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Valletta en fête - Strong message against same-sex marriage in pontifical Mass

February 10, 2014, 2:13 am
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Valletta is en fête today for the feast of St Paul’s Shipwreck, the feast which marks the birth of Christianity in Malta. Fine weather saw hundreds of people going to Valletta to enjoy the celebrations in the past few days and this morning, when Archbishop Paul Cremona led pontifical Mass. President George Abela, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat and Opposition leader Simon Busuttil led the congregation. An old band-stand elevated on stilts to enable people to walk under it, has been erected for the first time in some 40 years at the corner of St Paul Street with St Lucia Street. During the panegyric, Canon Lawrence Zammit spoke on how St Paul had been converted from persecutor of the Christians to a champion of Christianity.  His arrival in Malta on a shipwreck had given a new identity to Malta. Fr Zammit said the faithful must never ignore the migrants who did not come to Malta for holiday, but as they fled hardship and persecution. As a former AFM chaplain, he said he wanted to thank the soldiers for having saved the migrants. Quoting Pope Francis, he said that through the migrants, the faithful met the Lord. He also spoke of the challenges facing the Church, including changing...
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Update 2 - Legendary guitarist Brian May for Malta concert - Anniversaries celebration highlights announced

February 10, 2014, 3:39 am
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Legendary Queen guitarist Brian May will be performing in Malta on April 5, it was announced today as the government unveiled a series of events to mark important anniversaries this year. May, author of some of Queen’s finest songs, will be performing with Kerry Ellis. The concert is expected to be staged in St George’s Square. 63 activities are being held to mark the 35th anniversary of Freedom Day, the 10th anniversary of EU membership, the 50th anniversary of Independence and the 40th anniversary of Republic Day. They include a series of art exhibitions by Maltese artists, three major multimedia shows in Grand Harbour, Floriana and Valletta, the creation of four interactive installations marking each anniversary, a concert of classical music, a show by DJ Garath Emery (Ministry of Sound), a concert of ballet and other dance, a concert featuring Maltese bands, a production of the rock opera Gensna and a musical interpretation of the historic Kantilena. There will be an event grouping all those born in those historic days. A children's book on the events will be published and distributed in s chools. There will also be activities for migrants. Heritage Malta will put up an...
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New Parliament's office chairs to cost €370,000

February 10, 2014, 12:28 am
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More than €370,000 are being spent by the government on office chairs for the new Parliament. The bill does not include the seats in the chamber itself but only covers those being used in MPs’ offices and a debating room. The purchase included a number of designer executive chairs including Vitra Relax products, costing €2,500 each. The purchase was based on a recommendation by project designer Renzo Piano’s building workshop and given the green light by then Infrastructure Minister Austin Gatt. A government spokesman said the government was bound to the deal struck by the previous administration and could face litigation if the chairs were not accepted. The total bill for loose furniture for the new building totals €450,000. More in The Times of Malta and the e-paper on timesofmalta.com Premium.
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Ira Losco biggest winner at MMAs

February 9, 2014, 10:31 pm
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Ira Losco was the biggest winner at the Malta Music Awards last night, winning the awards for Best Solo Artist, Best Video with her song Me Luv U Long Time and Best Album with The Fire. The band Red Electrick won the awards for Best Band and Best Song with The Runaway. Junior Eurovision Song Contest winner Gaia Gauci, as expected, walked off with the International Achievement Award while her teacher Gillian Attard won the Recognition Award. Plan Zero won the Best New Artist Award. This was the 18th edition of the awards. It was held at the MFCC in Ta' Qali.
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No increase of particulate matter from BWSC plant despite use of heavy fuel oil

February 11, 2014, 2:50 am
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An assessment of air quality in Marsaxlokk and Birzebbuga following the commissioning of the BWSC power plant using heavy fuel oil has found no evidence that the power station contributed to elevated concentrations of particulate matter. The assessment, available on the Mepa website. Included a baseline analysis before the plant was commissioned, and an assessment afterwards. Two three-month post-commissioning reports produced in June and December 2013 did not indicate that the power station had contributed to any exceedances of the EU Limit Values for PM10 or PM2.5 during the period. The recorded exceedances of the daily mean Limit Value for PM10 were attributed to regional sources, sometimes specifically to Saharan dust events, or more localised events associated with wind directions other than from the direction of the power station. Mepa had issued a temporary IPPC permit authorised the operation of the Delimara power station extension.  The final decision regarding the final choice of fuel for the diesel engines was kept as a reserved matter following submission and analyses of ambient air monitoring data. The decision has to be taken by this March 31. The air monitoring...
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Man arrested after Marsa shooting

February 11, 2014, 9:33 am
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The police have arrested a man after he allegedly fired a shotgun in the direction of a foreigner. The incident happened at about 5.15pm near the Addolorata Cemetery during an argument. No one was injured and the shotgun has been seized by the police.
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45% of sexually active teenagers do not use contraception

February 11, 2014, 6:59 am
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Some 45 per cent of sexually-active people between the ages of 16 and 18 do not use contraception despite having multiple partners, according to a new study. The percentage increases to 65 per cent when it comes to 30 to 40-year-olds, Dr Neville Calleja director of the Directorate of Health Information and Research, said this afternoon. He was speaking during the launch of Malta’s first ever nationwide survey that looked into sexual knowledge, attitudes and behaviour. The survey was based on interviews, carried out in 2012, with 1,173 people aged between 16 and 40 and was representative of the population. Results showed that over 40 per cent of 16 to 18-years-olds had had sexual intercourse – a figure that increased to about 94 per cent when it came to 30 to 40-year-olds. The majority of women had sex the first time because they were in love while the majority of men felt it was a natural step in their relationship or they felt they were the right age. Dr Calleja said he was concerned to see that some 15 per cent of women said they had sex the first time because they gave in to their partner’s wishes – highlighting the need for more empowerment. The study also showed that almost...
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Spill forces road closure from Fgura to Marsascala

February 11, 2014, 2:25 am
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The police have advised motorists to avoid Zabbar Road, Fgura, and the bypass to Marsascala, because of spillage of what is thought to be fuel.  Zabbar Road and Hompesch Road, Zabbar, in the direction towards Zabbar from Fgura have so far been closed to traffic. A number of collisions took place as a result of skidding.
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Fine imposed on VRT station revoked

February 11, 2014, 4:52 am
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A tribunal today revoked a Transport Malta decision to fine a VRT testing station and withdraw the licence of the tester for a year after irregularities were found in a car which had just been tested and passed. A-Check VRT station had been fined €1,870 and its tester had his licence withdrawn for a year after inspectors found that a car which had just been issued a road worthiness certificate was found to have two cracked front brake pipes, a loose front steering bush and a broken and worn front passenger seat. In July 2011 Transport Malta penalised the testing station 170 points, equivalent to €1,870. The VRT station and the tester took the case before the Administrative Review Tribunal. The tribunal found that according to the law, the station should have actually been docked 90 points, not 170. Furthermore it should not have been the tester who should have been penalised, but the owner of the station. For these reasons the fine and the suspension of licence were revoked.  
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Laid off Arrow Pharm workers in the dark about alternative jobs

February 11, 2014, 12:39 am
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Arrow Pharm employees are still in the dark about their future, despite reports that new jobs have been found for all 110 made redundant last week. Union Ħaddiema Magħqudin general secretary Josef Vella told Times of Malta he was surprised by a report under the heading 'Saved' in yesterday’s l-Orizzont that announced alternative employment had been found for all workers. Economy Minister Chris Cardona said last night: “The indication is that alternative employment could be found for all 110 if they are made redundant.” Speaking earlier, however, Mr Vella said the UĦM had no such information and the first meeting of a specially set up task force between the union, the government and employer organisations was scheduled to take place today. More on the e-paper on timesofmalta.com Premium.
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Arrested while hitting his girlfriend

February 11, 2014, 5:06 am
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A man was granted bail today after having been arrested in Paceville while allegedly hitting his girlfriend. The incident happened on Sunday at around 10 p.m. A court was told how the accused, Johann Grech, 29 of Valletta, was spotted by a police foot patrol hitting his girlfriend. He was promptly arrested. Grech was arraigned this morning and accused of slightly injuring the woman, threatening her, violently resisting arrest and committing a crime during the operative period of probation. Police Inspector Luke Bonello told the court that this couple had had several arguments which ended up in court. He objected to bail, expressing concern over the welfare of the woman. At that point Mr Grech intervened, producing an SMS in which his girlfriend asked him to meet. Magistrate Gabriella Vella appointed an expert to review and record the SMSs on the phone. Bail was granted against a deposit of €500 and a personal guarantee of €2,000. Lawyer Gianluca Caruana Curran was defence counsel.
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Three Enemalta workers suspended for tampering with 1,000 electricity meters

February 11, 2014, 9:46 am
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Enemalta has suspended three members of staff who allegedly tampered with up to 1,000 smart meters to slow down their recording of electricity consumption. Energy Minister Konrad Mizzi told a hastily convened press conference this evening that the police have been called in, and court action may be taken against the three and against the owners of the properties where the tampered smart meters were installed. He described the tampering as a sophisticated job and said the manufacturers had been asked to examine the meters. A broad investigation was continuing and the government would not tolerate any theft of electricity. He said theft of electricity was estimated to equal 10 per cent of power consumption and was the highest in Europe, costing Enemalta €30 million in lost revenue every year.
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Photographer says more Maltese appeared in erotic web videos

February 11, 2014, 12:33 am
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A French photographer who uploaded pornographic footage of a young Maltese man had filmed five other local models for his pay-per-view porn website last year. Renaud Ribas, who lived in Gżira but has since returned to France, was last month handed a two-year suspended sentence for putting on the internet a video of a young Maltese man engaged in a sexual act. In Malta, distributing, circulating or publishing pornographic material is prohibited by Article 208 of the Criminal Code. Mr Ribas said he had also met nearly two dozen aspiring Maltese models who posed nude during the past 11 months. The images were not taken surreptitiously and Mr Ribas insisted the models signed a contract stipulating that the images would appear on a website. More in Times of Malta and the e-paper on timesofmalta.com Premium
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UK website's opinion on why Malta Eurovision is 'oddly compelling viewing'

February 11, 2014, 5:28 am
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The hugely popular London-based Metro website had its say about the Malta Eurovision Song Contest, giving five reasons why Malta Eurosong is 'oddly compelling viewing'. Caroline Westbrook, entertainment reporter, writes that Malta Eurosong was a gigantic national event which makes even The X Factor final look small by comparison. "And in fact their quest to find a track which could potentially bring the contest to Malta for the first time ever (because in spite of all this effort, they’ve never actually won the main event, even though they did win the 2013 Junior Eurovision) is strangely compelling viewing even if you’re not Maltese and your national pride depends on it." The Malta contest, it points out, goes on for a really, really long time. "It’s a bit like watching the entire X Factor final in one evening instead of in two-hour segments over the course of a whole weekend. And here’s the thing – it has a semi-final as well, so you also get an extra couple of hours the night before. Get those matchsticks, folks, you may need them to prop your eyes open by the end." And, it says, it features the same performers every single year. "Either there aren’t that many singers in...
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Update 5 - Qawra murder: Serb died with single stab through the heart after argument over loud music

February 10, 2014, 10:20 pm
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Update 5 - details on police press conference. Last updated 6.15 p.m. A 27-year-old Serbian man who was murdered in the early hours of this morning was stabbed once through the heart, the police said. The stabbing took place in an apartment in Triq il-Merluz, Qawra during an argument about loud music. The police said at a press conference this afternoon that the owner of the apartment cut off electricity as he had threatened to do if the young men persisted in playing loud music. The men - two from Macedonia, a Bulgarian and the victim, then argued among themselves and the victim was blamed for what had happened. The Bulgarian is believed to have been the man with the knife. He is expected to be taken to court and accused of murder in the coming hours. The weapon has been recovered. All the men were in Malta legally The crime was reported to the police at about 2.15 a.m. when a man who had apparently witnessed the stabbing called at Qawra police station and told police to go to the apartment. The victim, Kristic Dragoljub, from Grocka, Serbia, died minutes after the police and a medical team arrived on the scene. He arrived in Malta in October and worked in construction. Blood...
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Updated - Enemalta suspends five more people in smart meters scandal

February 12, 2014, 10:01 am
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Enemalta has suspended five more staff members as investigations continue into the tampering of smart meters. Another three were suspended yesterday. Energy Minister Konrad Mizzi told parliament that Enel engineers in Italy had found that some of the tampered meters were recording 20 units for every 100 consumed. The theft of electricity had been going on since 2011. The minister said those suspended included people who had installed apparatus to slow down the meters and others who had 'sold' the tampered meters. Yesterday, the minister said that some 1,000 meters had been tempered with in a sophisticated scheme. Theft of electricity accounted for 10 per cent of power generation and cost Enemalta €30m a year. Dr Mizzi said in his statement that Enemalta officials had noted a sharp loss of metered consumption from 2011. 95% of meters which were investigated were found to have been tampered, and a pattern emerged.  He said that after his press conference yesterday, a number of people had come forward with information, and he was renewing his appeal for more information. The government, he said, would continue intensive investigations and would not tolerate any abuse. He was...
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89 employees fired by Arriva for disciplinary reasons in 10 months

February 12, 2014, 2:47 am
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Arriva fired 89 employees for disciplinary reasons between March last year and January 13. Most of them were drivers. Seventeen of the employees were sacked while still on probation, Transport Minister Joe Mizzi told  Marthese Portelli (PN) in reply to a parliamentary question.
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Medicines being removed from government formulary - Opposition spokesman

February 12, 2014, 2:33 am
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The Opposition spokesman on health, Claudio Grech, has called on the government not to tackle the shortage of medicines by striking medicines off its formulary. Speaking on Times Talk yesterday, Mr Grech said amid interruptions by Health Minister Godfrey Farrugia that 20 medicines were removed from the formulary this year alone. Dr Farrugia replied that times changed, the issue was being tackled from a clinical perspective, and many of those people were being given other medicines. When questioned on how the medicines situation was being tackled, the minister explained how the procurement system had been improved and simplified, and a pay-per-use system had been introduced to avoid waste. The system was being centralised and there was now one big warehouse instead of three in different locations. A new IT system was being introduced. A public consultation had been held about the distribution system, overlaps were being removed and e-prescriptions and a smartcard system were being rolled in. Mr Grech said he had had two meetings with the minister on the White Paper on medicines. The overriding principle, he said, was that patients came before profits, especially in this sector...
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Coast Road project to cost €49m

February 12, 2014, 3:01 am
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The Coast Road project is expected to be taken in hand in the coming months  with completion earmarked for the end of next year, at a cost of €49 million. Answering a parliamentary question by Toni Bezzina (PN), Transport and Infrastructure Minister Joe Mizzi said the project would extend from the Buġibba Junction up to the Commonwealth War Graves Cemetery in Pembroke. It would be co-financed by the European Union. The actual start date would depend on administrative and technical preparations by contractors and Transport Malta. Two contracts have been awarded to Kosta Joint Venture, formed of Polidano Brothers Ltd, Philip Agius and Sons and  Central Asphalt Ltd and their sub-contractors; and RM Construction Ltd, formed of Bonnici Bros. Ltd, Asfaltar Ltd and Schembri Infrastructures Ltd and their sub-contractors. According to the permit, issued in August, the project will see the reconstruction, widening and upgrading of the road from Pembroke to Baħar iċ-Ċagħaq and Burmarrad. The road will be widened by some 10m, turning it into a dual two-lane carriageway. A number of water reservoirs will be built.  Access to the arterial road will be redesigned, including an upgrading of the...
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18,000 foreign workers in Malta

February 11, 2014, 10:38 am
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Half of all the new jobs being created in Malta are taken up by foreign workers, Education and Employment Minister Evarist Bartolo said. Speaking at a public consultation entitled Meet the Cabinet in Cottonera this evening, Mr Bartolo said Maltese workers were not being equipped with the necessary skills for new jobs. He said that some 18,000 foreigners were currently working in Malta, 40 per cent of whom were hired because Maltese could not fill the roles. Mr Bartolo said that just three out of every 10 jobs in the Igaming industry were taken by Maltese. This he said could be tackled by focusing on the needs of the jobs market and transposing this into courses that fit. "We have children that leave school without the necessary skills, attendance alone is not enough," he said, adding that 30 per cent of children have problems spelling in English. Mr Bartolo also said that fewer than half of fifth formers passed five SEC exams. Worse still, he pointed out that nearly 6,000 15-year-olds were currently not studying and not employed. Asked how the government planned to tackle truancy, Mr Bartolo pointed out that many courses were not relevant to students. He said that Malta would be...
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