share capital belongs to refugees.
Our findings are summarized below:
• The above leases have been made in breach of the relevant laws and regulations, without any legal opinion that allows them.
• The annual rents for the first two contracts were calculated by the VCF as being related to market rents for "agricultural land" while, as stated in the contracts, the pieces would be used as green areas / parks. The calculation of the market rent for the same items, based on the revised value of the pieces at 1.1.2013, since they will be used as assistive sites for main tourist facilities, using the same percentage used by the landlord in the third contract, increases from € 2,300 to € 66,482.
On May 6, 2016, our letter from the Ministry of the Interior to the Attorney General of the Republic was forwarded with the request to give an opinion on the issues raised, so that the matter would be followed by a similar study.
Paphos August 24, 2017

Flossie wrote: ↑Thu Aug 24, 2017 2:10 pm Malas’ father Dionisis also held land on Tombs of the Kings Avenue, which he sublets to a restaurateur for €1,200 a month - Gustoso!!!

Flossie Are you sure re Gustoso. I understood that the restaurant was originally owned by Dr Mala's late husband and Denny (present proprietor) is a relative of theirs and that she still has an interest in the business.

Rita

Group wants protection for whistleblower mayor

The friends of the police have demanded protective measures for Paphos Mayor Phedonas Phedonos, saying he could be in danger after his latest revelations relating to the mismanagement of Turkish Cypriot properties.

In a letter to the president, the justice minister, the attorney-general, and the chief of police, the association said Phedonos must be afforded a security detail because of his revelations about the properties and the waste management scandal in the past.

The association said he was the only politician in history who dared to investigate and substantiate criminal cases against state officials.

“The hate and vengefulness are increasing exponentially and there is a strong possibility of him suffering a premeditated and ruthless attack against life and limb if the protective measures demanded by us, his relatives, and friends are not put in place,” the association said. “It is everyone’s duty and obligation.”

On Wednesday, Phedonos went public with the names of people, including a prominent businessman and a former minister, who allegedly held Turkish Cypriot property worth millions without being eligible.

The mayor said there had been political intervention in the way the properties were allocated and authorities had also turned a blind eye to unlawful acts.

Following the 1974 Turkish invasion, properties abandoned by Turkish Cypriots in the south were, by law, put under the protection of the interior ministry, or the guardian of Turkish Cypriot properties.

Because of the need to house Greek Cypriots who were displaced from the north, it was decided to allocate such properties to them – usually for a small fee – on condition that the owners would not lose their rights.

Phedonos named businessman Nicos Shacolas, former defence minister Elias Eliades, and a number of other people, including Dionisis Malas, father of presidential candidate Stavros Malas.

The mayor said Shacolas had been given 230 donums of Turkish Cypriot land next to his golf project in the area of Limni, near Polis, for which he paid €2,085 per year when according to the use, he should have been paying €66,482.

He said the company was not eligible to be given Turkish Cypriot land.

The company that owns Limni resort said all its dealings were above board, adding that it was looking into suing Phedonos.

The mayor responded on Thursday evening, pointing out to Shacolas that the information he gave was already published in the auditor-general’s report for 2015.

“It is certainly everyone’s right to respond to public accusations that concern them,” Phedonos said. “The Shacolas Group is trying to prevent investigation of my reports by announcing that it will take legal measures against me. The announcement aims at preventing the mass media from reporting on the matters concerning the group in question. Let me stress one thing, these methods not only fail to stop me, but they provide me with the strength to continue.”

http://cyprus-mail.com/2017/08/25/group ... wer-mayor/

Flossie

Thank you for that. I am in the UK presently so unable to see the TV programme but readily accept what you say. Do recall Dr Mala going to clean out the restaurant which had been empty for ages and on my 80th birthday celebration (5 years ago) held at Gustos she was a guest and she and I were conversing with Denny when they told me their connection re ownership etc. I do recall it being the first restaurant I visited when I came to live in Cyprus when Dr Mala's husband still owned/rented it. Funny world but good luck to the Mayor in his efforts.

Rita

Pre Gustoso, it was called the Akava.

It was my cousins daughter who had it.

Flossie wrote: ↑Fri Aug 25, 2017 7:41 pm Ooh yes MM I remember it as Akava, don't rate it as Gustoso personally!

Do you not think tho that for a while it was the Gustoso of it's time?

Phedonos goes ahead with police testimony in property row

PAPHOS Mayor Phedonas Phedonos called everyone’s bluff on Friday afternoon and submitted information to the police about at least 30 cases of mismanagement of Turkish Cypriot property.

Speaking to reporters before he handed over the information to the investigation officer at the Paphos police station, Phedonos said he hoped that his testimony would help start a general effort to remove all these injustices and mismanagement and to “crush this huge scandal that has grown around the Turkish Cypriot property since 1974 up to now.”

Since the war and the displacement of populations 43 years ago, all Turkish Cypriot property where the owner is not resident is administered by the state as guardian, collecting low rents, mainly from Greek Cypriot refugees who are deemed as eligible beneficiaries because they lost their own land from the Turkish occupation.

“Property worth billions of euros has been managed in a scandalous way, which has led to some people being favoured, either to a small or a large extent, or to an enormous extent, and in some cases, has let them getting rich by the favourable treatment they had or by the illegal occupation of property with the consent of the state,” Phedonos said.

According to the mayor, the state itself is estimated to have lost several hundred million euros from the mismanagement of this enormous property, adding that all this money could have been returned to refugees who lost their properties in the 1974 invasion.

Instead, he added, a few people who are not refugees and some other refugees managed to get their hands on such property and sublet them and get rich, while some other refugees not only did not get anything, but they were blatantly wronged.

Phedonos also spoke of “party clientelism”. As he claimed, “they were holding property in a totally subjective way, with party interventions of various kinds, with the Turkish Cypriot property administration service being understaffed and thus vulnerable to interventions and pressures, while the law was clear”, adding that there is no lack of legislation.

Meanwhile, Paphos police announced after Phedonos’ testimony that it has set up a task force, headed by Sergeant Zonakis Georgiou, to investigate the allegations, adding that officers from the criminal investigations units of Paphos and Limassol would be added to the team.

The association of friends of the police earlier on Friday demanded protective measures for the Paphos mayor, saying he could be in danger after his latest revelations relating to the mismanagement of Turkish Cypriot properties.

In a letter to the president, the justice minister, the attorney-general, and the chief of police, the association said Phedonos must be afforded a security detail because of his revelations about the properties and the waste management scandal in the past.

The association said he was the only politician in history who dared to investigate and substantiate criminal cases against state officials.

“The hate and vengefulness are increasing exponentially and there is a strong possibility of him suffering a premeditated and ruthless attack against life and limb if the protective measures demanded by us, his relatives, and friends are not put in place,” the association said. “It is everyone’s duty and obligation.”

On Wednesday, Phedonos went public with the names of people, including a prominent businessman and a former minister, who allegedly held Turkish Cypriot property worth millions without being eligible.

The mayor said there had been political intervention in the way the properties were allocated and authorities had also turned a blind eye to unlawful acts.

Following the 1974 Turkish invasion, properties abandoned by Turkish Cypriots in the south were, by law, put under the protection of the interior ministry, or the guardian of Turkish Cypriot properties.

Because of the need to house Greek Cypriots who were displaced from the north, it was decided to allocate such properties to them – usually for a small fee – on condition that the owners would not lose their rights.

Phedonos named businessman Nicos Shacolas, former defence minister Elias Eliades, and a number of other people, including Dionisis Malas, father of Akel’s presidential candidate Stavros Malas.

The mayor said Shacolas had been given 230 donums of Turkish Cypriot land next to his golf project in the area of Limni, near Polis, for which he paid €2,085 per year when according to the use, he should have been paying €66,482.

He said the company was not eligible to be given Turkish Cypriot land.

The company that owns Limni resort said all its dealings were above board, adding that it was looking into suing Phedonos.

The mayor responded on Thursday evening, pointing out to Shacolas that the information he gave was already published in the auditor-general’s report for 2015.

“It is certainly everyone’s right to respond to public accusations that concern them,” Phedonos said. “The Shacolas Group is trying to prevent investigation of my reports by announcing that it will take legal measures against me. The announcement aims at preventing the mass media from reporting on the matters concerning the group in question. Let me stress one thing, these methods not only fail to stop me, but they provide me with the strength to continue.”

http://cyprus-mail.com/2017/08/25/phedo ... testimony/

This is definitely some guy.
Determined to bring Paphos into the 21st century and get rid of all the corruption for once and for all.
Good luck to him.
I wish him well!

Whistleblower mayor Phedon Phedonos has got it right

PAPHOS Mayor Phedonas Phedonos knows very well how to stir things up. He has done it on several occasions, since first elected, to good effect. Several corrupt officials, including a former mayor and a deputy, ended up behind bars, thanks to Phedonos’ public campaigns about the shady dealings at the Paphos Sewerage Board, while 12 were charged after he went public about a scam at waste management plants.

Some could dismiss him as a publicity-seeker, but it would be an unfair charge. If the mayor chose not to go public with the scams he discovered there was every possibility that these would have been covered up and forgotten. The use of the media and keeping an issue in the public domain puts pressure on the authorities to act and prevents matters being swept under the carpet, which was standard practice in the past.

This week, Phedonos caused a stir once again, by making a public issue about the exploitation of Turkish Cypriot properties in Paphos by people who were ineligible. Businessmen who were not refugees – therefore ineligible to use them – were making big amounts of money from these properties, paying ridiculously low rents to the interior ministry, as the administrator, and often sub-letting them.

Yesterday afternoon, he was due at the Paphos police station to give a statement, but made another allegation before he went. He said it was peculiar how many people had contracts to rent Turkish Cypriot shops that were signed in 1973, alleging that many of these were forged and had to be investigated. The matter needs investigation and the mayor needs to keep up the public pressure.

The use of Turkish Cypriot properties by ineligible parties is not news. It is raised every few years, a couple of cases are mentioned, the interior ministry might investigate and the matter is forgotten. The former interior minister Socratis Hasikos took the initiative to put things in order such as collecting unpaid rents, raising rents, examining the eligibility of tenants and so forth, but he left the post before the task was completed.

His successor, Constantinos Petrides, said the ministry had not given up tidying the mess. In the past two years 231 properties, of which 133 were in Paphos, were recovered; another 100 would soon be recovered, he said. Whether the mess will ever be completely sorted remains to be seen, because the parties and past governments were behind the corruption. Phedonos should carry on his agitating and publicising of the matter.

http://cyprus-mail.com/2017/08/26/whist ... got-right/

Shacolas says T/C property dealings above board, sues Paphos mayor

Businessman Nicos Shacolas has filed a libel suit against Paphos Mayor Phedonas Phedonos over accusations he voiced last week regarding the apparent mismanagement of Turkish Cypriot properties in Paphos and elsewhere.

Shacolas and his Limni Resorts and Golf Courses Plc was among those named by the outspoken mayor as being in possession of Turkish Cypriot land without being eligible.

More or less recounting the findings of an auditor-general report, Phedonos said Shacolas had been given 230 donums of Turkish Cypriot land next to his golf project in the area of Limni, near Polis, for which he paid €2,085 per year when according to the use, he should have been paying €66,482.

He said the company was not eligible to be given Turkish Cypriot land.

Since the war and the displacement of populations 43 years ago, all Turkish Cypriot property where the owner is not resident is administered by the state as guardian, collecting low rents, mainly from Greek Cypriot refugees who are deemed as eligible beneficiaries because they lost their own land from the Turkish occupation.

In a written statement on Tuesday, the company condemned Phedonos’ “insulting claims” which it planned to bring to justice.

“Such comments and references of a populist nature, aiming at self-promotion, discourage progressive entrepreneurs and companies from making investments that bolster the country’s economy and afford employment to thousands of our compatriots,” the statement said.

The company and Shacolas, will lodge a libel suit against the mayor, it added.

It said Phedonos went a step further and made unacceptable comments about Shacolas, suggesting he had backstage dealings with political parties.

http://cyprus-mail.com/2017/08/29/shaco ... hos-mayor/

Auditor-general probing Turkish Cypriot property mess

Auditor-general Odysseas Michaelides is investigating whether staff in the Turkish Cypriot property administration service were related to people who were granted such land, it emerged on Tuesday.

Speaking at the House refugee committee, Michaelides said in three cases where Greek and Turkish Cypriot land had been exchanged, the go-ahead had been given by female staff of the service whose husbands worked for companies involved in the transaction.

Specifically, there were two cases of land exchange in the Limni area, Paphos, and one in Asomatos, Limassol.

The apparent mismanagement of Turkish Cypriot properties re-emerged recently after Paphos Mayor Phedonas Phedonos went public with the names of people and companies using such properties without being eligible.

Following the 1974 Turkish invasion, properties abandoned by Turkish Cypriots in the south were, by law, put under the protection of the interior ministry, or the guardian of Turkish Cypriot properties.

Because of the need to house Greek Cypriots who were displaced from the north, it was decided to allocate such properties to them – usually for a small fee – on condition that the owners would not lose their rights.

http://cyprus-mail.com/2017/09/05/audit ... erty-mess/

‘Shacolas is attempting to muzzle me’ says mayor

Paphos mayor Phedonas Phedonos said on Thursday that Nicos Shacolas was trying to gag him after he accused the businessman of receiving preferential treatment when he was granted large parcels of Turkish Cypriot property.

Shacolas said he was suing the mayor for slander after he said the businessman and his Limni Resorts and Golf Courses Plc was among those in possession of Turkish Cypriot land without being eligible.

On Thursday, the mayor published the lawsuit and a letter he had sent the attorney-general to investigate the Shacolas case.

“I believe Mr Shacolas and the company under his control are attempting to muzzle me in the name of protecting their good name and good reputation,” Phedonos said in a written statement.

The mayor said the company’s effort would not succeed.

“At a time when transparency, good governance and equality are entering the framework of our country’s public life, certain people insist on fighting light with dated methods,” Phedonos said. “The ongoing battle is not Phedonas Phedonos’ personal battle, it is the battle of all those who believe in stamping out corruption and maladministration.”

Since the war and the displacement of populations 43 years ago, all Turkish Cypriot property where the owner is not resident is administered by the state as guardian, collecting low rents, mainly from Greek Cypriot refugees who are deemed as eligible beneficiaries because they lost their own land from the Turkish occupation.

According to the company, its dealings with the guardian of Turkish Cypriot property was transparent and above board.

Shacolas and the company have sued the mayor for slander, asking between €500,000 and €2m in compensation.

It is also seeking a court order banning Phedonos from publishing similar “defamatory” statements or similar material.

More or less recounting the findings of an auditor-general report, Phedonos said Shacolas had been given 230 donums of Turkish Cypriot land next to his golf project in the area of Limni, near Polis, for which he paid €2,085 per year when according to the use, he should have been paying €66,482. The Shacolas company said this figure was used arbitrarily and misleadingly by the Paphos mayor and did not reflect the true situation.

http://cyprus-mail.com/2017/09/14/shaco ... ays-mayor/

Report claims Turkish Cypriot service knew of property abuses

Paphos mayor Phedonas Phedonos’ claims of rampant corruption at the Turkish Cypriot Properties’ Administration Service of the Republic of Cyprus were corroborated in an internal report prepared by the service’s acting director, according to daily Politis.

Citing the service’s strategic plan from 2017 to 2019, the paper said acting director Makis Nicolaides pointed out several of the issues raised by Phedonos in two letters, dated February and March, 2016, to the Interior ministry.

The service was set up in 1991 to help alleviate the suffering of displaced Greek Cypriots by temporarily allocating some of the properties left behind by Turkish Cypriots at nominal fees.

According to Nicolaides, Turkish Cypriot-owned residences, plots, and establishments, are being held by unauthorised individuals, illegally sub-leased to others, irregularly built on or extended, and used for purposes other than those stated and authorised.

Nicolaides said that even in the case of eligible individuals – people displaced during the 1974 Turkish invasion – it is not uncommon for land of excessive value and size to be apportioned to them, relative to their holdings in the Turkish-held areas.

The state, he added, conducts nominal – if any – checks on the veracity of applicants’ data and use of properties.

Nicolaides also reported that various unauthorised individuals routinely loitered in the service’s district offices.

“It has been identified and reported that unauthorised individuals loiter aimlessly at the offices of the Turkish Cypriot Properties Administration Service, or, worse, are there to be informed and possibly influence the outcome of various applications by others,” Nicolaides reported.

“At times, the false but intentional impression is given that decisions were taken following pressure and suggestion by others, precisely because of the presence of unauthorised individuals at our place of work.”

As a remedy, the acting boss recommended that a sign informs the public that entry is restricted, the appointment of a customer-service person to provide the public with information and documents, and the removal of chairs not used by civil servants working there.

The Interior ministry’s report said that rents due from allocated Turkish Cypriot properties as at year-end 2015 were €7.3 million, 5.2 per cent up from the previous year.

http://cyprus-mail.com/2017/09/18/repor ... ty-abuses/

MPs display yet again their penchant for corruption

IF ANYONE was wondering what the reason was for the oft-reported corruption surrounding the use of Turkish Cypriot properties in the south, the answer was given at the House refugees committee on Tuesday – the political parties. Akel and Diko deputies argued that the government should not pursue the repossession of properties held by ineligible users or users that were violating the terms of their contracts, urging the authorities to exercise restraint and take no action until the legislation was renewed.

In effect, the lawmakers were advising the interior minister Constantinos Petrides, who was at the meeting, not to enforce the existing law for a couple of years, the time needed for the legislation’s updating. Clearly, this was because the parties condoned the many illegalities perpetrated in the distribution of Turkish Cypriot properties and wanted to protect people benefiting from them, for as long as possible. Many of the illegalities were, probably, arranged by political parties, which is why they were so keen to protect the beneficiaries.

They even came up with an excuse as to why the existing law should not be enforced – lack of transparency. Petrides pointed out that this was not the case as there were plans, in a few months, to post every available Turkish Cypriot property on the ministry’s website. This would ensure properties were given to those eligible and not secretly to party-connected individuals, which had been the practice for decades. All these years, parties exploited the lack of transparency they are now complaining about, to hand properties to their supporters, regardless of whether they were eligible.

Now that the interior ministry is trying to put some order, it is populist deputies that are protesting. Diko’s Zacharias Koulias complained, for instance, that police were present during evictions, knowing full well that many individuals adopt threatening behaviour when served with an eviction order. The intention was to put the authorities in a bad light, for enforcing the law. Another Diko deputy, Charalambos Pittokopitis from Paphos, urged the government to legalise the use of Turkish Cypriot properties by non-refugees. As Paphos mayor, Phedonas Phedonos said when reporting the illegalities, in Paphos there were many non-refugees using commercial properties belonging to Turkish Cypriots – all with contracts, signed in 1973.

There is little doubt the parties were behind the corruption Phedonos spoke about a few weeks ago. It is another way of winning votes, which is why they are so blatantly opposing the interior minister’s attempt to clean up the mess. Petrides noted that the legislature had failed to take a stand on the nine proposals he submitted for reforming the way Turkish Cypriot properties were administered. With elections just a few months away it was naïve of him to think the parties would help end the corrupt practices they were responsible for.

http://cyprus-mail.com/2017/10/27/view- ... orruption/