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Calleja's final rehearsal

August 1, 2013, 3:03 am
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The final rehearsal for tonight’s Joseph Calleja concert on the Granaries was held yesterday. Organised by NNG Promotions, the concert, on the Granaries in Floriana, will also feature Italian superstar Zucchero, Rebecca Ferguson, who shot to fame after claiming runner-up spot in the UK X Factor, Tenisha and Malta’s singing doctor Gianluca.
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Appointments of trust ‘unconstitutional’

August 2, 2013, 2:15 am
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It is “unconstitutional” for people to be appointed to ministerial secretariats on the basis of trust without calls for applications, according to the Public Service Commission. In its annual report for 2012, the PSC acknowledges that the practice is “justifiable” because ministers are entitled to have trusted secretariat staff but highlights that the Constitution does not provide for such direct appointments. Therefore, constitutional changes would be necessary. “The Constitution regards all non-military employees of the Government, with specific and very limited exceptions, as public service employees and, as such, subject to recruitment on merit,” the report states. It adds such appointments are being used to fill administrative, managerial or technical positions as well as ministerial secretariats. “Quite apart from the unconstitutionality of such appointments, the commission felt there was no apparent justification why such positions should not be filled through a call for applications,” it adds. The PSC expressed its concerns to the Principal Permanent Secretary in April 2012 after considering a Health Ministry request to re-engage a retired former pharmacy technician. It...
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Three ministers correct declaration of assets

August 2, 2013, 4:09 am
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Three ministers have submitted amended versions of their declaration of assets. Home Affairs Minister Manuel Mallia had blamed “a misunderstanding” for his failure to include his income for 2012 in the ministerial declaration of assets. His new declaration includes €137,325 as earnings for last year. Social Solidarity Minister Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca had said in a statement that her declaration was incomplete because she earned €39,807 and paid €9,257 in tax last year. She said she had failed to include her earnings as a principal in the Education Department. Economy Minister Chris Cardona had admitted he forgot to include his honoraria in his earnings. According to his new declaration, he earned €43,559 last year, and not €23,430 as he originally stated.
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Anti immigration protest cancelled

August 2, 2013, 10:15 am
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A protest against immigration that was to take place on Sunday has been cancelled, according to the organisor’s facebook page. The organiser, whose identity has not been divulged, wrote that the demonstration, which was to be held in Valletta on Sunday at 9am, was cancelled because many were assuming he was a PN follower with malicious intention to harm and obstruct the PL and the Prime Minister. “This is false. Simon Busuttil is in favour of turning Malta into a Haiti and he should pay 10 years in opposition as the price.” Another reason, he said, was that most of the country's 10 per cent traitors were going to be there, provoking us, back stabbing us with their cross like dagger. “The wannabe patriots of Malta, most of them a bunch of domesticated sheep, prefer chatters, drama and moaning about the problem of illegal migration, instead of taking solid action. “I am an ordinary citizen and alone I applied for all the necessary police permits to give ordinary people a chance to unite and together peacefully express our concern. I was planning to reveal my identity on the day of the demonstration. “One of the intentions was to send a clear message to the millions that are waiting...
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Gas agreement ‘obscene’, PM

August 2, 2013, 5:15 am
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The Prime Minister has blamed an “obscene” agreement reached by the previous administration for high gas prices charged by private operators. Joseph Muscat said the agreement reached in 2008 when Enemalta’s gas division was privatised failed to give the private operator any incentive to buy gas in bulk and use its storage facility to the full. He was speaking this afternoon when receiving a delegation from the General Workers’ Union at Auberge de Castille. Dr Muscat said the plan to reduce water and electricity tariffs for families by March next year was on track and the Government now wanted to focus on the price of gas. He said the Government made submissions with the resources authority to come up with a new formula when setting the benchmark price of the sale of gas. “The agreement, which we had opposed in 2008 because it was not in the best interest of consumers, did not provide incentives for the private operator to stock on gas supplies when the price was right,” he said, adding the company was only buying minimum quantities of gas and leaving the bulk of its storage facility empty. He reiterated industry’s concern that not enough skilled workers were available to fill in...
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‘Abandoned’ park-and-ride is re-evaluated

August 2, 2013, 12:59 am
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The empty Blata l-Bajda car park has turned the locality into a “traffic nightmare”. Photo: Chris Sant Fournier

The Transport Ministry is actively evaluating potential options for the “abandoned” park-and-ride car park in Blata l-Bajda after more than two years of disuse. The open-air car park used to accommodate some 200 cars but the site has remained relatively empty since the free shuttle service to Valletta was discontinued by Arriva in 2011. This has resulted in the residential and commercial areas of Blata l-Bajda experiencing a significant increase in congestion and pollution caused by the large number of vehicles vying for one of the limited parking spots. “We get to work stressed and our clients are hesitant to come to our offices,” said Christopher Mintoff, an architect whose offices are adjacent to the site. Local business owners wrote to the ministry last year describing the car park as a “wasted resource”, which they claimed was negatively impacting their businesses. Operators said their several calls and e-mails to the transport authority in the past were ignored, as both Arriva and the transport authority would not take responsibility for the running of the parking facilities. “I called and sent in e-mails but kept getting sent to and fro. “This could be solved quite easily...
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Tear gas pistol, ammunition found in luggage at airport

August 2, 2013, 4:31 am
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A tear gas pistol and ammunition were found in a suitcase that was being loaded into the cargo hold of a flight to Tel Aviv at Malta International Airport last night. The police said the incident happened at around 11.20pm. The objects were found by airport security officers during a routine inspection of the baggage being loaded onto Air Malta Flight KM 7828. The police were called and a search was performed in the presence of the luggage’s owner, a 40-year-old Israeli. The search yielded a tear gas pistol and a magazine holding 11 rounds in an unlocked pocket on the outside of the luggage. A steak knife was also found in a locked compartment. The passenger, who seemed surprised by the find, denied any knowledge of the pistol and ammunition. However, he admitted that the steak knife belonged to his sister, a passenger on the same flight. He said he had left his case in a luggage room belonging to a hotel in St Julian’s at about noon and picked it up at 9.30 pm. He suspected the objects were planted there. The passenger was taken to the police headquarters for further investigations while the flight’s passengers and luggage were re-screened. Further investigations together with...
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Joseph Calleja's concert highlights

August 2, 2013, 6:28 am
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Maltese tenor Joseph Calleja yesterday entertained the thousands who gathered on the Granaries in Floriana for his annual concert. Also taking part in the concert organised by NnG Promotions were Zucchero, Rebecca Ferguson, Riccardo Cocciante, Tenishia and Gianluca Bezzina. These are the highlights.
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Qawra’s fishy guests

August 2, 2013, 7:27 am
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More than 1,000 fish of all shapes and colours will be gracing the 26 tanks at the national aquarium, which opens its doors to the public at the end of the month. Some, like black tip reef sharks, were flown over from the Caribbean Sea and others, such as sea bream, were brought from the Aquaculture Research Centre in Fort San Luċjan, Marsaxlokk. Work on the €15.6 million project, partly financed by the EU and private investment, started in November 2011 and has now reached the stage where fish are being gradually introduced to get used to their new home. There will be more than 50 different species of fish imported from the Mediterranean, the Indian Ocean, the Red Sea and the Caribbean. Curator Mike Hutchinson said the aquarium would also be working on a conservation project to breed the local seahorse. With 25 years experience, Mr Hutchinson has built similar aquariums in China, America, North Korea, Scotland and New Zealand. Nursehound and small spotted cat shark eggs have also been brought from San Luċjan, where Mcast and Sharklab Malta are carrying out a conservation project to make up for the species’ declining numbers. Children will be able to touch starfish, sea urchins...
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Seven days through the lens

August 3, 2013, 4:28 am
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An extended slideshow of seven days through the lens will be uploaded weekly on timesofmalta.com .  
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Hazardous schools get essential maintenance

August 2, 2013, 6:14 am
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Ongoing works at the Santa Clara College in St Andrews. Photo: Matthew Mirabelli

Not all schools have learnt safety lessons after unsecured goalposts fell on a boy and killed him a decade ago. The 14-year-old was playing football at his Ħamrun school when he hung on to the crossbar and the posts went over, causing him severe head injuries. But an inspection of schools in April revealed “at least three” dangerous sets of goalposts, a ministry spokesman said. One of them, at the Kirkop primary school, was tied to the wall behind it with a piece of blue string, “just in case it toppled over”. The area was closed off immediately and the potentially dangerous goalposts will be replaced, he said, adding that over the years this had been done several times. The Kirkop hazard was spotted and photographed during a tour of schools by officials checking areas in need of maintenance – and it was not just football pitches. They came across corridors with cracked tiles and crumbling walls. In the Fgura primary, the officials also took pictures of exposed rusty reinforcing bars in the ceiling of one of the toilets. These are examples of faults that will be fixed using a €15 million fund that will go towards maintaining 107 government schools over the next three years. This...
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TV host: ‘I am a victim of the judicial system’

August 4, 2013, 1:10 am
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TV presenter Jean-Claude Micallef, who aspires to be an MEP but is facing criminal charges of misappropriation of funds, believes he is a victim of the judicial system. Mr Micallef thinks it would be “absurd” for the Nationalist Party to exclude him as an MEP candidate because of this pending court case since it is his fundamental right to be considered innocent until proven guilty. “This is the PN which fought for liberty and human rights. If you think this is why the Commission did not select me then we are saying the PN is breaching fundamental human rights.” His case has been going on for more than two-and-a-half years and it has been deferred around six times, pending judgment, he told The Sunday Times of Malta. To further delay matters, the case was originally being heard by magistrate Antonio Mizzi who has now been appointed a judge. This means his case must be transferred to a magistrate, but this has not yet happened. Mr Micallef recently took to Facebook to say he understood people’s disappointment after his name was not on the list of eight MEP candidates fielded so far by the PN. His reaction caused critics to compare him to Franco Debono, the former Nationalist MP who...
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How not to do an accent from Mwolta

August 3, 2013, 8:26 am
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American speech coach Andrea Caban on the video.

An American speech coach who thought it was a good idea to illustrate the “Maltese accent” to her audience was in for scathing reviews from thousands of people who thought the accent she did sounded nothing like Maltese. In the video, uploaded on You Tube by Howcast, a website providing short how-to videos, voice coach Andrea Caban says that the accent from “Mwolta” has the oral posture of a smile. However, what came out of her mouth sounded more like a blend of East-European and Italian accents. “The musicality of the Maltese accent is very fast and very expressive,” she said, reiterating that speaking in the accent somehow came with a smiling oral posture that “kind of tells you a little bit about who the Maltese people are – they’re friendly people”. But despite meaning well, Ms Caban got an avalanche of negative responses. In fact, the two-minute clip spread like wildfire on the social media, pushing the number of views for the video to 26,000 and breeding memes and a video in response. Most noted that the accent was off, more similar to the Italian one. Many urged the coach to do her research better. But what seems to have added fuel to the fire is Ms Caban’s geographic faux...
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No one injured in car fire

August 2, 2013, 11:13 am
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The owner of a Ford Ka that caught fire this evening realised his car was on fire but continued to drive to take the vehicle to an empty spot to prevent damaging other vehicles or injuring people. The car caught fire Ghajn Tuffieha Bay. The fire was put out by members of the Civil Protection Department.
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Win-win solution at Kappara - FAA

August 3, 2013, 3:02 am
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Flimkien għal Ambjent Aħjar (FAA) welcomed the permit issued this week for the flyover at Kappara. It said it appreciated the efforts made by Transport Malta to amend its plans following the interventions of FAA, Nature Trust and Kappara residents, who objected to the destruction of a large number of trees in the Wied Għollieqa valley and the unnecessary traffic deviations that would have increased air pollution in the area. "The changes implemented by Transport Malta safeguard the natural environment as much as possible and accommodate the needs of all residents by re-routing traffic, lowering the flyover and adding sound barriers aimed at mitigating the effect of traffic noise on Kappara residents. "These changes show that when active public participation is met with commitment and goodwill on the part of public authorities, solutions can be found which respect the natural environment, social needs and infrastructural requirements." It said that in compensation for the unavoidable destruction of a number of trees, TM would carry out badly-needed works at Wied Għollieqa. This contrasted sharply with the authority's tree management, whose tree expert was transferred to another...
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Bid to relax suit-and-tie policy in the courtroom

August 3, 2013, 6:27 am
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Men could be spared from wearing the obligatory jacket in court in summer if a proposal by the Justice Reform Commission goes through. The commission feels that a shirt and a tie should suffice in the hot summer months. The proposal will require changes to a legal notice governing behaviour in court. Legal Notice 279 of 2008 includes other provisions too, such as banning photographs, use of mobile phones and smoking inside the courthouse. Although the rules do not spell out what sort of attire men have to wear in court, it says they should be appropriately dressed. All courtrooms have air conditioners nowadays but the corridors, where plaintiffs, defendants, witnesses and court experts wait till they are called inside, remain stifled and hot. All cases are given an appointment at 9am, meaning there can be some waiting time until a case is heard. The Justice Reform Commission, which earlier this week submitted its second report containing almost 300 recommendations, is suggesting that more seating be provided in the law courts’ corridors. There should also be water dispensers. The commission also mentions a canteen. It also suggested the setting up of a proper customer care...
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PL to build monument to commemorate Mintoff

August 3, 2013, 1:42 am
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A committee has been set up by the Labour Party to organise the building of a monument to commemorate late Prime Minister Dom Mintoff. Its design will be chosen from among casts that will be exhibited at an exhibition to be inaugurated by Prime Minister Joseph Muscat at the PL’s headquarters in Hamrun on August 20, being held on the first anniversary of Mr Mintoff’s death. Addressing a news conference this morning, party deputy leader Toni Abela said the exhibition, which would also include paintings, was one of a series that were being held to commemorate Mr Mintoff. He said that a site for the monument had already been chosen and it was expected to be inaugurated on March 31 next year.
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Updated: BirdLife reports government to European Commission

August 3, 2013, 2:01 am
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(Adds Secretariat's reaction) BirdLife Malta has sent an urgent communication to the European Commission concerning the government’s failure to make available information on this year’s spring hunting season. The government denied this was the case (see statement below). In a statement this morning, conservation manager Nicholas Barbara said that every year, BirdLife Malta reported to the European Commission its analysis of the spring hunting derogation in relation to the correct application of the Birds Directive. Such reports relied on data being made available from government authorities regarding the numbers of registered hunters, birds reported shot and enforcement efforts expended. This information was promised to BirdLife Malta through the Ornis Committee, it said adding that formal requests for information were also sent to the relevant government officers. The organisation was given the requested information from the Government Veterinary Division and the Armed Forces of Malta, but not from the Malta Environment and Planning Authority, the Derogation Monitoring Board within the Parliamentary Secretariat in charge of hunting matters or the police. Mr Barbara said: “We have...
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Law students will not choose legal studies, Pulse warns

August 3, 2013, 9:57 am
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Students wishing to pursue a law course at the university are unable to choose the newly introduced ‘legal studies’ due to a clash between the general and special entry requirements for University, Pulse representatives told a news conference today. The conference, in front of the Junior College, was addressed by Pulse special spokesman on the matter Paul Caruana Turner and Matthew Zerafa and Clive Gerada, presidents of Pulse and the Law Students Organisation, respectively. They said that the College’s Look Before You Leap handbook said legal studies “introduces the concept of legislation and its effect on human society with a particular focus on the implementation of law and the organisation of the Maltese court system”. But legal studies was not being made an entry requirement for the law course. The subject would also end up not being chosen by prospective law students, due to a clash between the general and special entry requirements for University. This defied the logical aim of the subject, which had the possibility of potentially helping hundreds of students prepare for their University course, the students' representatives said. They said that while they were in favour of...
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Update 2: PN accuses former MPs of insulting party employee, accusations denied

August 4, 2013, 1:43 am
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A law student who works with the Nationalist Party was this morning “insulted and called names” by former MPs Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando and Franco Debono, the PN said. Both Dr Debono and Dr Pullicino Orlando have outrightly denied insulting or attacking Mr Azzopardi or any other person. In a statement expressing solidarity with Nicky Azzopardi, the PN said the incident took place in Rabat early this morning, when Mr Azzopardi was also attacked and beaten by a person whose name has not yet been divulged. The police confirmed that a fight had taken place at around 5am but said they had no further information about the matter at the moment. The PN condemned without reservations “the scandalous behaviour” of Mr Pullicino Orlando and Dr Debono, who, it said, had yet again, proven they were not deserving of the public posts they had been given. It said that their behaviour should not be tolerated and should be condemned by all those who believed in full respect in a democratic society. The PN said it was publicly insisting that the matter and bring to justice all those who, in one way or another, were aggressive with Mr Azzopardi. But Dr Debono said that when he arrived at the site of...
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