Quantcast
Channel: Times Of Malta
Viewing all 77260 articles
Browse latest View live
↧

Can you help Basil find his long-lost Qormi cousins?

August 15, 2017, 9:01 am
$
0
0

Photo: Jonathan Borg

An 89-year-old man from Brisbane who is looking for his long-lost family in Malta has narrowed his search to two women from Qormi. If he manages to track down these two cousins, they would be the first paternal relatives that Basil Povis, currently in Malta, meets after a long search with several dead ends. According to documents at Qormi’s St George’s parish office, these two women are Carmela and Emmanuela, born to Carmelo Pace and Georgia Bons. Emmanuela eventually married Giorgio Mallia in Msida in 1957. For Mr Povis, the search has been a long one and took a couple of curious twists along the way. READ: Basil's search keeps getting more and more curious Born in England and orphaned as a child, Mr Povis was the only son of George and Mabel-Blanche née Matthews. He knew that his father, whom everybody called George Povis, was originally from Malta. Then, last year, he discovered that his father was actually called Giuseppe Paris, after Reed’s School provided records of his mother’s application to enrol him at the London Orphan School. And in a surprising twist following an appeal for any surviving relatives in the Times of Malta last summer, it was discovered that the actual...
↧
Search

Maltese come in third place for EU holiday spending

August 15, 2017, 11:01 pm
$
0
0

Maltese people are splashing out on their holidays, spending nearly twice as much as their EU counterparts on each trip abroad. According to figures published by Eurostat, Maltese people were the third-biggest holiday spenders in the EU in 2015, with an average of €590 per trip compared to the EU average of just €320. Only Luxembourgers and Austrian residents spent more, with €740 and €610, respectively, while Romania and Latvia are home to the thriftiest travellers, spending just €116 per trip. READ: Five tips to take the stress out of airport travel Despite the high figure, Malta’s holiday outlay has actually decreased since 2013, when residents spent €645, or around nine per cent more, on their trips. The spending also stands in stark contrast to the 36.8 per cent of Maltese people who cannot afford a single one-week holiday away from home every year, according to Eurostat figures released last week. The island fares worse than the EU average of 32.9 per cent (of the over-16 population) in this regard, but has registered significant progress since 2012, when more than half of the population could not afford a holiday. The EU average has improved far more moderately – by 5.2...
↧
↧

Small cabin cruiser sinks at Ghadira Bay

August 16, 2017, 5:48 am
$
0
0

A small cabin cruiser listed, turned turtle and sank in calm waters at Għadira Bay this afternoon. No one appeared to be on board the anchored vessel as it slipped under the sea surface within a few minutes.  
↧

Decomposing body found at sea off Portomaso

August 16, 2017, 11:03 am
$
0
0

The decomposing body of a man was found a mile out at sea near Portomaso this evening and brought to land on an AFM launch. Police confirmed that the body was discovered at about 6.45pm, but could give no details on its identity. A magisterial inquiry is under way. A search has been underway since Friday night for a young French man who dived from a pleasure boat off Sliema and has not been seen since. 
↧

Woman critically injured in Għar Lapsi fall

August 15, 2017, 11:41 pm
$
0
0

A 19-year-old woman from Fgura was critically injured after she fell off the rocks near Għar Lapsi yesterday at 6.30pm. The police said a patrol boat had to be called in as the area where she had fallen was not accessible. The boat brought her into Għar Lapsi, where the ambulance was waiting to take her to Mater Dei.
↧
↧

Most Mater Dei wards full

August 15, 2017, 10:29 pm
$
0
0

Hospital sources have described the situation at Mater Dei as "unprecedented", with most of the wards operating at full capacity. A spokeswoman for the Health Ministry said activity at the main state hospital had been higher than usual in recent weeks. More than 11,500 patients visited Mater Dei Hospital’s emergency department in the past four weeks, the Times of Malta was told. The spokeswoman said that 5,677 were registered at the accident and emergency department between July 12 and July 25. The figure rose to 5,832 patients in the period of July 26 to August 8, bringing the total in just over a month to 11,509 patients. Though acknowledging that the hospital had noted an increase in recent weeks, the spokeswoman did not say what could have been the cause. Asked if it may have been related to the hot weather that washed over the island recently, she would only say that the higher activity “is not necessarily related to the heat”. In recent weeks, the health authorities issued a number of warnings on the dangers of hot weather, urging people to stay hydrated and avoid prolonged sun exposure as temperatures soared to highs of 37˚C. According to 2015 data, 11,554 patients were...
↧

Delimara hotel developers launch Facebook PR offensive

August 16, 2017, 2:01 am
$
0
0

The developers behind a proposed hotel on the Delimara coastline have started a new campaign to stem the fallout from their controversial plans, which have seen more than 400 objections submitted to the Planning Authority. Delimara Bay Hotel Ltd has set up a Facebook page called “Delimara: The Truth” and released a video defending plans to redevelop a dilapidated hotel in Kalanka Bay, outside development zones, into an “ecological boutique hotel” with luxury suites, bar and restaurant, and public beach facilities. In the campaign video, the developers highlight the environmental credentials of the new hotel, which they insist will “respect the context of the site and improve the natural environment” while upgrading Kalanka Bay, which will remain public, to Blue Flag status level. “The ecological boutique hotel will be a model of sustainable tourism,” the developers claim. “It will offer all the facilities of a commercial hotel but the required energy will all come from sustainable sources. The hotel will even offer locally-sourced organic food. This is the way forward.” The video also features geological expert Saviour Scerri, who asserts that the development – which includes...
↧

Woman found in Paceville garbage truck apologises in court

August 16, 2017, 5:51 am
$
0
0

A woman filmed naked inside the back of a garbage truck in Paceville acted wildly after drinking too much alcohol, a court heard today. The 36-year-old Polish woman sat silently throughout the hearing and was handed a suspended sentence by Magistrate Josette Demicoli after pleading guilty to charges which included offending public morals, exposing herself in public and being drunk in a public place.Video footage of the woman naked and raving inside the back of the truck went viral on Monday and was also shared by a number of local news outlets. Times of Malta opted not to publish the video.The woman told the court that she worked at a travel agency and did not have much money to live on.  Apologising for her actions, she said she would pay for the damage she caused to one of the garbage truck’s cameras. The court sentenced the woman to 10 months in prison, suspended for 18 months, and fined her €50. She is understood to be leaving the country soon. Inspector Trevor Micallef prosecuted. Lawyer Noel Cutajar was legal aid.
↧
Search

The hope that came with the Santa Marija convoy

August 15, 2017, 4:29 am
$
0
0

The SS Ohio enters the Grand Harbour under the control of dockyard tugs and with HMS Ledbury still secured to her side.

A salient chapter in the history of Malta and World War II was written 75 years ago when five of the 14 ships in Operation Pedestal entered the Grand Harbour in August 1942. The island was in a dire situation – about to surrender to the Axis powers – but was saved by the food supplies, fuel and hope the convoy brought. Scenes of jubilation surrounded the Grand Harbour 75 years ago as many Maltese, battered by the war and famished, flocked there to see with their own eyes the arrival of the surviving ships of Operation Pedestal. There was dancing and singing in the streets as the first of three merchant ships in the convoy – the Port Chalmers, Rochester Castle and Melbourne Star – entered the Grand Harbour on August 13. People cheered at every vantage point and the Royal Malta Artillery band played music from the ramparts of Fort St Elmo. The same scenes accompanied the arrival of another merchant ship, the Brisbane Star, as she made port on August 14. But it was the arrival of the tanker SS Ohio on August 15, which carried tons of fuel, that was celebrated most. “There were scenes of mass hysteria as the Maltese thronged the bastions and the Upper and Lower Barrakka shouting...
↧
↧

Strip club owners see massage parlours as competition - MCWO

August 15, 2017, 5:01 am
$
0
0

Strip club owners want the government to regulate their industry because they offered a more acceptable facade to a dirty business, the Malta Confederation of Women’s Organisations (MCWO) said this afternoon. The MCWO in a statement reiterated its repeated stance that strip clubs, prostitution and trafficking were inextricably linked.  Although this might not be immediately visible, sexual activity happened in the back and VIP rooms or in nearby flats or hotels, the MCWO said.  While strip club owners tried to present their business as harmless and clean, such clubs served, in reality, to give a more acceptable facade to a dirty business. In an interview in the Times of Malta today, strip club owner Ronald Axisa rejected claims by women’s groups that outlets like his were hubs for prostitution. The MCWO said legislation would give owners the blessing to operate with more legitimacy, helping prostitution and sexual abuse become more normalised. The government, the confederation said, was duty bound to legislate for the common good, not for the benefit of strip club owners.  It called on the government to look at the sex industry holistically, rather than asking owners to set...
↧

Back home - Tritons are brought back to Valletta fountain

August 16, 2017, 11:21 am
$
0
0

The three huge figures that form the Tritons fountain in Valletta City Gate were put back in place today as a €4 million restoration project nears its conclusion. The bronze figures were restored at an Italian foundry. Concrete which partly filled them to hold them to the ground was removed. READ: Race against time to restore Tritons Fountain  The bronze basin supported by the tritons was recast due to extensive warping following its collapse in 1978. The fountain itself has undergone extensive rehabilitation, with new pipework, a new pump room and a thorough cleaning of its travertine slabs.  The Tritons Fountain was completed in 1959 at a cost of £10,000. It was designed by Vincent Apap.
↧

'Humiliating' drug trafficking rampant during feasts, bishop says

August 16, 2017, 9:45 pm
$
0
0

Bishop Mario Grech denounced rampant drug trafficking at village feasts, calling it humiliating and diabolical. In a homily during Mass in Victoria on the feast of the Assumption of Our Lady, Mgr Grech drew comparisons with the apocalyptic reference to the dragon, which he said changed its appearance but was still a devastating threat. “One of the contemporary dragons is drug trafficking. Drugs are a serious wound on Gozo. Several people told me there is a wide net that is catching not just youths but also underage children,” he said. While drug trafficking was of concern wherever it took place, it was truly humiliating and diabolical that traffickers were pushing drugs even during village feasts. “Some have remarked that the consumption of alcohol has decreased during feasts – which is a good thing – but if this is the case, how come we see so many intoxicated people after the band marches? How do we explain the drop in alcohol consumption and the increase in the sale of water? “Is it true that during the feasts, the price of cocaine sachets explodes, drying up not only the minds but also the pockets?” Mgr Grech asked. The bishop expressed concern that if the “dragon”...
↧

Frank Portelli says he rues decision to contest PN leadership

August 16, 2017, 11:14 pm
$
0
0

Updated 10.30am One of the four contestants for the leadership of the Nationalist Party, Frank Portelli, said he regrets his decision to put his name forward for the post. Through a Facebook post, he lamented the hurt being caused to his family by "unfair attacks" on him.  Although he did not say anything specific in the post, he had earlier put up a photo of crocodiles waiting for a parachutist to land in a pond, with a not-so-thinly-veiled reference to blogger Daphne Caruana Galizia - known by her initials DCG -  saying that the reptiles were lying in wait for the leadership contestants. He later uploaded a video accusing Ms Caruana Galizia of "destroying families", adding that he could not understand how the PN never heeded the warnings against her in a 2013 defeat report. Dr Portelli, a controversial figure often known for his right-wing views, did not at the time say that he would be withdrawing from the race, with his post drawing dozens of comments from supporters urging him not to quit. He later this morning posted a comment on a post by Robert Musumeci, where he said that he would not pull out of the race as there were too many people depending on him, adding that the...
↧
↧

Local council lambasts Transport Malta over night time works

August 16, 2017, 4:32 am
$
0
0

The St Julian’s local council criticised the transport watchdog for issuing a permit for construction works at night, insisting it was “siding with the residents”. The council was reacting to outrage from residents who spoke to this newspaper last week, complaining of the sleepless nights they had to endure as a result of work being carried out outside their doors until the early hours of the morning. Residents who live on Birkirkara Road told this paper they were kept awake on Thursday and Friday nights while large trucks transported debris to and from a construction site in the area. A council spokesman confirmed it was Transport Malta that issued the permit despite the council’s objections. According to the spokesman, the transport authority only made its decision to issue the permit known to the council on the day the work was to be carried out. “The council complained… because when Transport Malta copied us with the permit it was understood that no heavy vehicles would be used,” the spokesman noted. Photos taken by the residents and sent to this newspaper clearly show more than one heavy vehicle being used, with people living there saying the trucks drove up and down the...
↧

Leaky pipes would fill 1,600 pools each year

August 16, 2017, 1:01 am
$
0
0

The water lost through leaky pipes would fill about 1,600 Olympic-sized swimming pools every year, but this was far below what was wasted in the 1990s. A report on national water production and consumption, published by the National Statistics Office earlier this month, shows Malta is losing between 10 and 14 per cent of its water production every year because of cracks and leaks in the network. That is the equivalent of about four million cubic litres of water flushed down the drain every year. Hydrologist Marco Cremona said that although the figure might sound shocking, it actually showed the authorities were taking the matter seriously. “This is well within the acceptable levels that we were calling for years ago. When the problem was first highlighted in the 1990s we were losing 40 and even 50 per cent of our water. Now the problem is much smaller,” he said. Dr Cremona said the Water Services Corporation had been hard at work to address the problem and their efforts were bearing fruit. In fact, it was now at the point where further improvements would probably only see marginal gains. This, he added, meant the volume being lost was within acceptable parameters. “Of course,...
↧
Search

Lampuki catch falls 60 per cent in five years

August 17, 2017, 12:21 am
$
0
0

Lampuki catches went down from 429,610 kilos in 2010 to 172,827 in 2015. Photo: Chris Sant Fournier

Dolphin fish catches have dropped by a staggering 60 per cent over the past five years, official figures show, though opinion on what has caused the “worrying decline” remains divided. “I’ve been fishing for lampuki (dolphin fish) my whole life. My father used to catch them. The seasons have always fluctuated, but in recent years we have seen them take a nosedive,” veteran fisherman Joe Cauchi said as he loaded nets onto his boat in Marsaxlokk yesterday afternoon. A review of national fish catches shows that lampuki were becoming a less likely fixture in fishermen’s nets. According to the review, conducted by the National Statistics Office, catches went down from 429,610 kilos in 2010 to 172,827 kilos in 2014. The drop was even more visible in Gozo, where catches fell by as much as 80 per cent over the same period. The lampuki season begins around mid-August and ends at the end of the year, although it can be extended by the Director of Fisheries. Fishmongers are currently charging about €10 a kilo for the species, more than double the price usually commanded during fishing seasons. Opinions on the scarcity were a dime a dozen. One fishmonger told the Times of Malta that the...
↧

Anti-migrant 'ship of hate' outside Malta's waters

August 17, 2017, 2:51 am
$
0
0

A controversial anti-migrant ship is just outside Maltese territorial waters, although it is not clear where the vessel is heading. The ship belonging to the Defend Europe movement, the C-Star, has been plagued by controversy for weeks, as it tries to block the rescue of refugees from the Mediterranean Sea, which it described as part of an “invasion” endangering the continent. And local NGOs have already sounded a warning to the boat to stay away from Malta. "The mission of C-Star is to prevent refugees and other forced migrants from accessing safety and security. We are calling on the Maltese authorities not to allow the vessel to dock in Malta, and not to cooperate with an organisation that has demonstrated itself to be racist, and with a mission that clearly aims to violate basic human rights," said Maria Pisani from NGO Integra Foundation. Times of Malta is informed the ship captain has not yet made a formal request to dock in Malta but enquired about procedures should they need services. It is currently travelling at four knots. "Just yesterday the island remembered the hope that was delivered with the convoy of Santa Marija, and how the nation came together in defiance of...
↧
↧

Developers’ association also opposes Marsascala quarry development

August 17, 2017, 12:54 am
$
0
0

The Malta Developers Association has added its voice to the Environmental Resources Authority's, which opposed the development of a commercial complex in a disused quarry in Marsascala, which lies outside development zones. It also said that it had the support of other quarry owners, who are also MDA members, as the refusal of similar permits in future would lead to justified complaints of discrimination. Read: ERA objects to plans for massive Marsascala complex An application for the development was first submitted in October but was later withdrawn by the developer, after it generated objections from Flimkien Għal Ambjent Aħjar, Front Ħarsien ODZ and Nature Trust, as well as local residents. The application was then resubmitted in June and was published by the PA for public consultation last week, open until September 22. The development includes a basement car park, a 3,080 square metre commercial outlet, as well as a restaurant and drive-through at ground level, 2,080 square metres of offices at first-floor level and a landscaped roof. “Although the rehabilitation of disused quarries is positive, since an abandoned quarry is considered as a lesion in every topographical...
↧

Concerns over work at ‘bypass to Mġarr bypass’

August 17, 2017, 2:05 am
$
0
0

An aerial plan of the country path being widened (bottom). Photos: Alan Deidun/Keith Micallef

Roadworks at L-Imselliet, on the outskirts of Mġarr, have fuelled concerns that virgin land is being sacrificed to widen an existing country path being paved with concrete. Questions have also been asked over the safeguards being taken to preserve cart ruts, mature carob trees and rubble walls in the area. A Transport Malta spokesman said yesterday some of its projects to improve traffic flows and increase road safety were being implemented this summer to ease the impact of increased traffic ahead of the scholastic year. The area around the two schools at L-Imselliet was identified among the those that needed to be improved, he said, adding that during morning and early afternoon peaks long queues blocked the busy road and restricted access to the schools. He noted that the schools had only one access road, which was inadequate for the number of people going there every day, apart from potential difficulties in emergency situations. The spokesman said another access point for the schools would be provided by redeveloping an old lane without encroaching on undisturbed land, rural structures or vegetation, allowing for a better traffic flow. Transport Malta, he said, was committed...
↧

Gozo's oldest windmill to be restored

August 16, 2017, 11:51 pm
$
0
0

The oldest surviving windmill in Gozo will be given a much-needed facelift after the Planning Commission approved restoration works on the historic building. Commissioned by Grand Master Perellos in the beginning of the 18th century, the windmill at Xewkija is the only one with a tower based on an octagonal base.  To improve the viewing experience and accessibility, the project will include the creation of a small piazza area around the Grade 1 scheduled building. New public convenience facilities will also be constructed adjacent to the windmill. The conservation works will include the removal of metallic inserts and cement renders, the replacement of the windmill's concrete roof with traditional stone slabs and the cleaning of the stone. The windmill’s mechanism will also be reconstructed. The works will be carried out in accordance with an approved restoration method statement and monitored by the Planning Authority’s conservation officers. The restoration method statement has been endorsed by the Superintendent of Cultural Heritage. The windmill which started operating in 1710 by miller Ġanni Scicluna consists of a large entrance hall, two large parallel rooms, and a kitchen...
↧
Viewing all 77260 articles
Browse latest View live
Search
<script src="https://jsc.adskeeper.com/r/s/rssing.com.1596347.js" async> </script>