Issue #662 - Maltatoday

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SUNDAY • 15 JULY 2012 • ISSUE 662 • PUBLISHED EVERY WEDNESDAY AND SUNDAY
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PRESIDENT JUSTIFIED IN ASKING IF
GONZI HAS A MAJORITY – JPO, DEBONO
thing else failed”.
“Is Malta a tax haven or a moneylaundering haven?” he quipped.
During the day yesterday Pullicino
Orlando was busy sending off e-mails
in reply to the request by the president
of the Nationalist Party’s executive
to give a detailed explanation of his
accusations against Richard Cachia
Caruana. Pullicino Orlando ex-
plained that Cachia Caruana exerted
pressure on former Labour minister
Joe Mizzi to replace the head of the
Security Services.
Pullicino Orlando also revealed
JPO says that he does not see himself
remaining a member of the party if RCC is not
expelled
mt survey
PL retains lead as swing
increases to 9 points
A MaltaToday survey reveals that the swing from
the PN to Labour has actually increased from 7 to
9 points. Though the PN scores the highest ever
score registered in the past three years of surveys
conducted (27%), Labour has retained a substantial 11.7-point lead albeit a small decline of half a
point since last month.
This suggests that recent political events have
galvanised the Nationalist core vote but have not
helped the PN dent Labour’s lead. In this month’s
survey, while 11.3% of PN voters in 2008 said they
would vote for the PL (up from 10% last month),
only 1.9% of Labour voters in 2008 said they
would vote PN, down from 3% last month.
This suggests that the PN has simply gained
ground within its pool of voters. In fact, while in
June 62% of PN voters in 2008 said they would
vote for the PN again, the percentage of these voters has now risen to 71% thanks to a decline in
former PN voters who said they would not be voting in the next election. In fact, the number of PN
voters who intend not to vote has decreased by a
staggering 7 points in the past month.
CONTINUES ON PGS 10, 11, 12
% change since May
27%
▲ +1.2
38.7%
PL
▲ +0.7
AD 1.4%
–
NOT
VOTING
0.2%
▲ +0.2
NOT
VOTING
7.8%
▼ -2.4
NO
ANSWER
24.9%
▲ +0.3
CONTINUES ON PAGE 13
Mediatoday relaunches
libel fund
MALTATODAY SURVEY
PN
that “Joe Mizzi has implicated Cachia
Caruana in a clear case of criminal
interference with the course of justice
in relation to a cocaine party organised by individuals who were close to
Cachia Caruana”.
Later, Cachia Caruana announced
that he will be instituting a criminal
libel against Joe Mizzi.
Marthese Portelli, who had to cut
her holiday to Paris short, replied that
Pullicino Orlando was acting in “bad
faith” because the Zebbug MP did not
follow the agreed procedure regarding the hearing of his case against
Cachia Caruana.
In a counter reply, Pullicino Orlando
said: “I referred to a public declaration
by Joe Mizzi in relation to Mr Cachia
Caruana with very serious allegations
in an attempt at abiding with what
you asked for. It is pertinent to note
that Mizzi made these allegations 48
hours ago on a television programme
which he was participating in, together with [PN Whip] David Agius.”
Earlier on, Pullicino Orlando was
asked about the PN decision to ban
him from contesting with the party.
He replied: “The decision taken by
the PN Executive Committee last
Thursday did not affect me in the
least. I had already declared that I was
not going to contest the forthcoming
general elections seven months ago.
MediaToday has
relaunched its libel
fund after a court
decision that fined
MaltaToday journalist
James Debono and
Managing Editor Saviour
Balzan €18,000.
In a comment Saviour
Balzan said: “This
week we experienced
one of the most unfair
decisions ever to be
made in the Maltese
courts: we were fined
€18,000 for a story
which we believe
we were justified in
reporting.
“We will fight this
judgment all the way
because we are certain
that the court decisions
will have an impact on
the free press. I have no
doubt that if we do not
fight these decisions,
the future of the press
as we know it is over.”
SEE PAGE 3
Newspaper post
DEFIANT as ever, backbencher Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando has said that
he feels the President of the Republic
would be justified in calling the Prime
Minister to see if he has a majority after Franco Debono’s comments.
President George Abela left for Lima
this week, even though he was fully
aware of the serious political crisis.
Pullicino Orlando added: “Personally speaking, I will find it very hard
to remain a member of the Nationalist Party if the Executive Committee
does not expel Richard Cachia Caruana after next Tuesday’s meeting. I
feel that the irrefutable evidence that
I will be presenting gives the Committee more than enough grounds to
do so.”
This exclusive comment to MaltaToday came after the newspaper
asked him for his comments after
Thursday’s executive decision.
Franco Debono echoed Pullicino
Orlando’s thoughts to MaltaToday
and said that the President should
definitely call on the Prime Minister
to see if he has a majority.
“It’s obvious that the President is
justified in calling on to the Prime
Minister to see that he has a majority
in parliament. I have long been telling
the prime minister to call an election,” Debono said.
He added that the prime minister
should not take merit for the country’ss economic results, when
“everytry
w
2
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3
News
MaltaToday to fight €18,000
libel on Jumbo Lido case
MaltaToday re-launches libel fund
Reggie Fava talks about his
21-year court battle
BIANCA CARUANA
“I can’t believe it has taken 21 years of
battling it out in court for me to finally
get the licence.”
This was said by Reginald Fava,
founder and chairman of Chemimart,
just days after winning the court case
against the Superintendent of Public
Health on 10 July who has been ordered
to issue a licence for Chemimart to operate a pharmacy at
21 Republic Street,
Valletta, within the
next two months.
Fava had been applying for the licence
for the premises
since 1990 and had
taken action against
the Health Authorities in 2007. In the
judgement
issued
by Magistrate C.
Farrugia Sacco, the
First Hall of the Civil
Court heavily criticised the Superintendent for not conforming to the law
and Court orders. Dr Edward DeBono,
Fava’s lawyer, said the Superintendent
originally had one year to conform to
the law but to “no avail”.
“The Court could not accept such
transgressions of the citizens’ rights
and such action on the part of the Superintendent of Public Health was arbitrary and in open contempt of the laws
and orders of the Court,” DeBono explained. DeBono said the Superintendent had refused to exercise his administrative discretion according to the law
in order to grant Chemimart a licence
and used administrative freeze criteria
for his non-action. Asked whether the
quota consideration issue regarding the
number of pharmacies or chemists in
a locality were the cause of the delays,
Fava (former president of the Chamber
of Commerce) said this issue had nothing to do with the whole case.
Fava had reapplied in 1996 when
clause 5 of the Legal Notice of 1984 was
repealed. “All the restrictions were re-
moved and there were no legal reasons
why Chemimart should not be given
this licence to operate. The doors were
wide open for anyone to apply for this
licence,” Fava said. In 2006, Fava had
reapplied for reconsideration of the objection on two counts, which included
issuing the license still pending since
1990 and to allow him to transfer a
pharmacy licence in Republic Street to
another location a few doors down on
the same street. “This was also refused
due to pressures from
GRTU’s representative on the Tripartite
Committee which
in any event did not
have any legal recognition and this, notwithstanding the fact
that the Medicine’s
Authority was in favour of granting the
license as has resulted
Reginald Fava
from the evidence of
the CEO, Dr Patricia
Vella Bonnanno, in the
Court proceedings,” DeBono said.
Asked to comment on the GRTU’s
involvement in the matter – especially
considering Fava and GRTU Official
Mario Debono’s well-documented
turbulent relationship over the years –
Fava said he did not want the attention
to be misdirected from the fact that the
licence has finally been issued. “It has
taken this long because of petty issues
and jealousy. But, I have finally achieved
what I set out to get and would like everything to remain focused on this,” he
said.
DeBono also explained that the defendants (the Medicine Authority, Superintendent of Public Health, Health
Ministry and General Advocate to the
Courts), had acted beyond their legal
powers and did not follow the criteria
established by the law.
“The court has ordered the Superintendent to issue the said licence. However, it refused the applicant’s claims
of violation of the Constitution as the
Court was not competent to deal with
these demands as constituted.”
to MaltaToday and to answer questions sent by e-mail before the story
was published by MaltaToday. But in
the sentence the judge insists that the
journalist “intentionally” gave incorrect information with the sole motive
of defaming the plaintiff. Saviour Balzan said that on review of the facts of
the story, the decision could not have
reflected the gravity of the events that
were documented by MaltaToday.
“The three fines – €5,000, €10,000
and €3,000 – are not only disproportionate but the ruling failed to take
into consideration the facts of the case
as presented to the courts over the last
six years.
“There is a serious attempt to ignore
or minimise the role of Peter Fenech,
an advocate and a well-known PN political activist, in the negotiations that
led to the rent owed to government by
a company where he was a registered
director, company secretary and a minority shareholder, to be rescinded.
“It is also evident that evidence that
showed the participation of Peter
Fenech in the whole episode were
not taken into consideration. He was
director, company secretary and a minority shareholder of the company in
question.
“This is an attempt to silence the free
SAYING IT AS IT IS SAVIOUR BALZAN
(€240,000) in rents due from VAB
Company Ltd – a company in which
Fenech and his father held ownership
– because the company “had no other
assets from where to pay the arrears”.
According to the spokesperson of
the then home affairs minister Tonio
Borg (today Deputy Prime Minister)
who was responsible for lands, the
government had confirmed that when
it waived the due rents for the leased
land, it was unaware VAB was concurrently claiming €138,000 in rents from
the third party that was renting Jumbo
Lido, with whom VAB had a management agreement. The sentence does
not dispute any of these facts but
points out that the assertion that Peter
Fenech owed arrears to the government while claiming money from a
third person, were incorrect.
The magistrate reached this conclusion on the basis of the fact that
Fenech was a director and the owner
of one share in VAB Company Ltd and
not the owner of the company, which
belongs to Peter Fenech’s father Frank,
who owned the rest of the shares.
“Certainly, the journalist had no right
to reach the conclusion that because
the plaintiff (Fenech) was a director of
the company, the company is his.”
Peter Fenech had refused to talk
25 Ou
Oc t o
to n
be
r
MALTATODAY will be appealing a
ruling on three libel suits related to the
Jumbo Lido case, in which the paper
probed a request to have government
rent waived.
MaltaToday will be appealing a ruling on three libel suits filed by Mediterranean Conference Centre chairman
Peter Fenech against MaltaToday, for
which the court presided by Magistrate Francesco Depasquale awarded a
total of €18,000 in damages.
Described as “an attempt to silence
the press” by MaltaToday managing
editor Saviour Balzan, the sentence
by Depasquale declares that Fenech, a
politically appointed chairman of the
government-owned Mediterranean
Conference Centre, is not a public
figure – which was an argument advanced by MaltaToday for its journalistic interest in Fenech’s commercial
actions.
The ruling emphatically states that
although Fenech is a public official in
his capacity as lawyer, “there is nothing to show that he can be regarded as
a public official”.
MaltaToday ran a series of stories
into the lease of government land in
Tigné, Sliema for the construction
of the Jumbo Lido, revealing that
government had waived Lm100,000
press and more so the
sentence manifestly
ignores the facts as
proven. This is a bad
decision and ironically
comes at a time when
politicians from both
sides of the House are
calling for stiffer penalties on libel cases.”
Balzan said the investigations into the government’s decision to
waive rents on the lease
of land for the Jumbo
Mediterranean Conference Centre chairman
Lido in Sliema were
Peter Fenech. According to the Court magistrate,
significantly started by
he is not a public figure
the late MaltaToday
journalist Julian ManMediaToday is also re-launching
duca. VAB was also legally represented
by Peter Fenech in the case it won for its libel fund. All readers are welclaims of Lm138,385.48 or €320,160 come to donate to the fund, and a
from Marisa Turk Dogan, who had receipt and confirmation of paybeen sub-leased the Jumbo Lido from ment will be issued with every doVAB. “The press had a right to probe nation, and an audit trail of the
government decisions which were not donation will also be provided.
only unjustified but that were applied All donations are payable to ‘Mewith no rationale or justification. We diaToday’. Saviour Balzan will be
will be appealing, not only because we donating all proceeds from his upbelieve that what we wrote was correct coming book, Say It As It Is, to the
but because if these libel fines continue libel fund. A pre-publication offer is
we will be facing the end of the free being offered to all readers of Malpress in Malta.”
taToday. (See advert below).
T
I
G
N
SAYI S
I
T
I
AS ALZAN
B
R
U
O
I
V
A
S
Saying it as it is – a narrative of the events the author experienced in the last 35 years. This is a pre-publication offer, and all
proceeds will go the MaltaToday libel fund. Order your hardback copy, worth €30.00, and save €6. Please send a cheque of €24.00
with your name, address and contact number. All cheques are to be made payable to MediaToday and addressed to MediaToday,
Vjal ir-Rihan, San Gwann. This offer is available until 10 October, 2012. It does not cover postage and packaging. A week before
publication date, an invitation will be issued to all those who ordered the book to attend the launch. Those who do not collect the book
on this occasion may collect the book from the MediaToday offices in San Gwann.
4
News
Smartphones: bringing continents tog
but reducing physical social interactio
The Maltese Smartphone market remains very interesting, according to Vodafone Malta,
because on an island where everyone knows everyone and is very easy to meet in person,
Malta exceeds larger markets in the use of social networking sites such as Facebook, internet
and mobile saturation. BIANCA CARUANA asks people from different walks of life for their
opinion on the Smartphone phenomenon
SINCE introducing the iPhone’s and
Blackberry to the Maltese market in
2008, Vodafone says the meaning of
Smartphone is still evolving.
“Smartphones allow users to do
much more than just call: checking
Facebook, sending e-mails and downloading all sorts of apps make the
device a very important gadget in the
daily lives of users. Since introducing
the Smartphone we have registered
constant growth and a 50% market
share.”
So, how has this phenomenon affected our real-life socialising?
Psychology Professor Mary Anne
Lauri, who owns a Blackberry, says
Smartphones and other social technologies have dramatically affected
our lives.
“Perhaps we do not truly realise the
impact they have on our personal and
work relationships as yet, in spite of
the abundant research that is being
conducted,” Lauri says.
She says she uses her phone often,
and is aware of her own students using their phones during their lectures
at the University.
“I have absolutely no problem with
them having Smartphones even
though I know they are surfing and
chatting. They smile or laugh when I
am lecturing about something which
really isn’t funny at all. But I would
probably do the same.
“It is not the first time that I purchase my groceries online while listening to somebody presenting a paper in Berlin or Oslo, or some other
part of the world,” Lauri says.
However, Lauri adds she has a golden rule when it comes to technology
which revolves around the element of
control.
“My golden rule is that I control the
technology and never let the technology, whether it is a Smartphone or a
tablet, control me. The test is, if you
hear the phone ring, do you have
enough control over yourself not to
answer it?” she asks.
Mauro Calleja, 33, is a clerk who
believes Smartphones are “the best
gadget” for communication.
“I think Smartphones have positively affected socialising. There’s more
communication, more reach and less
privacy, which for me is positive. I
mean, we’re not meant to hide anything,” he laughs.
Calleja, who uses his phone for prac-
tically everything, admits it would be
hard to separate himself from his
phone.
“I check my phone every 15 minutes,
or maybe even more! Yes, I check it
probably in the same way someone
diagnosed with obsessive compulsive
disorder would do. I wouldn’t be able
to survive without my phone for 24
hours,” he says.
Calleja believes the Smartphones
should be prohibited from voting
booths. “It should be prohibited for
privacy. OK, I contradicted myself.
The ‘singularity is near’, if you know
what I mean.”
‘The Singularity Is Near: When Humans Transcend Biology’ was a book
written by Raymond Kurzweil in 2005
and predicts a coming technological
singularity which involves the ability
to augment human bodies and minds
with technology.
This concept may not be too far
off as Karl Farrugia, 26, refers to his
phone as an almost bionic extension
of his body.
“It’s a pocket TV, library, GPS, games
console, ticket dispenser, music player, camera, watch, alarm clock and
used to access the web. Sometimes
it’s used for calls and it will soon be
used as a wallet as well. I don’t know
how my opinion can be anything but
positive,” Farrugia says.
People tend to socialise using their
phones even in physical social settings
However, he says that while communication has facilitated socialising, he has noticed a negative effect.
“I see too many people in groups, all
staring at their Smartphones instead
of having a conversation.”
Asked if he could fathom the idea
of surviving without his phone for 24
hours, Farrugia thinks he could survive, but with difficulty.
“I have reached a stage where I
buy a SIM card from a local service
provider whenever I’m on holiday so
I can have internet access on a 24hour basis. So, I wouldn’t go without
its full functionality for more than a
day. I do refer to it as an extension of
my body for a reason,” he says.
Working with computers on a daily
basis, IT Specialist Emmanuel Micallef Farrugia, 29, says that while
Smartphones are an advancement
for portable technology, they are restricting actual physical activity.
“I’m referring to physical social
interaction rather than in a virtual
environment. It allows the user to
be less active by making everything
easier to access. For example, in
Canada you can download an app to
your phone to order food from a restaurant without even having to call
the restaurant to place your order,”
Micallef Farrugia says.
He says Smartphones allow indi-
Smartphones are constantly evolving
to suit everyone’s needs and tastes
viduals to connect with each other
more easily, especially those living
on separate continents. “But with
this convenience also comes isolation instead of interacting with others in a real physical environment.”
Although he is aware of the social
consequences, he admits to checking
and using his phone at least every 30
minutes to an hour a day. “If I were
to say that I check my Smartphone at
least twice a day, I would be lying as I
use it for everything, you name it.”
So, could he survive without a
Smartphone?
“Yes! But, everyone in the world
would have to do the same otherwise I wouldn’t be as easily connected. I personally think it would
be a good thing. It would give people
the chance to live and actually make
an effort to react to one another in
a physical environment instead of a
virtual one,” Micallef Farrugia says.
He believes everyone should respect others by putting their phone
on silent mode when in public spaces.
“As for restaurants, I think they
should be switched off. Too many
people just seem to go out to eat and
play with their phones rather than
interact with one another,” he says.
Seeing Smartphones as a way to
prove one’s worth for social acceptability in the eyes of the masses, 30year-old musician Darren G Vella aka
Gforce believes this “portable PC” has
brought about a new reality where people are no longer interested in showing
their true colours.
“Nowadays you date people, flirt
with people and nearly conduct cybersex online rather than meet up with
the actual person. In fact, two counterparts might get fed up of each other
much sooner before the actual physical meeting,” Vella says.
He admits to falling victim to the
5
News
gether
on
Facebook connection on his phone by
checking notifications received via email but says he mainly uses it for communicating with friends, work purposes and sending urgent e-mails, as
well as posting photos online.
“I spent half a day without my
phone today… and survived! I think
it’s all a matter of perception. People
often say they can’t survive without
it, just because society has become
a herd of masticating sheep rather
than self-thinkers. They have all
become part of a big manipulative
money-making machine and statusbased society,” Vella says.
From a more positive aspect, 29year-old Niki Young (who claims to
be a ‘Ninja’) says Smartphones are
ingenious and remembers when people had to buy a multitude of gadgets
to perform the same functions.
When it comes to socialising,
Young believes his social life has
been positively affected but still
prefers face-to-face communication. “It’s not something I can’t live
without, but at the same it is handy
because I can do so much with it.”
Becca Rice, a 23-year-old mother,
doesn’t really care for them and only
uses it for calling and texting.
“At the very most I use the camera and agenda. But I don’t use my
phone while out shopping or spending the day with someone, many
times I even forget it at home, unless
my daughter is not with me, then I’m
always sure to have it,” Rice says.
She “hates it” when trying to spend
time with someone and they have
their phone in their hands the entire
time. “They’re there with you but
they aren’t mentally or emotionally
present. People like that make me
want to just grab their phone, toss it
as far as possible, and see if they’re
actually still able to connect with
people on a personal face-to-face
basis.”
On a similar level, Franco Attard
Trevisan, 35, thinks they’re a cool
gadget but is not particularly keen
on them and thinks socialising has
been reduced to a couple of typed
phrases on a phone.
“I do check my phone many a time
because it has literally become an extension of my office. Even though it’s
a Smartphone, I still think its main
function should be a phone. With
my job I spend a lot of time out of my
office so I also use it a lot to keep track
of my e-mails,” the Freelance Quantity
Surveyor says.
Attard Trevisan feels he can definitely survive without them and says he did
well before they made an appearance.
“I actually think that the whole mobile network should be turned off for
at least a short period of time every day
to let people breathe. If I had to choose
one place where to restrict phones, it
would be schools. In my opinion, kids
are starting to use Smartphones too
early.”
Joe Depasquale, 37, says socialising
has been made easier but could survive
without a phone.
“I could survive without it since I
have already lived a number of years
without one. And, I think they should
be prohibited when you are having a
conversation with a loved one,” Depasquale says.
Twenty-seven-year-old
salesman
Robert Piscopo says that Smartphones
are like portable computers without
the bulk of a laptop and has positively
affected socialising.
“Facebook and Twitter are the evolution of networking. With a Smartphone
you can always be up to date with what
is going on. I check my phone very often unless I’m bored and away from a
computer. Apart from social networking, I use it for GPS, e-mails and making phone calls. I could survive but I
would be lost without it,” he says.
From 75c to €1.44:
taxes make up almost
half of fuel prices
Malta’s fuel prices are the highest
of all with 75c per litre for unleaded
and 79c per litre for diesel,
excluding taxes
MIRIAM DALLI
FIGURES seen by MaltaToday as
published by the European Commission’s Energy Oil Bulletin on
2 July reveal that not only domestic fuel prices were the least to go
down among the 27 EU Member
States, but that taxes make up almost half of the fuel prices.
A third point which emerges from
the data is that Malta’s fuel prices
are the highest of all with 75c per
litre for unleaded and 79c per litre
for diesel, excluding taxes.
Taxes included, the maximum
retail price per litre for unleaded
and diesel almost doubles reaching
€1.44 and €1.38 respectively, marking a tax difference of 69c for unleaded and 59c for diesel.
According to the same oil bulletin, the EU average for unleaded
stands at 67c while that for diesel
is at 70c. In other words, Malta’s
unleaded price is 12% higher than
the EU average while that of diesel is 13% higher, always excluding
taxes.
Enemalta is the only importer of
petrol and diesel for sale at petrol
stations. Fuel prices – adjusted
every month – for the month of July decreased to €1.44 for unleaded
and €1.38 for diesel.
But while consumers welcomed
the decrease after the hefty price
increase in April, the decrease
was still the lowest among the 27
countries. Because while domestic
prices registered a €0.07 decrease
for unleaded and €0.01 for diesel
when compared to April, EU prices
dropped an average of €0.10 and
€0.09 respectively.
In its statement announcing the
July prices, Enemalta said the retail
price reflected the prices fetched by
the energy provider for the latest
shipments of imported fuel. While
the latest unleaded consignment
was based on June Platts prices,
there were no diesel consignments
during the month of June and the
decrease reflected recorded movements in stock levels.
Enemalta also boasted of petrol
and diesel prices – tax included
– in Malta ranking 14th and 16th told MaltaToday.
Farrugia
argued
cheapest respectively out of the
that a board, made
other 27 European countries.
However, Labour leader Joseph up of MCESD memMuscat has accused the energy pro- bers and other social
vider of not being honest, insisting partners, should be
that it has misled its consumers on set up to make sure
government
the true standing of the domestic that
prices when compared to the EU was faithfully adhering to the formula.
countries.
“The issue at stake
“I expect MRA to investigate
Enemalta’s action and I expect it here is why was the
lower
to shoulder the responsibility for reduction
failing to intervene before. MRA’s than expected?” he
ineffectiveness of protecting con- added.
sumers only makes it a lapdog,”
Muscat insisted.
Economist Karm Farrugia: the price formula “is not being
In comments to MaltaToday,
strictly adhered to”
Malta Resources Authority Chairman Anthony Rizzo said
that this was not the
first time that Muscat
Fuel prices as at 2 July
accused MRA of failing
to carry out its job as a
Source: Energy Oil Bulletin – European Commission
regulator.
“One must keep in
mind that similar accuUnleaded
Diesel
sations were levelled by
Maximum retail price (Malta)
€1.44
€1.38
the Opposition against
MRA in the past, howAverage maximum retail price (EU)
€1.56
€1.41
ever when given the
€0.75
Price excl. taxes (Malta)
€0.79
opportunity to be presented with the facts,
€0.67
Average price excl. taxes (EU)
€0.70
the opposition failed to
accept the invitation,
hence missing the opportunity to confront
the Authority on its
findings,” Rizzo said.
Asked whether MRA would be
investigating Enemalta, Rizzo said
that this was a normal procedure it
carried out: “On a monthly basis
the Authority recieves data from
Enenalta about the fuel prices. It is
normal that the Authority requests
clarifications or explanations of
their workings. This is an ongoing
process.”
But while Rizzo has justified Enemalta’s fuel prices by referring
us to the corporation’s statement,
economist Karm Farrugia has suggested that the price formula “is
not being strictly adhered to”.
“Government is not being 100%
in the open with its formula and I
believe that this formula should be
subject to public scrutiny,” Farrugia
6
News
Government Judge rebukes refu
considers
gas storage chairman over ‘cut
terminal
MATTHEW VELLA
Malta still without energy policy as
government awaits studies on gas
terminal
JAMES DEBONO
RESOURCES Minister George Pullicino has revealed in parliament that the
government is seeking to incorporate
an LNG terminal with the planned gas
pipeline linking Malta and Sicily.
An LNG terminal is a facility in which
gas can be stored in a liquefied state to
be used by domestic consumers or subsequently exported to other countries
through a gas pipeline.
Pullicino referred to “relatively recent developments” in the gas sector
to justify a delay in the publication of
a “strategic environmental assessment”
on Malta’s national energy policy after
being reminded by Labour MP Leo
Brincat that this document had to be
finalised in June.
The minister’s declaration comes in
the wake of reports published in MaltaToday that Qatargas was seeking a
strategic partnership with Enemalta, by
investing in setting up a Mediterranean
distribution hub for natural gas.
According to the minister, the document, which assesses the environmental impact of Malta’s energy choices,
was delayed to assess the implications
of the proposed LNG terminal. The
assessment is now “heading towards a
conclusion,” the minister added.
MaltaToday is informed that a large
scale LNG terminal would have a considerable impact on land use especially
if this is used to export large quantities
of gas from Malta.
In fact, during the past months, areas in the Delimara coast were being
earmarked to host the docking and
bunkering facilities for the storage and
distribution of natural gas.
MALTA’S refugee appeals board came
in for a stern rebuke by the court of
Magistrate Raymond Pace, for its “cut
and paste” decisions when informing
appellants that their asylum claims
have been turned down.
The refugee appeals board, chaired
by lawyer and one-time PN political
candidate Ian Spiteri Bailey, was ordered to revoke a decision that refused
the appeal of an Eritrean asylum seeker
in 2009 and hear his case again.
The appeals board’s common practice of producing short, standard and
identical decisions for all appellants
also came in for some serious criticism
by Magistrate Pace.
Pace said the refugee appeals board
had denied Teshome Berhanu Asbu a
fair hearing, when it failed to provide
him and his lawyers with the full documentation of his asylum claim by the
Refugee Commission.
Change in policy
A study commissioned by the Malta
Resources Authority mentioned in the
draft energy policy issued in 2009 had
already established that an LNG terminal with a 60,000-cubic-metre storage
facility would be the “most feasible option” for Malta.
But at that time, the project was envisaged as an alternative to a gas pipeline and gas was to be transported by
sea vessels rather than complimenting
the gas pipeline as the government is
now proposing.
Natural gas can be transferred by
pipeline at high pressures in a gaseous
state or by ship in a liquefied state. But
it can also be liquefied (LNG) at around
-170ºC and transported in specially
insulated ships. Before it is pumped
through a pipeline system to customers, a re-gasification plant would be
needed in Malta.
Effectively, Malta is still without a finalised energy policy more than three
years after the first draft was issued.
The policy launched as a draft in April
2009 had to be reviewed in a strategic environmental impact assessment
(SEA). Originally, the government was
committed to finalise its energy policy
by the end of 2010 but this deadline
was never met.
The refugee appeals board was
ordered to revoke a decision that
refused the appeal of an Eritrean
asylum seeker in 2009 and hear his
case again
Pace noted that the decisions of the
appeals boards, which are reproduced
in a terse, standard reply for all appellants, came without any explanatory
motivation when it was clear that all
decisions the appeals board takes were
based on the evaluation of the documentation and evidence submitted by
the appellant.
In his claim, the Eritrean asylum
seeker said he had provided the appeals board with a set of documents
that proved his Eritrean nationality, to
appeal the Refugee Commission’s decision to turn down his claim for asylum.
In July 2009, the appeals board turned
down the appeal on the basis that he
had not provided convincing evidence
that he faced a well-founded fear of
persecution.
Asbu submitted that the appeals
board’s decisions lacked a motivation
for its decision, or reasons why the evidence proving his nationality – which
was one of the reasons his asylum
claim was initially turned down – was
not substantial for the appeal decision.
In his judgement, Pace said it was
clear that Asbu could not have access
to the evaluation report drawn up by
the Commissioner for Refugees on his
asylum claim, which was otherwise
only available to the appeals board’s
chairman.
“The board and its chairman knew
Developers to be given m
to settle planning-relate
JAMES DEBONO
THROUGH the introduction of a
new permitting system, applicants
will be in a position to settle any
planning dues only a few weeks
before they intend to start works.
Formerly, developers had to pay
fees like charges for the Urban
Improvement Fund and the Community Parking Scheme and bank
guarantees within six months or
else face the prospect of having
their permit revoked.
Minister Mario de Marco describes this measure as one which
“accommodates the clients as it
does not impose the immediate
payment of dues”. He described
this measure as beneficial to owners who do not intend to commence works immediately.
Through the new system of ‘nonexecutable permits’, although
works cannot start until all due
planning fees and bank guarantees are paid, the permit will still
have legal validity for the purpose
of securing bank loans.
But developers who had built
illegally before the permit was issued and were fined for doing so
will still have to pay pending fines
before being issued with a nonexecutable permit.
A Malta Environment and Planning Authority permit is usually
valid for five years and works can
start at any point within that timeframe. Now developers will have
the chance of paying their fees in
the period between being issued
with a permit and actually commencing works. Yet they will still
not be able to commence works
before all dues are paid.
So far, MEPA has issued 170
notifications for non-executable
permits.
The new legal framework also
benefits objectors to developments as they can now immediately exercise their rights in front
of the Environment and Planning
Review Tribunal on all approved
planning application decisions.
A statutory objector, until recently, was not in a position to
lodge an appeal against a decision until the decision notice was
issued. This led to a delay of six
months between MEPA’s decision
and the chance to appeal.
Most cases relate to planning
applications, which get approved
subject to the payment of a planning gain contribution or a bank
guarantee. A decision notice was
only published once the authority
received full payment of the planning gain or a bank guarantee.
To address this issue, the authority has started to allow the applicant 30 days to comply with the
decision requirements, following
which Non-Executable Permission is issued, and the decision
will be published in the press.
This new procedure will also ensure that the five-year validity of
the permission commences immediately once the decision has
been taken and gets published.
[email protected]
Minister Mario de Marco (inset) describes this
measure as one which “accommodates the clients
as it does not impose the immediate payment of
dues”. He described it as beneficial to owners who
do not intend to commence works immediately
7
News
ugee appeals board
t and paste’ decisions
that this document was not available to the appellant and his lawyer,” Magistrate Pace said. “There
is no doubt that this practice is
completely illegal and committed
in breach of what constitutes a fair
hearing.”
Pace also said that the standard
reply given by the appeals board,
which is usually provided to all appellants whose claims are turned
down, were bereft of any motivation that could explain why the
appeals board was handing down
its judgement.
“That this does not happen… is
a manifest negation of justice, and
it’s a serious and grave matter in
every case, but especially in a
case where the humanitarian
aspect and the human being’s
“...the board
and its
chairman
knew that
this document
was not
available to
the appellant
and his
lawyer”
more time
ed dues
dignity deserves the highest of recognition, especially in a country
like Malta where the rule of law
prevails.
“This is the minimum one
should expect… a decision that is
motivated and studied, a clear-cut
motivation that shows whether an
appeal is being accepted or not,
and this requires a judicious treatment of the claim, not a simple
‘cut and paste’ attitude.”
Ian Spiteri Bailey
Aġenzija għal Ħarsien ta' Persuni li jkunu qed ifittxu l-Asil
Agency for the Welfare of Asylum Seekers
The Agency for the Welfare of Asylum Seekers (AWAS) within the Ministry for Home Affairs, is
benefitting from the General Programme Solidarity and Management of Migration Flows 2007-2013,
specifically the European Refugee Fund (ERF). In all, three projects (ERF-2010-09, ERF-2011-12,
ERF-2011-16) are benefitting from this financial instrument and these all aim at enhancing the level
of security at open accommodation centres managed by AWAS. The EU financial allocation attributed
to these three projects amounts to a total of 559,828.94 EUR.
These three projects are funded through two different Annual Programmes: the European Refugee
Fund 2010 Annual Programme and the European Refugee Fund 2011 Annual Programme. Through
the latter one project is being co-financed through the Emergency Measures mechanism.
These projects are targeted to upgrade the reception facilities in open accommodation centres across
Malta by introducing security personnel in order to guarantee a safe environment for service-users,
staff, and accredited visitors.
The management of open centres is the main operation of the Agency and other organizations which
run centres assisted by Government. Such centres accommodate refugees, beneficiaries of protection,
and asylum seekers. Almost every person granted status in Malta has, at one time or another,
benefited from their services, which are a crucial part of Malta’s strategy to manage the migratory
flows experienced over the past decade.
Popular perception is that “open” centres are open to all and sundry. However, this is a very mistaken
understanding. An open centre is a residential set-up “open” only to registered service-users, staff,
and accredited visitors. To all effects and purposes, the centre is their home or workplace, and no
home or workplace is open to anyone who pleases at any time of day. To all others it is not an open
centre. From here derives the need for a gate policy run by trained persons, granting access to those
who have a legitimate reason to access the property.
Security staff also play a role in prevention or escalation of minor issues, which from time to time
could happen, as well as preventing other health and safety issues, and performing reception-related
duties,
The assistance provided under the European Refugee Fund has enabled AWAS to outsource the
services to a private security company for this purpose from the middle of last year until June, 2013.
The ERF supports EU States’ efforts in receiving refugees and displaced persons and in guaranteeing
access to consistent, fair and effective asylum procedures. The Fund also supports resettlement
programmes and actions related to the integration of persons whose stay is of a lasting and stable
nature. Moreover, it provides for emergency measures to address sudden arrivals of large numbers of
persons who may be in need of international protection, which place significant and urgent demands
on EU States' reception facilities or asylum systems.
General Programme Solidarity &
Management of Migration Flows (2007 –
2013)
European Refugee Fund (ERF)
Project part-financed by the European Union
Co-financing rate: 75% EU Funds; 25%
Beneficiary Funds
8
News
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 15
JULY 2012
Drug campaigners unimpressed
by Justice Minister’s ‘ARS’
fication – higher profits, same risk)
seem to have favoured a greater supply of harder drugs. What is even
more worrying is that this lack of
classification meant that someone
growing cannabis for personal use
gets a much harsher sentence than a
heroin dealer…”
Legalise It Malta focuses only on
the legal regulation of cannabis, but
Caruana – like George Grech before him - points towards the Global
Drug Commission report that states
that personal use of all drugs should
be decriminalised, in order to shift
resources towards helping those who
need help rather than criminalising
them.
“Softer drugs like cannabis should
be legally regulated. As a lobby group
we support the legalisation of possession and cultivation of cannabis
for personal use, the legal regulation
and taxation of sales from a number
of licensed outlets. Again, this is in
line with the suggestions of the Global Drug Commission Report…”
RAPHAEL VASSALLO
LIKE the rest of Europe, Malta
seems to slowly be coming round to
acknowledging that the global ‘war
on drugs’ has failed. And in keeping
with international trends, this realisation began with government’s
own senior drug policy advisors.
In December 2010, Dr George
Grech – clinical director of government’s anti-drug and alcohol abuse
agency Sedqa – called for the ‘urgent’
decriminalisation of drug use in Malta. Pointing towards the experience
of fellow EU Member State Portugal – widely regarded as a success
story insofar as global drug policy is
concerned (see box below) – Grech
painted a bleak picture of Malta’s
escalating drug problem. Cocaine
use, he said, was increasing across
the board at an alarming rate; while
reported cases of HIV among drug
users had likewise sky-rocketed.
Eighteen months later, Justice Minister Chris Said appeared to echo
Grech’s concerns while launching
a new scheme for first-time offenders caught with small quantities of
drugs. Known by the rather unfortunate abbreviation ‘ARS’ (Arrest
Referral Scheme), the new proposal
would enable persons arrested for
possession of small quantities of
drugs to avoid trial – and with it the
possibility of a criminal record – by
submitting to the recommendations
of a ‘panel of experts’ instead.
“We want to make it clear the government wants to step up its efforts
to fight drug trafficking, but find a
system to help drug victims,” Said
declared – a significant claim, which
marked a clear distinction between
‘trafficking’ and ‘possession’ where
previous administrations (most notably under Eddie Fenech Adami)
had traditionally confused the two
separate offences, with highly contentious results.
Under scrutiny, however, ARS
turns out to be somewhat less than
entirely original approach to the
problem. Dr Marilyn Clark, chairperson of the National Commission
against the Abuse of Drug, Alcohol,
and Other Dependencies, explained
at the press conference that ARS
would provide ‘specialised officers’
to deal with first-time offenders,
who will in turn be able to choose
between entering the scheme or facing court charges.
Offenders would retain a clean
criminal record, but would have
to abide by the conditions handed
down to them by an extra judicial body:
which significantly
includes
names of police
officers
who
have
been at the
forefront of
Global consensus
David Caruana during one of the
protests held in Valletta by the
Legalise it Malta group
Malta’s failed drug policy for the past
20 years.
Furthermore, the idea of a specialised court, geared specifically
to hear drug cases, is nothing new
to Malta. Former Justice Minister
Carm Mifsud Bonnici had in fact
already launched a ‘drugs court’ just
last year… and it remains to be seen
exactly how ‘ARS’ will come to function within the confused network
of legal structures and facilities that
are already in place to tackle Malta’s
burgeoning drug problem, arguably
treading on each other’s corns in the
process.
Reinventing the wheel
However, the new system has
to date elicited sharpest criticism
for another reason: the fact that it
simply side-steps the entire argu-
ment of decriminalisation, and instead repackages Malta’s drug policy
without essentially changing any of
the same policy’s widely acknowledged failures.
From a legal point of view, ARS has
been criticised for duplicating existing
alternatives to criminal procedures.
Government MP Franco Debono took
time out of his busy political rebellion
schedule to discredit the idea in toto:
describing ARS as a case of “uselessly
trying to re-invent the wheel.”
“Conditional discharges given to the
accused is a clear case in point, where
any first time offender would not
have his arrest on his police record,”
Debono said, adding that it was
pointless in setting up a new court,
with more experts when there is
an efficient system already in place
with care workers operational on a
24 hour basis.
Similarly Alternattiva Demokratika
– the only local political party to advocate decriminalszation as part of
its political platform – dismissed the
initiative out of hand. “We are sceptical about the proposed arrest referral
system since we believe it is just an
electoral gimmick and will not bring
about any effective changes in the
way the legal system deals with the
drug problem and with drug users,”
Angele Deguara, AD spokesperson
on social policy and civil rights, said.
And according to ‘Legalise it Malta’
– a pressure group whose aims are
more or less clear at a glance – Chris
Said’s proposal fails to address any of
the real problems, as (among other
shortcomings) it is geared towards
first-time users only.
David Caruana, the group’s main
spokesperson, talks of ARS as a case
of giving society “one chance only”
“You bust that chance, and you can
forget about ‘government policy to
fight traffickers but help victims’,””
he said. “The helping hand of the
state can only extend once – that’s
all this reform says…”
What campaigners want
And yet in Malta and elsewhere,
there is a growing cognizance of the
need to move beyond the sort of individual, piecemeal approach taken
by governments when confronted
with calls for reforms. Caruana argues that the first step has to be a
long-overdue classification system.
“First of all, drugs need to be classified. All drugs are different and they
need to be assessed by the harms
they represent to the individual and
to society,” he said. “Without proper
classification, for a kilo of heroin
a trafficker would probably do the
same time as one caught with a kilo
of cannabis. So the message is: deal
in hard drugs like heroin and cocaine, because that’s where the money is. No wonder Malta is probably
the only European country where
hard drugs like heroin and cocaine
are cheaper or almost the same price
as cannabis…”
Caruana argues that cannabis has
been “scientifically proven to be a
safer choice than alcohol and tobacco”.
“But the government’s current failing policies (remember, no classi-
Portugal: a success
story
In 2001 Portugal became the
first European country to officially abolish all criminal penalties for personal possession
of drugs, including marijuana,
cocaine, heroin and methamphetamine.
Following decriminalisation,
Portugal had the lowest rate of
lifetime marijuana use in people
over 15 in the EU: 10%.
Between 2001 and 2006, rates
of lifetime use of any illegal
drug in the 12 to16 age bracket
fell from 14.1% to 10.6%; drug
The Global Commission on Drug
Policy includes past presidents of
Mexico, Brazil and Colombia, the
former prime minister of Greece
and former UN Secretary-General
Kofi Annan. Its basic conclusion
reiterates that world governments’
approach to reducing drug use has
been an abject failure. The report
cites statistics from the United Nations indicating that worldwide marijuana use rose more than 8% and cocaine use grew by 27% between 1998
and 2008. An estimated 250 million
people worldwide use illegal drugs,
the report states, adding: “We simply
cannot treat them all as criminals.”
For this reason, activists across the
world argue that attempts by governments to retain the status quo
are motivated by political exigencies
much more than by scientific advice,
or even practical considerations.
“People just need to look at the evidence,” Caruana asserts on behalf of
Legalise It Malta. “In countries with
harsh prohibitionist laws, the drug
problem is greater. In Russia, drug
addicts are resorting to a deadly drug
called ‘krokodil’ which literally eats
away the flesh: while in more liberal countries like The Netherlands
one finds the lowest use of cannabis
in the local population compared
to other European countries – and
they can ‘legally’ buy it from licensed
shops.
“These last 40 years of a failed war
on drugs are enough proof that drug
policies need a drastic rethink. The
war on drugs ended up being mostly
a war on users – both casual users
who pose no risk neither to themselves nor to others and those who
are victims of hard drugs like heroin
who really need help until they are
cured and not only once.”
use in older teens also declined.
Lifetime heroin use among 16to-18-year-olds fell from 2.5% to
1.8% (although there was a slight
increase in marijuana use in that
age group). New HIV infections
in drug users fell by 17% between
1999 and 2003, and deaths related to heroin and similar drugs
were cut by more than half. In
addition, the number of people
on methadone and buprenorphine treatment for drug addiction rose to 14,877 from 6,040,
after decriminalization, and
money saved on enforcement
allowed for increased funding
of drug-free treatment as well.
(Source: Time magazine.)
9
News
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 15 JULY
2012
No studies were conducted by
government on smart meters
before installation
BIANCA CARUANA
A parliamentary question raised by
Labour MP Leo Brincat intended
to satisfy his curiosity and concerns
regarding possible radiation emissions from smart meters, has been
dismissed as unfounded according to
the government.
Government authorities said the
meters were approved based on the
devices’ documentation, but studies
were not conducted by the authorities prior to installation.
“The MCA
concluded
that they
fall under
the short
range device
category
which can
be compared
with remote
controls
used to open
garage doors”
In his reply to the PQ, Health Minister Joe Cassar said studies were not
conducted by the Malta Environment
and Planning Authority (MEPA) but
the Environment Health Directorate
said the Malta Communications Authority (MCA) evaluated documentation received from Enemalta before
the smart meters were purchased.
“The MCA concluded that they
fall under the short range device category which can be compared with
remote controls used to open garage
doors,” Cassar said.
The smart meters were installed
based on the documentation which
was approved by the MCA.
“The meters comply with the law
under the jurisdiction of the same
Authority since the exposure limits
ranging from these smart meters are
very low,” Cassar said.
MaltaToday asked Enemalta for information regarding the peak power
radiation signals from these smart
meters as suggested by Cassar in his
reply to the same PQ.
“Given that this information, if disclosed, may be used to interfere with
the meter communications, these
cannot be provided, however they
are very low power devices and the
communication system is designed
such that adjacent meters within the
network are used to act as signal repeaters,” Enemalta said.
Enemalta said that it had a licence
from the MCA to operate a private
communication network. “This is
namely the power lines acting as
the physical network for the power
line communication between the
smart meter and the LV concentrator in the substation.”
Enemalta added that a copy of the
authorisation notice to operate an
Electronic communication Network can be viewed on the MCA
website.
Asked why he was prompted to
ask the PQ, Labour MP Leo Brincat
told MaltaToday that he was aware
that this had been an issue in other
jurisdictions and countries.
“I merely wanted to establish
whether it was a problem that had
been addressed locally too. Some
technical people alerted me that
the issue might have been dealt
The smart meters were installed based
on the documentation which was
approved by the MCA
Leo Brincat
with rather lightly in Malta,” Brincat said.
However, Brincat stressed that
the questions was not triggered by
any form of alarmism but was simply part of his fact-finding to satisfy
his curiosity on the matter.
“This is an issue beyond the political realm. I sincerely hope that all
aspects to the problem are looked
into with the seriousness that they
deserve,” he said.
The Ministry of Finance, Economy and Investment said that the
meters are MID-certified and the
Joe Cassar
power line communication (PLC)
used conforms to the European PLC
regulation entitled ‘signalling on low
voltage electrical installations in the
frequency range 3kHz to 148.5kHz’.
“The smart meters transmit within
this frequency band which is in the
radio frequency band. The meters are
also CE certified, which covers also
electromagnetic compliance, which
means emissions of electromagnetic
fields,” the ministry said.
Asked whether Brincat’s concerns
were valid and should be investigated, the ministry said it depended on
what claims the concerns were based
upon.
“If the concern is based on claims
that the meters are transmitting at
microwave frequencies, these are
untrue, because the microwave frequency band is 0.3 to 300GHz and
it transmits at radio frequency with
very low power.
“Furthermore there is no scientific evidence that low level power
frequency or radio frequency fields,
both of which are non-ionising radiation, have any adverse health impacts,” the ministry said.
AD calls for change in detention policy
ALTERNATTIVA Demokratika reiterated its call for a revamp of Malta’s
immigration policy, and expressed its
support of similar calls by the United
Nations Human Rights Commission,
NGOs, and others.
AD Chairperson Michael Briguglio
said: “The tragic incidents of these
past days should serve as a clear
warning that Malta needs to revamp
its immigration policy.”
He said the Nationalist government
should match its rhetoric with clear
action and change of policy, and the
Labour Opposition should abandon
its cheap populist far-right rhetoric
based on scaremongering, disregard
of international agreement and fantasies which will never be achieved.
“In a normal European society, such
talk would be unacceptable from a
social democratic party,” Briguglio
said.
The Green Party chairperson said
detention “is only causing stress,
hardship and oppression”. He
stressed that Malta should move towards a maximum six-month detention period and adopt clear policies
for integration.
“Malta should also combat the exploitative work conditions of migrant
workers, and ensure that such employment is fully regularised. Such
policies help bring about cohesion
and social justice, unlike the current
situation which is causing massive
problems.”
AD spokesperson for migration
and citizenship, Robert Callus said:
“Government hasn’t been honest
with the Maltese people and for the
past 10 years has treated migration
as if it was a temporary phenomenon when it knew pretty well it
wasn’t.”
He said the policy was only concerned with limiting the numbers,
or at least appearing to be doing
so to the general
public while everything else was
neglected.
Callus noted
that these policies or lack of
them, “unwittingly
have
fuelled racism”.
“The tragic incidents of these
past days should serve as a clear
warning that Malta needs to
revamp its immigration policy” –
Michael Briguglio
10
News
mt
survey
PN attains best res
but still fails to den
Muscat close to 50% mark of Trust Barometer
JAMES DEBONO
THOUGH the Nationalist Party has
scored its best result in three years, the
PL has also seen an increase in support
among its 2008 voters. In fact, the percentage of former Labour voters who
would vote again for their party rose
from 87% to 90%. This suggests that
both parties have entrenched their
support in the past weeks. Overall
support for the Greens remains at the
same levels of the 2008 general election.
While there has been little change
in voting intentions, the survey shows
Muscat widening his trust lead over
Gonzi from 9 points last month to 12
points now. Muscat also achieves a
record trust rating of 44%, the highest
in the past two years.
Both leaders remain more popular
than their own parties. While Gonzi
is 5 points more popular than the PN,
Muscat is 6 points more popular than
the PL. On his part Gonzi has seen his
trust rating increase by one point while
Muscat has increased his trust rating
by 4 points since last month. On the
other hand the percentage of voters
who trust neither of the two leaders
has declined by 4 points. This could
be another indication of a more polarised climate where past supporters are
returning to the fold. Labour leader
Joseph Muscat starts as the clear favourite to become the next Prime
Minister thanks to a shift of around a
tenth of Nationalist voters in 2008 to
Labour.
day 9 July and Thursday 12 July.
776 respondents were contacted by
telephone after being chosen from telephone directories.
500 accepted to be interviewed. The
results of the survey were weighed to
reflect the age and gender balance of
the population according to the 2010
demographic review issued by the National Office of Statistics. The survey
has a margin of error of +/-4.38%
Methodology
The survey was held between Mon-
Electoral Barometer
Sep 11
20.3
29
1.2
10.8
38.7
PN
PL
AD
Not voting
No answer
Nov 11
23.4
30.8
1.5
7
37.3
Jan 12
25.5
34.5
1.3
8.5
30.2
Voting intentions of those who voted PN in
2008 general election:
Feb 12
21.8
34.7
1.4
6.9
35.2
March 12
24.3
38.6
2.3
5.9
28.9
April 12
23.3
34.8
1.5
6.2
34.2
May 12
24.8
34.1
1.5
6.4
33.2
June 12
25.8
38
1.4
10.2
24.6
MALTATODAY SURVEY
Whom do you trust most?
June
July
Diff
PN
61.8
70.6
+8.8
PL
9.9
11.3
+1.4
Lawrence Gonzi
AD
1
1.2
+0.2
▲ +0.9
Not Voting
13.6
6.2
-7.4
Don’t Know
13.8
10.8
-3
32.1%
44.3%
Joseph Muscat
Voting intentions of those who voted PL in
2008 general election:
June
July
Diff
PN
2.8
1.9
-0.9
PL
87.6
90
+2.4
AD
1.1
0.6
-0.5
Not Voting
2.3
2.5
+0.2
Don’t Know
6.2
5.1
-1.1
July 12
27
38.7
1.4
7.8
24.9
▲ +4.3
NOT
VOTING
12.1%
▼ -3.7
NO
ANSWER
11.4%
▼ -1.6
Trust Barometer
June 11 Sep 11 Nov 11
Jan 12 Feb 12
March 12
April 12
May 12 June 12 July 2012
Lawrence Gonzi
23.8
27.5
30.8
34.8
28.3
30
27.8
31.8
31.2
32.1
Joseph Muscat
41.8
34.5
37.6
38.9
40.6
44.1
40.2
39.5
40
44.3
None
16.8
11.5
14.6
13.8
13
10.1
13.2
15.7
15.8
21.1
Don’t know
17.6
26.5
17
12.5
18.1
15.8
18.8
13
13
11.4
11
mt survey
sult in three years
nt PL lead
MALTATODAY SURVEY
Should Franco Debono, Jesmond
Mugliett and Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando
be expelled from the Nationalist
Party?
amongst PN voters
YES
34.4
NO
32
‘NOT QUITE’ 3.3
30.3
DON’T KNOW
Pullicino Orlando and Jesmond Mugliett more
trusted by Labourites than Nationalists
JAMES DEBONO
Do you trust Nationalist
MP Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando?
REBEL backbencher Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando, who voted with
the Opposition to oust EU ambassador Richard Cachia Caruana,
has seen his trust rating increase
substantially among Labour voters
and decrease substantially among
Nationalist voters.
While 42% of Labour voters now
trust Pullicino Orlando (up from
22% in November), only 12% of
Nationalist voters now trust Pullicino Orlando (down from 31% in
November).
Pullicino Orlando has definitely
recovered the respect of Labour
voters. While back in November
50% of Labour voters distrusted
him, only 15% distrust him now.
This suggests that among this category of voters, Pullicino Orlando
has managed to exorcise the memories of the Mistra scandal and
his clashes with Labour leader Alfred Sant through his vote against
Cachia Caruana.
Overall, thanks to the surge in
support among Labour voters,
Pullicino Orlando has seen the
number of respondents who trust
him increase by 2 points.
Pullicino Orlando fares better
than Franco Debono whose overall
trust rating fell by 16 points since
November in a survey conducted a
month ago in the aftermath of his
vote against former Home Affairs
Minister Carmelo Mifsud Bonnici.
Even among Nationalist voters,
Do you trust Nationalist MP Jesmond
Mugliett?
Nov
23.4
42.4
17.5
16.8
July
26.8
27.5
18.7
27
Diff since Nov
+3.4
-14.9
+1.2
+10.2
Yes
No
Not quite
Don’t Know
Nov
22.4
33.8
15.6
28.1
July
24.3
25.2
16.9
33.6
Diff since Nov
+1.9
-8.6
+1.3
+5.5
Current PN Voters
Nov
Yes
30.8
No
43.3
Not quite
13.5
Don’t Know
12.5
July
11.5
50.8
20.5
17.2
Diff since Nov
-19.3
+7.5
+7
+4.7
Current PN Voters
Nov
Yes
42.3
No
20.1
Not quite
13.5
Don’t Know
24.1
July
12.3
41.8
24.6
21.3
Diff since Nov
-30
+21.7
+11.1
-2.8
July
42
14.8
17.2
26
Diff since Nov
+19.9
-35.2
-2.7
+18
July
37.9
17.8
13.6
30.8
Diff since Nov
+23.9
-35.9
-4.8
+16.9
Yes
No
Not quite
Don’t Know
Current PL voters
Yes
No
Not quite
Don’t Know
Current PL voters
Nov
22.1
50
19.9
8
Trust in Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando among PN
and PL voters in 2008 election
Yes
No
Not quite
Don’t Know
PN voters
19.9
42.2
20.5
17.4
PL voters
40.4
16.6
15.2
27.8
Yes
No
Not quite
Don’t Know
Nov
14
53.7
18.4
13.9
Trust in Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando among PN
and PL voters in 2008 election
Yes
No
Not quite
Don’t Know
PN voters
22.9
33.7
21.1
22.3
PL voters
33.1
20.5
11.9
34.5
12
mt survey
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 11
Only 12% of PN voters trust JPO and Mugliett
MALTATODAY SURVEY
MALTATODAY SURVEY
% change since last November
% change since last November
Do you trust Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando
Do you trust Jesmond Mugliett
amongst all voters
amongst all voters
26.8
YES
+3.4
+1.9
27.5
NO
-14.9
‘NOT QUITE’
25.2
NO
-8.6
18.7
‘NOT QUITE’
+1.2
16.9
+1.3
27
DON’T KNOW
+10.2
Pullicino Orlando fared better than
Debono. While 12% of current Nationalist voters trust Pullicino Orlando, only 4% of current Nationalist voters trusted Debono in last
month’s survey.
Both Pullicino Orlando and
Debono are distrusted by an absolute majority of current Nationalist
voters, 56% in the case of Debono
and 51% in the case of Pullicino
Orlando.
Jesmond Mugliett – the only one
of the three rebels who abstained
rather than vote with the opposition – has also seen a massive dip
in his trust rating among Nationalist voters. While in November
the former minister enjoyed the
trust of 42% of Nationalist voters,
he now enjoys the trust of just 12%
among this segment of the electorate – a dip of 30 points.
But Mugliett is less distrusted
24.3
YES
DON’T KNOW
33.6
+5.5
Should Franco Debono, Jesmond Mugliett and Jeffrey Pullicino
Orlando be expelled from the Nationalist Party?
Yes
No
One or two of them
Don’t Know
Current PN voters
34.4
32
3.3
30.3
among Nationalist voters. While
51% of Nationalist voters distrust
Pullicino Orlando, only 42% distrust Mugliett. A quarter of Nationalist voters replied “not quite”
when asked if they trust the former
minister while another fifth is still
PN voters in 2008
27.7
34.2
3.6
34.5
undecided.
But like Pullicino Orlando, Mugliett manages to make up for losses
among Nationalist voters by gaining more sympathy among Labour
voters. Among the latter Mugliett has seen his trust rating in-
crease by a staggering 24 points.
Both Mugliett and Pullicino Orlando enjoy a higher trust rating
among PN voters in 2008. Among
this category 20% still trust Pullicino Orlando and 24% still trust
Mugliett. This category includes
Nationalist voters who either intend voting Labour in the next
election or who are still undecided.
Moreover, while a relative majority
of current PN voters (34%) want the
three rebel backbenchers expelled
from the party, a relative majority
of former PN voters oppose the
expulsion of the three rebels. This
is an indication that current Nationalist voters have closed ranks
around the party’s leadership and
are less likely to tolerate dissent.
This also reflects the condemnation of the three MPs by the party’s
executive.
The survey was carried out before
last Thursday’s PN executive meeting which decided that the three
MPs could not stand for the next
general election.
Pullicino Orlando and Mugliett had already declared that they
would not be standing for election.
Check out
Saviour Balzan’s
video blog on:
www.maltatoday.com.mt
13
News
‘MPs who considered constituency as
their territory no longer form part of
PN’s list of candidates’
“The PN was the party that
fought for Malta’s accession
to the EU, the VAT tax
system, privatisation… that
strengthened the country
economically”
MIRIAM DALLI
THERE is now nothing to quell the
perception that the Nationalist Party is
finally in full electoral mode, after the
Prime Minister’s casual announcement
of 60 approved electoral candidates.
Having survived his hardest six
months in parliament – filibustering
on votes, attempting to placate Franco
Debono, weathering confidence votes
– Gonzi can now map out a roadmap
to the next elections over the summer
recess.
In doing so, he is priming 10 new
names on the electoral ticket: Gejtu
Vella, Manuel Delia, Claudio Grech,
Therese Comodini Cachia, Ian Spiteri,
Ryan Callus, Mark Anthony Sammut,
Mario Rizzo Naudi, Albert Fenech and
Antoine Borg.
Two of them are not so new. Gejtu
Vella and Delia may be newcomers to
the ballot, but not to the public. Vella
boasts of a career as secretary-general
of the Union Haddiema Maqghudin
(UHM), while Delia is one of the architects of the much criticised public
transport reform.
Following his retirement from the
trade union, Vella denied immediate
rumours that he would contest the
elections on a PN ticket. However, the
52-year-old trade unionist has always
insisted that he still had much to offer.
“During my career in trade-unionism
I came across workers and families
from all walks of life. This experience
can help me help others face the difficulties which I believe only the PN can
answer,” Vella told MaltaToday this
week.
Despite repeated denials from the
union, the UHM has long been perceived as favouring the PN. While
Vella’s candidature on the fifth district
has once again sparked this perception,
he argues otherwise.
“Perceptions are perceptions and
reality is reality. I no longer form part
of the UHM and I feel that I can give
my contribution in different sectors,
including in the political arena,” Vella
said.
He added that he had always worked
hard to defend the best interests of the
workers, pensioners and families. So
why choose the PN?
Vella argues that even though in
the past there might have been times
where the PN failed to take into consideration the aspirations of the peo-
Manuel Delia (left) with Austin Gatt
ple, it still took the best decisions in the
moments of truth.
“The PN was the party that fought for
Malta’s accession to the EU, the VAT
tax system, privatisation and other
measures that strengthened the country economically and expanded social
business I learnt from him,” Delia says
of Gatt.
During the last 12 years, Delia has
worked in justice, IT, transport, energy, water, film, public broadcasting,
foreign direct investment, urban regeneration and various other ministe-
Gejtu Vella
services.”
On the other hand, Manuel Delia,
who joined the PN’s ranks at a young
age, has spent 12 years at the flank of
Transport Minister Austin Gatt. Delia,
who will be running on the fifth district, also led the student protests of
1997 against the Labour government’s
stipend reform. “What I know in this
rial endeavours – always at the side of
Gatt, the brusque but accomplished
government minister who recently
weathered a revolutionary if stuttering
public transport reform, and a controversial decision to fire the Delimara
power station on heavy fuel oil.
“I have been in the kitchen and felt
the heat. I believe this has been a very
good education for a career in the public service. I could have hardly asked for
better,” he adds.
Asked whether his proximity to Gatt
will be an asset or a liability for him,
Delia insists it will only be up to his
constituents to decide.
Marsaxlokk is one of the localities
that fall under his district, with many
of its residents complaining about the
Delimara power station and the use of
heavy fuel oil to fire the plant. But according to Delia, this might not be an
issue for him: “The issue, such as it is,
was never brought up with me in any of
my visits to Marsaxlokk families.”
Delia is not the only ‘Gatt man’ to be
running on the PN ticket. Gatt’s former
head of secretariat and chairman of the
Malta IT agency, Claudio Grech, is
now entering the electoral race body
and soul. Grech was an integral part
of both the government and party machinery. In Gatt’s ministry he led the
negotiations with Dubai-owned Tecom for their acquisition of the Ricasoli
land for the SmartCity deal. He drifted
out of public service and was appointed
chief executive of SmartCity Malta, and
concurrently then politically appointed
to serve as chairman of MITA. Politically, he was never far from the PN, and
he assisted the anti-divorce campaign
in 2011 alongside such party strategists
like Lawrence Zammit. After resigning as MITA chairman, he was reappointed to Gatt’s side as his advisor on
IT policy.
PN backbencher Franco Debono,
who has now been banned from contesting the general elections, has described this development as Gatt’s attempt at “expanding his empire”.
Debono took umbrage at Gatt’s position against Debono contesting the
elections after the latter abstained in a
motion censoring the transport minister.
The rebel backbencher said that he
will “have a problem” in supporting
government with Gatt as a minister
and added that Gatt was using Delia’s
and Grech’s candidature to “expand
his empire” within the party.
Delia, author of the public transport
reform Debono vehemently criticised
to the extent of endangering Austin
Gatt’s ministerial permanence, replies
knowingly to Debono: “There are no
emperors in the PN. There are some
that may have been tempted to con-
“Gatt was
using Delia’s
and Grech’s
candidature
to “expand
his empire”
within the
party”
sider their constituency as their territory – or empire – in which no one else
would be allowed to serve, but since
Thursday they are no longer on the
PN’s list of candidates.”
‘I have said under oath that Cachia Caruana is
behind these vile attacks’ – Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando
FROM PAGE 1
“I did so notwithstanding repeated requests by high-ranking officials of the
party to re-contest. I had explained
to the prime minister that the main
reason I had taken this decision was
Richard Cachia Caruana’s overbearing influence on the Nationalist Party
and the government.”
On what he described as “an escalation of the state of affairs”, Pullicino
Orlando said that he was “expecting
the party to escalate things after certain declarations made by the Prime
Minister recently. I cannot understand
why I was not given the opportunity
to present my case with regards to
Mr Cachia Caruana’s expulsion first.
I am convinced that there are enough
grounds for Mr Cachia Caruana to be
expelled and I feel that that will justify
the way I voted in parliament.”
Asked about his consistent declaration that Cachia Caruana was behind
attacks on the blogs, he added: “I
know for a fact that Cachia Caruana
is behind the vile blog attacks by Mrs
Daphne Caruana Galizia on a number
of PN politicians who he perceives as
not being subservient to him. Guido
de Marco, John Dalli, Robert Arrigo,
Jesmond Mugliett, Jean Pierre Farrugia, Robert Musumeci and their
families have all been targeted in this
disgusting manner.
“The aim is obviously to either
intimidate those targeted into submission or to dent their credibility
with the general public. I know that
Cachia Caruana instigates these vile
attacks because Mrs Caruana Galizia told me so herself, and I have
declared this under oath in Court.”
Questioned by MaltaToday about
why he needed to resort to security
and whether this may have been an
over-reaction, Pullicino Orlando
said that he had been offered security “after a number of credible
threats aimed both at me and my
family. I obviously accepted. These
threats are related to my actions in
parliament. I am sorry to say that I
was justified in taking security personnel with me to last Thursday’s
meeting given the individuals who
were gathered in front of the PN
headquarters, many of whom have a
criminal record”.
In his criminal libel proceedings,
Cachia Caruana argued that “Joe
Mizzi’s allegations are unfounded, false
and tarnish my reputation and are thus
libellous”.
The police report was signed by lawyer Joe Zammit Maempel. One News
editor Kurt Farrugia was also sued for
criminal libel.
Richard Cachia Caruana is fighting
back
14
Interview
By Jurgen Balzan
The rise of the Phoenix
BARELY a few hours after the crucial meeting the PN’s executive
committee held on Thursday, the
party’s whip David Agius is confident that the party has emerged
stronger and conveys a quiet sense
of confidence ahead of the forthcoming election.
The Attard MP – who is entrusted
with keeping discipline within the
party’s Parliamentary ranks – has
first-hand experience on the internal ramblings that have kept the
country guessing about the government’s immediate political future.
After threatening the three rebel
MPs – Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando,
Franco Debono and Jesmond Mugliett – with expulsion, the executive
committee decided to ban the MPs
from contesting the next general
election on the party ticket.
Asked whether the presence of Eddie Fenech Adami during the executive’s meeting bore any influence
on the final decision, Agius quickly
retorts that it was not the first time
that Fenech Adami was present for
the executive’s meetings.
“It’s not common, but he does show
up sometimes. He has the right to
be on the executive, as do all former
party leaders and deputy leaders.”
He denies that Fenech Adami’s
larger-than-life personality had any
influence on the executive’s decision. “He sat down with all other
members, he did not intervene and
the end result was very clear anyway.”
Agius also notes that it is common practice to vote by a show of
hands in the party’s executive committee meetings “unless somebody
requests a secret ballot, which nobody did in this case”.
Asked why the party did not follow
through with its reported intention to expel the three MPs, Agius
explained that before Thursday’s
meeting, the party’s administrative
council decided that the course of
action should be that of banning
the MPs from contesting the next
election on the party’s ticket.
“The administrative council, which
I form part of in my capacity as party whip, decided that these are the
measures to be taken against the
three MPs after they went against
the whip’s directions.”
He adds that “the administrative
council proposed this course of action and the PN’s executive accepted and approved it on Thursday”.
He believes that the PN is already
stronger after Thursday’s meeting
because “the people are seeing that
we have emerged as a better party.
I can already gauge this confidence
and the people do not accept that
individual MPs vote against the will
of the electorate after voting a party
in government”.
“We can disagree and exchange
ideas but whoever contested elections with the party did so on the
party’s ticket and must therefore
toe the party line. All MPs know
that they cannot vote with the Opposition.”
Despite the unprecedented difficulties the PN faced in this legislature, Agius appears confident about
the future. “Whenever the Nationalist Party went through turbulent
times the party has always emerged
stronger. We did so in the 1980s,
we did so in the EU referendum,
and we will do so this time round.”
The PN whip believes that the
electorate is aware that investment
“is still coming our way despite the
current international difficulties”
and the PN will be going to the
polls without the three MPs “who
created a few problems”.
“We have the vision to lead the
country and with the electoral programme completed soon, we have
a fair chance to show that we have
the right policies and the energy
and drive to lead the country once
again.”
“People will ask whether they can
trust us again and they will see that
the three MPs who caused some
problems will not be on our list of
candidates,” Agius says.
“Together, everything is possible.
The people will see for themselves
that we are a new united team, including experienced and new faces
with a solid track record and compare us to an opposition with nothing to show.”
Agius does not believe that the gap
between the PN and Labour shown
in polls is insurmountable, and
notes that with a large section of
the electorate still undecided, and
with two out of every three young
voters declaring that they will vote
PN, “we can still make it”.
He explains that a large chunk of
the electorate will decide in the last
week or two prior to the election
and “whenever the election is held,
we will go to the polls when it is the
right time for the country”.
Asked about whether the decision
to ban the MPs was farcical when
Pullicino Orlando and Mugliett
had already declared that they will
not be contesting the next election,
Agius said: “There is a difference.
The difference is that even if they
change their mind and decide to
contest the next general election,
they will not be allowed to.”
Was this done to appear tough
without the need of calling an
early election? “That’s not true.
The feedback I have received from
the people out there has been very
positive.”
He says that he has personally received a number of phone calls,
SMSes and e-mails and the feeling is
that the party has taken a bold and
strong position without exceeding
the limit. “That is how people are
viewing things, and I agree.”
Agius says the decision was a sensible one and that “it also gives a
clear message to all Nationalist
Party candidates in the forthcoming election that what happened in
the last four years cannot ever repeat itself”.
“Candidates must be aware that
there is a party line which must be
toed. If there is anything that you
disagree with, you must raise the
point internally and discuss it but
you must also keep in mind that
you should always respect the leadership and the majority within the
party.”
He says that MPs cannot destabilise the government just because it
has a one-seat majority.
“I believe, although I am aware that
not everybody might agree with my
position, that in order to guarantee
stability in the country, we must
have a mechanism – similar to the
one used in Greece – where the
party which garners a majority is
given a ‘premio di maggioranza’ of
not less than three seats.”
The MP adds that from his experience as whip during the last four
years and even through the experience of the 1996-1998 Labour administration, the electorate should
vote knowing beforehand that the
party which wins the election, even
by one vote, will be given a threeseat premium.
“This will ensure greater stability which can translate itself in job
creation and more foreign investment. We must understand one
thing here: foreign investors keep a
very close eye on the political situation in Malta. We do not live in
isolation. Yesterday I held a meeting with some foreigners who want
to invest more in Malta but the first
thing we spoke about was the stability in the country.”
He explains that this is his own
proposal. “I do not know what the
future holds for us but I think the
chances of this mechanism being
implemented before the forthcoming election are slim. However, if
a party wins the next election by a
slim margin and has a one-seat majority, it will face the same problems
because nowadays MPs operate in
completely different circumstances
to what we were used to.”
“I do not believe there is broad consensus on both sides of the House
over this issue but I do know that
some MPs agree with me while others are vehemently opposed to this
idea because they believe that if a
party garners a one-seat majority it
should govern with a one-seat majority.”
Agius explains that this will deliver
“the stability which our families
and workers crave for and a government that is able to implement the
electoral programme the majority
voted for”.
Is he ready to sacrifice strict proportionality for stability? “Yes, because the electorate wants the party
voted in by the majority, irrespective of how large the majority is, to
govern. This mechanism will guarantee stability.”
Asked whether the internal unrest
is a symptom of the GonziPN coalition formed before the 2008 election, Agius answers in the negative.
“It was a question of individual
MPs calculating their strength in
these particular circumstances and
we have all seen what this has resulted in.”
Agius elected from the seventh
and 11th districts for two consecutive elections believes that the rebel
MPs personally wanted to convey a
message but at the end of the day
the country came out on the losing
end.
“As a result the country lost a
minister and a representative of
the people. We now face a situation where an MP, together with a
group of other MPs, can get rid of
anyone they deem fit, be it a director, a minister or an ambassador.
The way things are today, Parliament can get rid of anyone.”
Although he believes that an MP
has every right to disagree with the
government, he says that the oppo-
TOEING THE
PARTY LINE
“We can
disagree and
exchange
ideas but
whoever
contested
elections
with the
party did
so on the
party’s
ticket
and must
therefore
toe the
party line”
sition must be dealt internally and
the will of the majority must always
prevail.
“I have had disagreements myself.
However, I speak directly to the
person in question, which could be
a minister or even the Prime Minister. We exchange ideas, discuss
things and convince each other one
way or another. However, the will
of the majority must be respected
at all times.”
He explains that in the past, there
have been instances in which his
ideas were not accepted, such as the
sharing of TV rights by competitor
companies.
“This did not go through. Recently
in Italy, Mediaset and Sky reached
an agreement to share TV rights.
Maybe, Malta will get there too.”
“You have an agreed electoral
manifesto and then there are other
issues which are external to the
manifesto. Individual MPs have a
right to champion such issues, but
there’s a limit. And in recent weeks,
three government MPs voted with
the opposition or abstained and the
red line was crossed. That is why
we have taken disciplinary action.”
During Thursday’s meeting, Mugliett argued that he did noting wrong
because he did not vote against the
party’s electoral programme.
Agius says this is a valid point from
his end, “but Mugliett did not vote
with government on the Cachia
Caruana motion and did not inform
me of this. This isn’t acceptable. He
could have approached me and spoken about this and we would have
tried to find a solution together”.
“It would have made a difference.
In the past we have had similar situations, with a number of MPs voicing their disagreement on a number
of issues such as the St John’s CoCathedral car park and the Special
Purpose Vehicles. We discussed
things and they were resolved.
However, in recent weeks, the red
line was crossed by the three MPs.”
Asked whether he feels responsible
for the recent events that unfolded,
he emphasises that one can always
claim that more could have been
done. “But I have always been very
approachable and open to discussion with all MPs. I keep everybody
informed and updated.”
“In the particular circumstances
we were in, I humbly believe that I
performed to the best of my abilities. I assure you that if I could have
done anything to prevent the situation from escalating in the way it
did I would have done so.”
Agius was appointed Parliamentary Whip a few months after the
2008 election. He says that he never
expected to deal with such a difficult situation.
“I expected to face some kind of
difficulty since I was aware of the
one-seat majority but I never expected to face the difficulties which
cropped up.”
He explains that after the initial debacle (when Franco Debono failed
to show up in Parliament in 2010),
things were revised and Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi dedicated
time every Monday to meet MPs in
Parliament.
Agius calmly notes that the party
leadership could have done more to
avoid this situation, “but we have
always put the country’s interests
first. We must remember that while
the party was dealing with these internal ramblings, the country was
going through an international economic crisis, the Libya crisis and
carrying reforms in public transport, pensions, health, the environment, among other sectors”.
The problems the PN had with the
three MPs must not be taken out of
the wider context, he says. “We were
dealing with many other things and
the prime minister had to ensure
that jobs were created, investment
attracted and Malta was not badly
hit by the international recession
while hearing what the MPs had
to say as well. He still had time for
them and this has been confirmed
by Robert Arrigo, Jeffrey Pullicino
Orlando and Franco Debono.”
“It takes two to tango but you cannot expect anyone – the prime minister included – to grant someone
or do something he cannot possibly
do,” Agius says.
Since Debono was the only one to
have expressed a desire to recontest the next election, I ask Agius
whether Debono is right to feel
hard done by the party’s decision.
“No all three were affected equally.
When you militate in the Nationalist Party and you are hit by such
15
Interview
Nationalist Party whip David Agius is confident that the party will rise from its own ashes,
stating that it has already emerged stronger after banning three MPs from contesting the
forthcoming election on its ticket
disciplinary action it is obvious that
you will feel hurt as much as Richard
Cachia Caruana and Carm Mifsud
Bonnici hurt when they had to relinquish their posts and as much as the
prime minister and other government MPs hurt when these votes went
through.”
Agius says that the three rebels might
have believed that they were doing
the right thing, and when they failed
to convince the party, they kept on insisting on their point. However, Agius
says that they had to face the inevitable consequences for their actions. Agius adds that although the decision to
ban the MPs is final, things may still
change in the coming weeks.
The PN’s executive will be reconvening to hear the request tabled by Pullicino Orlando to expel Cachia Caruana
for having colluded with the Labour
Party in the 1996-1998 period and to
decide on Franco Debono’s request to
remove the condemnation issued by
the party last week.
On the Cachia Caruana case, Agius
says that the PN’s executive is not a
court. “We will hear the witnesses
and decide after listening to what they
have to say.”
A visibly concerned Agius says that
such issues are alienating the people
from the real issues. “Nobody will
earn a living though the opposition’s
motions, no new jobs will be created
through the behaviour of the opposition and some of the government’s
MPs.”
“We have given these motions and
positions their due importance but our
priorities remain strengthening the
economy, education and health.”
Has Thursday’s meeting weakened or
strengthened the government which
only has a one-seat majority? “We will
only know in October, when Parliament reconvenes and take it on from
there.”
Following Franco Debono’s announcement that he will not be supporting
the government as long as Austin Gatt
stays on as minister, Agius says that
“it’s up to Franco”.
“My doors are always open. I have
spoken with Franco this morning and
he informed me that he will not support the government as long as Austin
Gatt remains a Cabinet member. I told
him not to rush in his decisions and
take such decisions at the right time.”
Faced with the question on whether
this means that the government is still
on life support, Agius says: “We have
shown that whenever people are open
to discussing issues and show a good
will we have always found a solution. If
not, and if Franco Debono or anyone
else – including Jeffrey or Jesmond –
vote against the government, we will
call an election.”
“That’s how democracy works and
unlike Labour, we have never stayed
in power for one day more then we
should have. The decision not to expel
them was not influenced by the decision to call or not to call an election
but it was only influenced by what the
country needs,” Agius stresses.
“We cannot drive the country to bankruptcy for our own political interests.
We will call an election when it is in
the country’s best interest.
“If the opposition is so power-hungry
and wants to go to the polls immediately, it will be up to the people to decide who really has the country’s interest at heart.”
PHOTOGRAPHY BY RAY ATTARD
x
16
News
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 15 JULY
2012
17
Opinion
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 15 JUNE 2012
Saviour Balzan
From Lima with love
When Censu l-Iswed waved his PN
tattoo for all the world to see, he made
sure he was also seen ‘greeting’ Jeffrey
Pullicino Orlando at the doors of the
entrance to the Nationalist Party
headquarters.
And as the same man waved his
hideous stained arm, the President of
the Republic was heading to Lima in
Peru, fully aware that he was leaving
behind a political crisis.
Inside the Nationalist Party’s HQ,
Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando was greeted
by yet another colourful figure: the
lawyer George Cutajar. Cutajar was
surprisingly given access to the PN
HQ lobby. Inside, Cutajar did not
embrace JPO – quite the opposite
happened.
The last time I met George Cutajar
I recall him grumbling and groaning
against his own party. However, times
change: Cutajar is now a born again
Nationalist. Born again creatures tend
to be very unsightly beings.
That scene in front of the PN takes
me back to the days at Il-Macina,
when the Labour Party HQ was
‘guarded’ by the Praetorian guards:
headed by Il-Qahbu, Il-Qattus and
Il-Pupa.
Inside, Pullicino Orlando did not
expect otherwise. But Jesmond
Mugliett made a valid point when
he said that he was surprised at the
party executive’s decision to ban the
three MPs from recontesting with the
PN: considering that he had voted so
many times against his own wishes,
mentioning the case of the power
station as one example.
No one was impressed – not even
Fenech Adami, whose surprise
attendance reminded me of his subtle
way of saying: “Hey guys, you are
screwing up all I built, can we please
stop this haemorrhage?”
There is little doubt in my mind that
the party is now being run by the hard
line faction. Those that think that
being ‘tough’ will get them places.
As Mugliett talked, everyone
listened carefully, and the rebels that
we once knew – namely Jean Pierre
Farrugia, Robert Arrigo, Stephen
Spiteri and others – had obviously lost
their tongues.
The vote was of course taken by a
show of hands.
Show of hands is of course a
procedure which started off in Kim
il-Sung’s days. It allows people to take
a decision which they have no control
over whatsoever.
Considering the siege mentality
that exists in the Stamperija (as it
used to be affectionately known)
A typical Peruvian postcard, complete
with llama and Macchu Picchu
anyone who did not dare to raise their
fingers would have been offered up as
breakfast to Ernest Tonna… the man
who reminds us what humility is all
about.
Gonzi will, of course, demand that
he has the high moral authority. The
PN has lost its moral authority.
The name of the game is survival,
and everyone should say it as it is.
Gonzi is only interested in hanging
onto power.
In assessing Pullicino Orlando’s
reaction, one should perhaps ask why
he has come to this.
It has to do with his realisation that
after the Mistra saga, he was fodder.
The thing that saved him from
extinction was the fact that his seat
was crucial for Gonzi’s survival.
So he returned to claim his pound
of flesh. Some people call it revenge,
and yet I have not seen or known one
person who would not have acted in
the way Pullicino Orlando acted, after
he had been taken to the cleaners…
along with his family.
The very fact that he hit at the
nerve centre of the Nationalist
Party – represented by Richard
Cachia Caruana – is enough of an
explanation of the magnitude of the
party’s reaction (or rather, overreaction).
Cachia Caruana is not the run of the
mill guy you take to the cleaners.
Throughout the past few weeks,
he has been lobbying with everyone
to stand up for him. And most have
accommodated him, though not all.
John Dalli, we are told, is a witness
on Pullicino Orlando’s list. Strangely
enough, nobody has asked him
whether he has any evidence.
More interestingly still: Tuesday’s
meeting comes when everyone at the
PN HQ knows that John Dalli will be
busy on EU Commission business.
This is public knowledge, as
Commissioners have their calendars
published on the web.
But does that mean that Dalli will
not testify?
Dalli, more than Pullicino Orlando,
has a lot to say about the way he was
treated in the leadership and postleadership campaign.
And very interestingly, I am
told that there are four prominent
Nationalist officials and ex-officials
who leaked to the Labour media
in that dirty war with the full
cognisance of senior officials.
It is only a matter of time before
their names surface.
Yesterday was, of course, quite a
farce. Marthese Portelli had to leave
Paris and return, while Pullicino
Orlando let another cat out of the bag
with a statement by Joe Mizzi with an
allegation about Cachia Caruana.
A serious one, if you ask me. True?
I can’t say.
Cachia Caruana’s reaction was
predictable. But in other countries,
such allegations or accusations are
followed up by resignations. I’m not
too sure that there is anything else to
resign from for Cachia Caruana.
Well, Joe Mizzi may look like a
Romanian gypsy but unlike some
Romanian gypsies he is not a liar.
And with such an allegation, Cachia
Caruana should start wondering
whether he is a match for Pullicino
Orlando.
Pullicino Orlando has nothing to
lose. He knows what he wants. His
silver plate is specifically designed
for three heads, and he will not rest
before he sees the three heads resting
ungracefully next to each other.
The longer this takes, the worse it
will be for the PN.
Surely, someone must be asking if
the only solution to avoid a landslide
defeat is a change of the leader
himself and his entourage.
Many at the top concur that this is
the only way forward.
But none has the gall to say it, lest
they end up like the three MPs.
When JPO and Franco Debono
suggested that the President should
call on the PM to ask him if he had
a majority, they were hinting in no
uncertain terms to both of them
that the government did not have a
parliamentary majority.
Gonzi can drag on, but he cannot
hide. Sooner or later, he will face the
music.
***
The other day a minister wrote
me an email and told me to smile,
because la vita e bella.
You really have to hand it to him.
I’m smiling, and no matter what they
think, I will be smiling when they
won’t. Even this week’s €18,000 fine
by magistrate Francesco Depasquale
will not dampen my mood. I will only
kindly remind him that his definition
of a public official is slightly different
from what the rest of the world
considers to be a public official.
He said in his judgement that Peter
Fenech was not a public official. It
is also pertinent to point out that
Fenech was a director, company
secretary and legal representative in
the company that claimed it did not
have a dime to pay government to
pay for rent. A cursory look at Peter
Fenech’s lifestyle will prove that fiscal
deprivation is not on his agenda.
Neither was it important for
the Courts to note that while
Fenech’s company was insisting
that it could not pay, it had won
a suit against someone who had
been subcontracted to run Jumbo
Lido. The unfortunate person was
ordered to pay Lm120,000: but the
government agreed to waive the rent
owed by the company in question on
the premise that they did not have
any money!
It is a well-known fact that Fenech
was close to Louis Galea, the man
who last week found the time to
entertain all of us by supporting
Cachia Caruana and writing a letter
in The Times stating that he knew
Cachia Caruana to be a gentleman.
The Times, by the way, gloats
whenever a newspaper not in their
stable gets libelled or fined.
Fenech was so comfortably close to
Dr Galea, that in the last leadership
battle, which Galea lost, he stood in
as his chief canvasser privately and
publicly. Peter Fenech was not only
rewarded for his loyalty by being
appointed and remunerated on
boards but so was his wife. She was,
by the way, chairman of OHSA which
also fell under Louis Galea. Political
patronage and the choice of public
officials is of course not appreciated
by the judges and magistrates – who
are themselves chosen by politicians
and promoted by politicians.
But enough of this. The courts have
a right to pass judgement and we
have a right to appeal and fight the
sentence within the rights given to
us in the local judicial and European
systems.
Hence the setting up of a libel fund.
18
News
The clutter
of creation
Is the Maltese art scene finally
learning to have some fun? TEODOR
RELJIC speaks to artist and curator
Raphael Vella about a new crop
of Maltese artists who seem to be
more keen on playing around than
brooding on tragic subject matter
“DON’T waste your time.”
That simple piece of advice
has apparently enabled Raphael
Vella to juggle a number of roles
throughout the years, all of which
are directly linked to the ongoing
survival of the local arts scene.
Apart from nurturing his own
solo career as an illustrator, sculptor and installation artist – with
which he tours the globe regularly
and extensively – Vella also finds
time to curate a number of exhibitions… all the while earning
a living as an art lecturer at the
University of Malta.
“I’ve learned through experience
that the trick is to just not waste
time. I would just say to myself:
okay, I’ve got a free 15 minutes –
what’s the best way I can exploit
them? The same applies to people. I ask: is this person ‘useful’ to
me?”
Though he feels the need to
qualify this statement – “of course,
I don’t mean this in a Machiavellian sense, an interesting discussion with someone could prove
to be intellectually ‘useful’, for
example…” – one would be hardpressed to describe anything
about Vella’s work ethic as being
selfish or manipulative, given his
consistent effort in promoting
the work of fellow – and mostly
younger – artists.
A case in point is Divergent
Thinkers, an upcoming collective
exhibition curated by Vella and
featuring the work of seven different artists, all of whom are under
the age of 30 – a restriction imposed by Aġenzija Żgħażagħ, the
exhibition’s main organiser along
with St James Cavalier.
“Though it is a shame that some
of the best local artists have only
just surpassed the 30-year mark,
I don’t mind working within a
younger age bracket, and it’s one
I’ve enjoyed working within in
the past. There’s an added thrill
to working with emerging artists because there’s an element of
risk involved – their work might
be promising right now, but will
they bear fruit in the future? In a
way it’s a lot like writing art criticism – if you’re writing about new
artists you’re taking a risk because
your assessment of their work
might not prove to be very perceptive if the artist never develops. In this exhibition there are
artists who have already started
to show their work internationally like Patrick Mifsud, others who
have emerged in the last couple of
years like Adrian Abela, and some
completely new names like Giola
Cassar, Aaron Bezzina and Luca
Cauchi.”
Underscoring many of Vella’s
own preoccupations – both as an
artist and a curator – the exhibition is also similarly loose and
wide-ranging in terms of its thematic scope.
The concept of ‘divergent thinking’, culled from psychology, invites people to observe as much as
possible into mundane objects.
“It’s all about how far you can
stretch the familiar,” Vella says,
mentioning as an example the
work of one of the exhibition’s
participants, Emanuel Bonnici.
“Emanuel took the image of a
trumpet as a starting point, then
he attached a watering can, a gun,
a chess piece… he developed this
as a digital image first and then
made a sculpture out of it. In a lot
of ways, exposing this process ties
directly into what I set out to do
while devising the exhibition. Going into it I wondered whether we
could possibly have an exhibition
that doesn’t just show the polished end result, but the clutter of
creation too…”
This talk of preparatory ‘behindthe-scenes’ planning on Vella’s
part leads me to a niggling question: when it comes to brass tacks,
what is it exactly that a curator
does? Much like a musical conductor – or even perhaps a film
producer as opposed to director –
a lot of the curator’s work seems
to be invisible.
Vella laughs off the suggestion,
assuring me that in fact, the job of
a curator “is not that easy at all”.
“Really, the role of a curator is
Raphael Vella in his studio: “The role
of a curator is as visible as you’d like
to make it”
as visible as you want to make it.
The biggest challenge is finding
a balancing act between orchestrating the overall aesthetic of an
exhibition while remaining sensitive to what the artist is trying to
express and convey. Sometimes,
the influence of the curator can
be too overpowering. For example, I remember going to an exhibition where one of the paintings
was hung up close to the ceiling…
okay, maybe it was an innovative
idea on the curator’s part but the
end result is that nobody sees the
painting properly. I’m also not
keen on seeing exhibitions with
a very rigid aesthetic – like for
example, placing all the paintings in the exhibition within the
same kind of frame. It’s minimal,
and it’s safe, but it tends to kill
individuality and ignores subtle
conceptual differences that separate the work of one artist from
another.”
On the other hand, Vella strives
to meet the artist half way, starting out with an abstract concept
of his own while trying to suss
out the strengths and needs of the
artists under his wing.
“You can’t just throw something
in the artist’s face that is completely foreign to them and ex-
2.5%
on your
pect them to just roll with it. That
way it becomes too much like a
primary school composition, like
you’re asking them to write about
their summer holiday… you need
to allow artists to express their
own vision… and you need to be
aware and sensitive to historical
and cultural patterns that you see
emerging around you...”
Following through with this
train of thought, Vella mentions
a 2010 exhibition, Relocation,
which operated on the assumption that Maltese art is always going to be informed by artists moving abroad to pursue further their
education and careers – given
Malta’s limited cultural resources
and opportunities – and that this
leaves a definitive stamp on Maltese cultural identity.
“I firmly believe that identity is
in flux, and that our art reflects
that. I think it’s a bit of a misconception to view national identity
as something static. It’s a bit like
expecting African art to be all
about traditional wooden masks...
then when Picasso comes along
and appropriates them in his own
work, we applaud him…”
Vella’s engagement with emerging artists is also helping him to
maintain an optimistica attitude
s
g
n
i
v
a
S
o
Eur
Powered by
about the future of the Maltese
art scene.
“When I was growing up, the
trend was very much for Maltese
art to be sombre, and to deal with
metaphysical and tragic subjects.
Perhaps it was because the church
was still a dominating force, and
that artists found a parallel vent
for the liturgical aspects of culture through art, but playfulness
was never really on the menu.
“I’m not exactly sure what contributed to the shift, but now,
there’s artists like Emanuel, Elisa
von Brockdorff, and Michael
Xuereb who seem to enjoy poking fun at everything,” Vella says,
flagging up some of Bonnici’s irreverent works, among them an
embryo made out of condoms and
a statue of the Baby Jesus made
out of chocolate, or von Brockdorff’s emphasis on the glossy and
colourful surface of banal objects.
“Of course some of this harks
back to international Pop art…
but Maltese artists are starting to
inject aspects of local culture into
the work… which is something
we’ve rarely seen before.”
Divergent Thinkers will be on
display at St James Cavalier, Valletta from July 27 to September 2.
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19
NEWS FOCUS
THE CELL PHONE
TOWER DEBATE
DUNCAN BARRY asks Dr Ray Busuttil, Superintendent, Public Health, whether exposure to
radiation from cell phone towers (base stations) can be detrimental to one’s health while the
regulatory authority – the Malta Communications Authority – says emissions from such towers
are well within the limits established in national legislation
Duncan
Barry
THE widespread use of cell phones
has led to the placement of cell phone
towers in many communities. These
towers, also called base stations, consist of electronic equipment and antennas that receive and transmit radiofrequency signals.
Over the past few years, there has
been mounting concern worldwide
about the possibility of adverse health
effects from exposure to radiofrequency electromagnetic fields, with
particular emphasis on the controversy surrounding the possibility of a link
between exposure to electromagnetic
magnetic fields and an elevated risk of
cancer.
The last few years have seen cell
phone towers sprouting like mushrooms on rooftops across Malta and
Gozo, with a number of buildings
even hosting up to three receivers.
MaltaToday is informed that one
can receive an average of €2,300 for
leasing his or her property to host a
tlecom company’s antenna.
This newspaper contacted local
telecom providers Vodafone and GO
and asked them whether the annual
payment granted to individuals hosting antennas on their roofs was a fixed
“Leasing your
property to
a telecom
company
may earn you
an average
of €2,300
annually”
sum.
Both the providers limited their answers to “rental payments for mobile
base stations depend on the location,
type of installation, among other factors,” adding that that it was “commercially sensitive information” and
that they were “not in a position to
disclose detailed figures”.
In May 2009, the Lija Local Council filed a court application calling on
a local telecom company to remove
antenna repeater equipment from the
roof of a private residence in the heart
of the village because “it could be detrimental to people’s health”.
In an application filed against the
residents of the house where the
equipment is mounted, the telecom
company and the Malta Communications Authority, the council argued
that the repeater was detrimental or
could be detrimental to residents’
health and the council had a duty to
safeguard the interests of the people
of Lija. The council said it had already
objected to the installation of this antenna through a judicial protest filed
earlier in the year. It had been brought
to the attention of those involved that
expert reports did not exclude, but attributed the probability that similar antennae
could place
the health of
residents in
jeopardy.
Since
wireless
telecommunications rely
on a wide
network
of
these base stations to send and
receive information,
serving as hubs for cell
phones and local wireless networks, the prime
concern is if exposure to
the levels of the electromagnetic radiation emitted from
such towers is detrimental to
the public’s health, especially
people living nearby.
According to Dr Ray
Busuttil, Superintendent
of Public Health, “cell
phone towers or base
stations emit far less
levels than those emitted
from mobile phones, Wi-Fi
equipment, smart meters and televisions. mobile phones emitting the
highest of the lot”.
Busuttil quotes various recognised
worldwide studies, including the
World Health Organisation’s, that
have so far found no evidence that exposure to the low levels of cell phone
towers’ radiation emitted
can be detrimental to
humans.
“Considering the very low exposure
levels and research results collected
to date, there still is no convincing
scientific evidence that the weak RF
signals from base stations and wireless networks cause adverse health
effects,” Busuttil
confirms.
B u -
suttil, among other local health officials, has been invited to attend Parliamentary Social Affairs Committee
meetings currently tackling the issue
to give his views on the subject.
“In the case of antennas, both because very low levels of radiation are
emitted and because the amount of
energy decreases rapidly with increasing distance from the antenna, these
antennas pose no risk to humans,
at least as far as worldwide studies
show.
“There are many technically flawed
and inconclusive studies on the subject and one must base his information on the overwhelming and reliable studies conducted so far.
“As with various studies conducted
on other subjects, not all conclusions
have always tallied – same with studies on base stations.”
Public exposure to radio waves
from these antennas is slight for several reasons. The power levels are relatively low, the antennas are mounted at high above ground level, and
the signals are transmitted
intermittently, rather than
constantly.
When cellular antennas are mounted on rooftops,
it is possible
that
a
person
Dr Ray Busuttil: “There are many
technically flawed and inconclusive
studies and one must base his
information on the overwhelming and
reliable studies conducted so far”
20
NEWS FOCUS
‘As yet, there’s no reason
constitute potential healt
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 19
Ian Castaldi Paris
The cell phone antenna in the heart
of Lija. Inset: Lija Mayor Ian Castaldi
Paris. Photos: Ray Attard
on the roof could be exposed to RF
levels greater than those typically encountered on the ground.
In an interview published in last
Sunday’s edition of MaltaToday, Dr
Mark Gauci from the Occupational
Health and Safety Authority, who also
participated in the parliamentary social affairs committee meeting, said
that precautionary steps were being
taken to safeguard the health of telecommunciation workers who spend
time at a short distance from the active equipment to install, test and
maintain, who may be at risk of much
Could I limit my exposure?
Cell phone towers are not known to cause any health effects as yet. But if you are concerned about
possible exposure from a cell phone tower near you, call a government agency such as the Malta
Communications Authority, which conducts regular radiation level checks, to measure the RF field
strength near the tower to ensure that it is within the acceptable range.
What should I do if I’ve been exposed to cellular phone towers?
There is no test to measure whether you have been exposed to RF radiation from cellular phone
towers. But as noted above, most researchers and regulatory authorities do not believe that cell
phone towers pose health risks under ordinary conditions. However, do consult your doctor if you have
any concerns.
greater exposure than the general
population.
In general, one of the more serious
effects that microwave electromagnetic radiation (such as the one emitted
by cell phones) can have on us is the
thermal effect. This type of radiation
generates what’s called dielectric heating (or RF heating).
Busuttil says that at very high levels,
RF waves can heat up brain tissues
(the basis for how microwave ovens
work). But the levels of energy used by
cell phones and towers are still significantly low.
“When a person uses a mobile phone
(to ear), there is evidence heat is transmitted to the brain since there’s very
close and direct exposure, leading to a
rise in temperature – and this in itself
can possibly lead to cancer.
“And this has been proven through
the use of heat detection equipment,
that electromagnetic radiation emitted from mobile phones in extreme
high doses can cause body heat.
“But to date, it has never been established that electromagnetic radiation
in fact causes cancer. This is the reason why it has been classified as ‘possibly carcinogenic’ by the International
Agency for Research on Cancer within
the World Health Organisation.”
The agency now lists mobile phone
use in the same “carcinogenic hazard”
category as lead, engine exhaust and
chloroform following a meeting by a
working group comprising 31 scien-
21
n to believe such towers
th hazards’
tists from 14 countries at the IARC
in Lyon, France in May last year – to
assess the potential carcinogenic hazards from exposure to this kind of radiation – where the possibility of exposure might induce long-term health
effects, such as cancer.
“As for base stations there has been
no evidence found that the stations
lead to a rise in temperature in humans,” Busuttil adds.
“Since there is a possible link to cancer through the use of cell phones,
but which has not yet been finally
established, to ensure public health is
safeguarded, we still take the necessary precautions to eliminate any risk
associated with radio frequency electromagnetic field radiation, however
remote the risk is,” Busuttil says.
“This is why we promote the use of
Bluetooth and hands-free equipment
to reduce the direct use of mobile
phones (to ear).
“Cell phone
towers or
base stations
emit far less
radiation
levels than
the levels
emitted
from mobile
phones
or Wi-Fi
equipment”
“Although still unproven, children
can be most susceptible since their
brain tissues are still in development
stage. Therefore, as a precautionary
measure, the use of mobile phones
among children should be reduced
drastically.”
When contacted by this newspaper
and asked if the monitoring of radiation levels was done regularly, the
Malta Communications Authority
said that “emissions from base stations
are well within the limits established
in national legislation (such limits are
recognised by WHO).
“The authority carries out ongoing
monitoring and, the absolute majority
of measurements taken do not exceed
five per cent of the allowable limit. All
these EMF audit results may be found
on the authority’s website – www.mca.
org.mt www.mca.org.mt/.
“Regulation 13.2 of the Ninth Schedule of the Electronic Communications
Networks and Services (Regulations)
‘ECNSR’ stipulates that authorised
undertakings shall comply with any
radiation emission standards adopted
and published by the International
Commission for Non-Ionising Radiation Protection ‘ICNIRP’.
“Furthermore, the process relating
to the installation of mobile phone
base station antennas from a planning
point of view is subject to MEPA rules.
In particular, most installations are
regulated by the Development Notification Order, SL 504.80.”
To be able to communicate through
mobile phones, our phones have to
transmit and receive a special signal.
Busuttil adds that the better the mobile phone signal, the lower the radiation levels.
“If one has a poor signal on his mobile phone (which can be determined
from the strength of the bars displayed
on the screen), this can accelerate radioactive waves since the mobile phone
would be seeking a decent signal. If the
reception is good, the levels of radiation emitted are much less.”
Radio base station sites are therefore
required in order to be able to provide
a mobile communication service and
by the nature of the technology they
have to be located close to where the
demand for the service is.
“Evidence is gradually building up
on the use of radioactive equipment
and the radiation levels emitted but
it’s harder to prove that something
may cause something else, than prov-
Picture shows a building in San
Gwann hosting up to three cell phone
antennas
Table shows the radio-frequency levels (RF) released from various sources, indicating that cell phones have the highest of
exposure levels while those of cell phone towers are much lower
ing something doesn’t cause anything
at all,” Busuttil says.
“We have had television sets with us
for 50 years and to this day no evidence
has shown that exposure to television
can cause cancer.”
Lawsuits and rulings
US lawsuits
In the US, a small number of personal injury lawsuits have been filed by individuals against mobile
phone manufacturers, such as Motorola, NEC, Siemens and Nokia, on the basis of allegations of
causing brain cancer and death. In US federal court, expert testimony relating to science must be
first evaluated by a judge, in a Daubert hearing, to be relevant and valid before it is admissible as
evidence. In one case against Motorola, the plaintiffs alleged that the use of wireless handheld
telephones could cause brain cancer, and that the use of Motorola phones caused one plaintiff’s
cancer. The judge ruled that no sufficiently reliable and relevant scientific evidence in support of
either general or specific causation was proffered by the plaintiffs; accepted a motion to exclude the
testimony of the plaintiffs’ experts; and denied a motion to exclude the testimony of the defendants’
experts.
French High Court ruling against telecom company
In February 2009, the telecom company Bouygues Telecom was ordered to take down a mobile phone
mast due to uncertainty about its effect on health. Residents in the commune Charbonnières in
the Rhône department had sued the company claiming adverse health effects from the radiation
emitted by the 19-metre-tall antenna. The milestone ruling by the Versailles Court of Appeal reversed
the burden of proof which is usual in such cases by emphasising the extreme divergence between
different countries in assessing safe limits for such radiation. The court stated that “considering
how, while the reality of the risk remains hypothetical, it becomes clear from reading the
contributions and scientific publications produced in debate and the divergent legislative positions
taken in various countries, that uncertainty over the harmlessness of exposure to the waves emitted
by relay antennas persists and can be considered serious and reasonable”.
On pregnancy outcomes due to radiation emitted through the use of electronic equipment as a result of being
in close proximity to cell phone towers, no consistent evidence of adverse
reproductive effects has been established either, according to Busuttil.
When contacted about the developments of the court case, Ian Castaldi
Paris, Lija Local Council Mayor, said
that the case was nearing the end after three years and that experts in the
field were assigned by the magistrate
to draw up a report on the effects of
cell phone towers.
“The Lija community is anxiously
awaiting the outcome of this court
case since they feel left in the dark and
they would only have peace of mind
when the case concludes and are assured by experts that the antenna
poses no health risks.”
MaltaToday has viewed the detailed
architects’ report whcih states:
“While the public’s health, especially
that of children, has to be protected at
all times, on the other hand it’s not viable to stop the use of mobile phones
(which depend on base stations).
“Therefore the need has arisen to
find other solutions such as lowering
the radiofrequency emitted from base
station antennas while also making
sure that the levels emitted from the
back and sides of antennas are kept at
the lowest of levels.
“This will help reduce any radiation
emitted towards buildings in close
proximity to the antennas.”
Furthermore, the report recommends that “over a period of five years,
in order to help evaluate and address
any pending issues related to health
risks, a team of experts conducts tests
on both individuals exposed to such
radiation while also collect data on
the levels of radiation emitted during
a minimum five-year period.
“Depending on the end results, one
may then act accordingly, such as
adopting changes to current regulations”.
Surely, the outcome of this court
case will be used as a referral in the
future every time a case of this nature
crops up and the removal of one tower
could lead to a domino effect and telecom companies operating these antennas may suffer the consequences in
terms of delivering a better service to
their customers.
Meanwhile, to date, most scientists
agree that cell phone antennas or towers are unlikely to cause cancer. Research in this area continues.
[email protected]
22
NEWS FOCUS
Fudge… and even more fudge
T
he fudge with which the PN has
been led over the last few years
has now led to the inevitable
mother of fudges.
The sorry episodes that climaxed
into the business of the PN executive
meeting on Thursday cannot be
described otherwise. Have Franco
Debono, Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando,
and Jesmond Mugliett been expelled
from the PN for not toeing the party
line? The answer is as fudgy as one
can be: not really, but they will not be
allowed to stand for the election as
PN candidates. So technically they
are still Nationalist Party MPs.
This could indicate, however,
that the days of stretching on this
Administration’s term of office are
over, but, on the other hand… As
Lawrence Gonzi himself put it: ‘It’s
a decision not to have them run
on our ticket in the next elections.
They are still members of the party...
whether they support the government
as MPs is up to them now. When
the parliament reconvenes in the
first week of October, we hope we
can move the laws that we recently
approved, as well as move the
IVF, cohabitation and EU stability
mechanism laws.’
The fudge can hardly get fudgier.
To many observers it does seem
that discipline at this stage is too
late – like the proverbial shutting of
the stable door after the horse has
already bolted. Many feel that a ‘no
Michael Falzon
[email protected]
nonsense’ stance should have been
adopted as soon as the signs of what
could happen were so evident. Instead
Gonzi opted for sweet talking and
bending his back backwards – tactics
that do not work with spoiled brats.
Pullicino Orlando’s attempt to
involve Gordon Pisani, John Dalli
and two Labour MPs as well as
the Police Commissioner to prove
his allegations on Richard Cachia
Caruana is pathetic. Are his fudgy
allegations against Cachia Caruana
worthy of investigation by the PN
executive committee? From what
has been reported, the allegation
that Cachia Caruana colluded
with Alfred Sant’s 1996-98 Labour
administration has no basis in reality.
That people sitting on different sides
of the political divide communicate
with each other is obvious and
this can never be considered to be
tantamount to betraying one’s beliefs
and principles.
Pullicino Orlando – of all people
– should know that and his pathetic
attempt to portray Cachia Caruana
as some traitor to the PN cause is
nothing short of ethereal. Perhaps,
Pullicino Orlando’s move against
Cachia Caruana was just a ploy to
delay a decision against him that the
PN executive seemed to be on the
brink of taking. It did not work that
way.
Pullicino Orlando has either
never heard or decided to ignore the
admonition attributed to Confucius:
“Before you embark on a journey of
revenge, dig two graves.”
In my opinion, if the PN executive
thought there might be something
after all, it should have nominated a
small team of three of its members
to investigate the details and make
recommendations rather than
entertaining the possibility of turning
itself into a kangaroo court.
No such decision was taken and
one is not sure what was the PN’s real
reaction to all this JPO nonsense –
nothing except fudge of course. Do
they honestly think that more fudge
will explain all the fudge away?
Ever since last Sunday, when the
Prime Minister predicted that very
important decisions were to be taken
by the PN executive on Thursday, the
varying hot and cold winds coming
from the PN’s headquarters – and
duly reported in various sections
of the press –did more to confuse
people than to explain anything at all.
The confusion was worse confounded
and the fudge produced even more
fudge.
Eddie Fenech Adami’s presence
during the committee meeting only
served to confirm that the failure on
the part of the present leadership to
galvanise the party behind him is
now beyond reasonable doubt.
In turbulent times like this, a
political party needs a strong
leadership with a clear direction.
Anything else could do more harm to
the party than the original source of
the turbulence.
Yet, the present PN leader kept on
postponing facing the issue, living
in his own bubble while every day
being viewed from outside more
and more as a very sorry figure,
oblivious of that well-known Italian
saying: ‘tardare si, scappare, no’!
In spite of the hyped up
expectations that on Thursday the
PN executive meeting was going
to take very important decisions,
it simply approved a list of election
candidates after unanimously
approving a motion saying that
the three ‘rebel’ MPs would not
be allowed to stand as election
candidates on behalf of the party.
Both Pullicino Orlando and
Mugliett had already pre-empted
this ‘very important’ decision as
they had indicated that they had
decided not to stand for re-election
quite some time before.
That has simply left poor
Franco Debono out in the cold: he
reacted by incredibly describing
the decision as ‘cruelty, absolute
cruelty’.
I cannot help wondering by what
stretch of the imagination he had
expected a reprieve!
***
Hats off to the Judge who
earlier this week ticked off in no
uncertain manner the lawyers
A terrible sense of déjà vu
I
n 1971 a team of psychologists
designed and conducted an
experiment to try to understand
the behaviour of prisoners and
their guards – a study that became
widely known as the Stanford Prison
Experiment.
The psychologists ran a number of
adverts and recruited college students
from all over the United States. These
students were subjected to a range of
physical and mental tests to ascertain
that they were healthy, well-adjusted
people, and then each student
was randomly assigned the role of
prisoner or guard.
A prison of sorts was set up in the
basement of Stanford University’s
Psychology Department. The results
were immediate, and they were
shocking. The behaviour of the
guards became so extreme that the
experiment had to be prematurely
terminated. The normal young
people who had been randomly
assigned the role of guards changed
their behaviour dramatically when
put in a position of total power over
their prisoners – after just a few
days the degrading and sadistic
acts they perpetrated against the
prisoners escalated to such a point
that the psychologists had no option
other than to stop everything before
someone got seriously hurt.
The study also made some
interesting findings regarding the
behaviour of prisoners. A good
number of student “prisoners”
reacted to their environment and
the behaviour of the guards by
behaving in a zombie-like fashion,
totally disconnecting and accepting
the mistreatment as if they had no
choice. A few, however, had extreme
reactions to the behaviour of the
guards, resulting in extremely high
tension levels and some physical
altercations, both between prisoners
and with the guards themselves. In
fact on the second day of the study a
number of the “prisoners” rebelled
and barricaded themselves inside
their cells in order to prevent the
guards from entering.
Claudine
Cassar
The following is the description
of the guards’ reaction by Philip G.
Zimbardo, one of the authors of the
experiment.
“The guards broke into each cell,
stripped the prisoners naked, took
the beds out, forced the ringleaders
of the prisoner rebellion into solitary
confinement, and generally began to
harass and intimidate the prisoners.”
“Less than 36 hours into the
experiment, Prisoner #8612 began
suffering from acute emotional
disturbance, disorganised thinking,
uncontrollable crying, and rage. In
spite of all of this, we had already
come to think so much like prison
authorities that we thought he was
trying to “con” us – to fool us into
releasing him.
“When our primary prison
consultant interviewed Prisoner
#8612, the consultant chided him
for being so weak, and told him what
kind of abuse he could expect from
the guards and the prisoners if he
were in San Quentin Prison. #8612
was then given the offer of becoming
an informant in exchange for no
further guard harassment. He was
told to think it over.
“During the next count, Prisoner
#8612 told other prisoners, ‘You can’t
leave. You can’t quit.’ That sent a
chilling message and heightened their
sense of really being imprisoned.
#8612 then began to act “crazy,” to
scream, to curse, to go into a rage that
seemed out of control. It took quite
a while before we became convinced
that he was really suffering and that
we had to release him.”
“Two months after the study, here
is the reaction of prisoner #416, our
would-be hero who was placed in
solitary confinement for several
hours:
“I began to feel that I was losing my
identity, that the person that I called
“Clay,” the person who put me in this
place, the person who volunteered to
go into this prison – because it was a
prison to me; it still is a prison to me.
I don’t regard it as an experiment or
a simulation because it was a prison
run by psychologists instead of run
by the State. I began to feel that that
identity, the person that I was that
had decided to go to prison was
distant from me – was remote until
finally I wasn’t that, I was 416. I was
really my number.”
Compare his reaction to that of
the following prisoner who wrote to
me from an Ohio penitentiary after
being in solitary confinement for an
inhumane length of time:
“I was recently released from
solitary confinement after being held
therein for 37 months. The silence
system was imposed upon me and if
I even whispered to the man in the
next cell resulted in being beaten by
guards, sprayed with chemical mace,
black jacked, stomped, and thrown
into a strip cell naked to sleep on
a concrete floor without bedding,
covering, wash basin, or even a
toilet... .I know that thieves must be
punished, and I don’t justify stealing
even though I am a thief myself. But
now I don’t think I will be a thief
when I am released. No, I am not
rehabilitated either. It is just that I no
A photo of Sergeant Mark Anthony Dimech (right) with collegaue at
the detention centre posted on a Facebook group
longer think of becoming wealthy or
stealing. I now only think of killing –
killing those who have beaten me and
treated me as if I were a dog. I hope
and pray for the sake of my own soul
and future life of freedom that I am
able to overcome the bitterness and
hatred which eats daily at my soul.
But I know to overcome it will not be
easy.”
The Stanford Prison Experiment
has become one of psychology’s most
dramatic studies showing how “good”
people can be transformed into cruel
and sadistic perpetrators of evil when
the institutional and situational
environment is conducive of such
behaviour.
All we need to do is recall the
photos of American Military Police
torturing and humiliating prisoners
in Abu Ghraib Prison to get a feel
of just how real this psychological
phenomenon is, and how extreme
the sadism and mistreatment can
become.
I do not know about you, but as I
read the account of the study (http://
www.naderlibrary.com/stanford.
prison.htm) I felt chilled to the bone.
It is clear to me that the very same
forces at work during this experiment
and also at Abu Ghraib are at work
in our own detention centres. As
I read the account I kept getting
flashbacks to comments posted on
the wall of the ‘Justice For Sergeant
Mark Dimech & Colleagues’ –
the behaviour of prisoners in the
experiment matches that of prisoners
at the detention centre to a tee.
Unfortunately, so does the behaviour
of the guards.
According to Philip G. Zimbardo;
“There were three types of guards.
First, there were tough but fair guards
who followed prison rules. Second,
there were “good guys” who did little
favours for the prisoners and never
punished them. And finally, about
a third of the guards were hostile,
arbitrary, and inventive in their forms
of prisoner humiliation. These guards
appeared to thoroughly enjoy the
power they wielded, yet none of our
preliminary personality tests were
able to predict this behaviour.“
I have heard countless stories
of soldiers taking food to the
immigrants and helping them out
– these would be the “good guys”
described by Zimbardo. However,
unfortunately, there must also be the
hostile guards – the guards who have
been psychologically affected by the
power that they yield.
It seems to me that if Philip
Zimbardo were to visit Malta’s
detention centres he would get a
terrible sense of déjà vu.
CHECK OUT CLAUDINE CASSAR’S LATEST COLUMNS ON
http://www.maltatoday.com.mt/en/blogs
e
23
NEWS FOCUS
who appeared on behalf of the
Superintendent of Health and
who pleaded – amongst other
things – that licences were a
favour granted by the State and
not the right of the citizen.
This is a remnant of an old
school of thought coming from
Roman law where all powers
were vested in the Emperor –
‘Jure Imperii’, as one legal friend
of mine explained. It is true that
there is a bevy of old case law in
which this idea has been given
weight, but today everybody
recognises that human and civil
rights have more weight than the
whims of the State.
When I was young, I once heard
the owner of a village wine bar
referring to his trading licence
as the ‘supplika’ – a remnant
from the days when to get such
a trading licence one had to
supplicate and plead to the
sovereign – whether it was the
Grand Master in the Palace at
Valletta or the representative of
the one who lived in Buckingham
Palace – to grant him the
privilege of opening a wine bar.
These were privileges granted at
the leisure of the sovereign.
That in the year 2012, lawyers
representing one of the State’s
many tentacles insist that this
sovereign right prevails over
the ordinary citizen’s rights, is
an utter shame. I do not believe
that the government of the
day has such pretensions, but
allowing its lawyers to claim
them is a reflection of the way
the mandarins’ administrative
beliefs in the almighty state are
being given priority over the
government’s political beliefs
that have been relegated to being
played as a second fiddle.
The government’s political
beliefs should be understood by
its own lawyers who should not
be allowed to betray them by
taking legalistic stands that fly
in the face of these beliefs – for
they are the beliefs of the party
in government and of the voters
who elected it in power.
Anything else is a shame:
this is an area where fudge is
unacceptable and cannot be
allowed.
The author is a former PN
Cabinet minister and a popular
commentator
Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando’s attempt to involve Gordon
Pisani, John Dalli and two Labour MPs as well as
the Police Commissioner to prove his allegations on
Richard Cachia Caruana is pathetic
CHECK OUT MICHAEL FALZON’S LATEST COLUMNS ON
Migrants are human
beings as well
L
ast Wednesday I joined
hundreds of immigrants and
Maltese in a silent march
in Valletta, displaying a banner
with the words ‘Stop racism’. The
message meant to be delivered was
that the detention system is violent
and dehumanises immigrants
by treating them as sub-human
without any rights.
When I joined a march in Sliema
in favour of animal rights last
year, no one told me I should not
attend. But this time there were
people who told me not to attend
as I would risk losing votes. I had
no hesitation to attend – out of
personal conviction – and also
because I am the Labour Party’s
spokesman for Civil Rights.
As somebody with a Christian
upbringing and then embracing
the values of social democracy, I
believe that every person has to be
treated with dignity.
I agree totally with what Dutch
Socialist Senator Tneke Strik who
last Thursday commented about
the tragedy of the 54 migrants
who died of thirst in the channel
between Malta and Sicily: “Yet
again, a dinghy with 55 people
on board drifted for 15 days on
the Mediterranean. This time,
only one person survived. When
will this ever end?” Strik is the
rapporteur of the Parliamentary
Assembly of the Council of
Europe (PACE) on “Lives lost in
the Mediterranean Sea: who is
responsible?” She expressed her
great sadness and anger over the
deaths of another 54 boat people
fleeing Libya towards Italy: “It is
still not safe in Libya and the boats
will continue to arrive. Europe
knows that. I had hoped my report
on the ‘left-to-die boat’ would
serve as an eye-opener to prevent
Evarist
Bartolo
such tragedies happening time
and time again. States must never
hesitate to undertake immediate
action to rescue people, even if
they think someone else should be
responsible: every minute counts.
Governments in Europe, and
not only in the countries on the
southern shores of Europe, must
react, and take an equal share in
the protection of asylum seekers
arriving from Africa.”
During the silent march we
carried pictures of Mamdouh
Kamar who was killed recently.
Two soldiers who carry out security
duties at the Safi Detention Centre
are being charged with his murder.
Friends of Kamar who addressed
the crowd said that he had lived in
Malta for four years and had never
caused any trouble. They also said
it is not true that he was violent
towards other immigrants at the
detention centre just before he
escaped and was killed.
The eight-month old daughter of
Kamar was carried by her mother
in the crowd comprising Maltese
and Africans. Andre` Callus, who
addressed the crowd, said that
this was not a protest against
Malta or against those who work
in detention centres. “It is a wake
up call to those in power to tell
them: change the detention system,
treat immigrants as human beings,
otherwise there will continue to be
deaths like Kamar’s. Immigrants
are beaten regularly at the centre
and no one hears their stories as
the media is not allowed to talk to
them.”
Those who addressed the crowd
also said that there should be a
cultural change in Malta so that
people embrace diversity and live
at peace with each other like many
already do. They said they find
that many Maltese are kind and
welcoming.
I attended the walk because I
believe that the present system of
how the State treats immigrants in
Malta is inhumane.
Whatever the political rhetoric
used to camouflage the system,
the way migrants are treated in
detention centres is institutionally
racist. I hope that there will be
a comprehensive review and
overhaul of the system to make it
more humane. Keeping people in
conditions much worse than in
prison diminishes the humanity
of those caught in the system
either as migrants or as security
guards. Migrants are kept without
any rights and some of them have
been savagely beaten. It is a system
that dehumanises not only the
migrants but all those sent to guard
them without proper training and
resources.
Detention should be as short
as possible. The conditions in
which they are kept should be
much more civilised and humane.
Migrants should be treated as
human beings all the time. People
who are in charge of looking after
them should be well trained and
properly resourced. We should
embrace cultural diversity and be
open to each other’s differences.
We should prepare ourselves
better to become a multicultural
society. An inclusive society does
not happen on its own: treating
gays, persons with a disability, and
persons of other races and cultures
as full human beings is something
that does not come easy and we
have to work on it. Changing laws
is important but we also need to
change mindsets and behaviour.
Irregular migration is an
irreversible trend. It is not going to
go away in any region in the world,
let alone in the Mediterranean.
Apart from our international
obligations to look after these
migrants, there is a human and
Christian imperative to treat them
like our brothers and sisters. We
are so proud that we are mentioned
in the Acts of the Apostles as
welcoming Paul and being kind
to strangers. We should welcome
strangers amongst us. At the same
time I agree totally with the United
“Whatever
the political
rhetoric
used to
camouflage
the system,
the way
migrants are
treated in
detention
centres is
institutionally
racist”
Nations Commission for Human
Refugees (UNCHR) that Malta is
a small country and needs all the
European and international help
it can get to deal with the issue of
immigrants.
The author is shadow minister for
education
CHECK OUT EVARIST BARTOLO’S LATEST COLUMNS ON
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Rate a restaurant &
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I
don’t know about you, but a
small part of me somewhere
– probably not the part
you’re thinking about (you
dirty-minded so-and-so, etc) –
is actually looking forward to
reading Dr Lawrence Gonzi as
yet unpublished memoirs.
Not, mind you, because I am in
any way interested to know how
he himself actually perceived his
own slow and tortuous descent
from the vaguely promising
(which is roughly where he
started in 2003), all the way
down to his full-body immersion
into the totally ridiculous
(which is more or less where
he is right now). Oh, no. The
reason I am looking forward to
his autobiography is that – as a
rule – such publications tend to
emerge only once their authors
are themselves safely out of
office: in other words, when
they no longer wield any real
political power, and are therefore
incapable of inflicting any
further harm on themselves, or
their party, or (worse still, as far
as the rest of us are concerned)
the country as a whole.
[Note: here follows a lo-o-o-oo-ng pause…]
Sorry about that, folks. But for
some reason I was momentarily
distracted by the unexpected
vision of an imaginary country
which successfully freed itself
from its previous political
obsession with all things small
and petty: you know, the endless
internal squabbling and the
undignified bouts of public tubthumping… the eternal namecalling, which has been going
on for so long now that political
parties no longer even bother
insulting each other (being
altogether too busy insulting
their own members instead);
a country which somehow
managed to cure itself of its own
addiction to tiny little feats of
political mischief, and finally
managed to crawl bodily out
of the festering quagmire in
which it had been putrefying
for the past few decades; and
even made an effort to actually
get to grips with the many and
various problems afflicting its
own citizens… not merely for the
sake of preserving some odious
political status quo… but rather,
for the benefit of all the people
who call it home.
Ah, bliss! Small wonder I
would be struck dumb for a
few minutes, given the sheer,
unparalleled beauty of the
fleeting vision. But of course,
that was all it was: a momentary
hallucination, nothing more. The
country we really do call home
is now little more than a hostage
held to ransom by its own
government: a government led
by people who seem to genuinely
believe that their own prolonged
occupation of all power nodes,
bar none, is actually beneficial to
everybody else.
UNIVERSITY OF MALTA
L-Università ta’ Malta
Institute of Linguistics
Information event on the
B.Sc. (Hons) in Human Language Technology
20 July 2012, 1000hrs - 1200hrs
The Institute of Linguistics is organising an information activity to
present the new B.Sc. (Hons) course in Human Language Technology to
prospective students. The course looks at language from a cognitive and
structural point of view, and focuses especially on computational models
of language and intelligent systems that process human language.
Institute staff will to talk to those present, answer questions and do some
practical demonstrations in the labs.
The event is being held in the building of the Faculty of Media and
Knowledge Sciences (MaKS, formerly CCT - Centre for Information
Technology) at the University of Malta.
The Human Language Technology course is aimed both at students with
a background in Arts subjects (languages, sociology, etc.) and students
with a Science background (including IT and Mathematics).
For more information about HLT and about the course visit:
www.um.edu.mt/linguistics/overview/UBSCHHLNFT-2011-2-O
To apply online, go to: http://www.um.edu.mt/apply. The closing date for
applications is July 24, 2012.
25
NEWS FOCUS
usly (but seriously) wreck
arty
That’s right, folks. It really is
as simple as that. All the present
administration’s political energy
is now invested in nothing more
than what the late Robin Gibb (in
an irony that should really end
all ironies) once described as…
‘Stayin’ Alive’.
Not sure about you, but I swear
I can almost hear the backing
vocals (or ‘blogs’, as they are now
known) picking up the chorus
where Robin left off: “Ah, ah, ah,
ah… Stayin’ alive, Stayin’ alive…”
But of course, they never
actually take the song to the
next logical level, and explain
to us WHY they are so keen on
perpetuating their own survival
in the first place.
To what end, I wonder, is all this
frantic desperation? Certainly it
cannot be because the present
government feels it has a
programme to implement, or
anything like that. How can that
be the case, when for six whole
months government has not
actually managed to concentrate
on anything at all, except its own
internal problems... still less pass
legislation through a parliament
which has effectively been unable
to function in any coherent way
since last December, if not even
earlier?
But oh look, what I surprise: I’ve
digressed. Allow me to regress
back to the subject of Lawrence
Gonzi’s unpublished memoirs.
Like I said, I am rather looking
forward to reading them… in
fact… screw it: I think I’ll write
the darn thing myself. And no, I
won’t claim any royalties, either.
Gonzi can have the lot as far as
I’m concerned… after all he’s
already liberally helped himself
to everything else this country
has to offer: King, Cawdor,
Glamis, all, as the backing
vocalists promised.
Ready? Let’s start with the title:
which can be appreciated in the
form of a headline across the top
of this page. Then let’s continue
with:
Step One: Become party leader
Let’s face it: if you screw up this
part, your chances of seriously
(but SERIOUSLY) wrecking that
political party of yours will not
exactly be astronomical. But nor
will they be completely non-
existent, as both Jeffrey Pullicino
Orlando and Franco Debono have
managed to illustrate over the
past few months alone.
Still, you do need to lead the
party in order to fully ensure its
total and utter annihilation. And
what better way of becoming
party leader… than to simply be
appointed by your predecessor,
for no apparent reason other than
the fact that he couldn’t trust
anybody else for the job?
Oh, Ok, maybe it does help
to have a few ‘qualifications’
to bandy about… I don’t
know… having been a glorified
employee of one of Malta’s
most powerful family-owned
companies, perhaps… or hang
on, I know: how about a CV
which culminates in the words
‘President: Catholic Action”?
Either way, for maximum
party-wrecking potential, it
is advisable to also possess no
discerning characteristics at all,
other than the misplaced trust
of a much-loved ‘father-figure’
(whom you can always afterwards
blame for having appointed you
in the first place… which is what
that other party-wrecker, known
by the initials KMB, once did.
Remember?)
Step Two: Eliminate all your
potential rivals and engender a
culture of endemic mistrust
Let’s get one thing clear: it
doesn’t really matter if you fail
to actually make the kill. The
important first step in utterly
destroying a party is to instil
division and ill-feeling among its
rank and file… and in fact, if they
manage to survive your attempts
at subtle liquidation, so much the
better. They will only eventually
return with a vengeance and
an axe to grind… and as we all
know, vengeance (coupled with
grindable axes) is precisely
the sort of thing that causes
maximum damage to both party
and leader in one fell swoop.
But in case you were wondering
how to unsuccessfully liquidate
rivals in such a way as to ensure
their dramatic return for
revenge… well, there’s no triedand-tested method we can all
agree upon. Some say that it is
enough to publicly hammer nails
in their coffin when they are
under suspicion of corruption…
for instance, by simply uttering
a well-timed one-liner such as
“I cannot have a minister under
investigation”, and then leave the
media to do the rest of your dirty
work for you.
Others however contend
that it is best to orchestrate a
fully-fledged media campaign
yourself (complete with backing
vocals) aimed at shredding not
only the rival in question, but
also all their relatives, living or
dead, down seven generations at
minimum.
Whichever method you
choose, make sure you leave
no door ajar for any possible
future reconciliation. This way,
when they do come back a few
years later wielding that axe for
all to see, you can always try
to belatedly appease them by
making them an offer they can’t
refuse.
And to maximize the damage
this will eventually cause to your
own party and yourself, make
damn sure you promote them
to an international position of
respect and authority… so that
they can afterwards turn out to
be a right royal pain in the arse
all the way from Brussels.
Yes, indeed, now there’s a touch
of party-wrecking genius if there
ever was one: to appoint your
own sworn enemies to positions
of authority over yourself
and your entire government.
Why didn’t I think that up for
myself…?
Step Three: create unnecessary
ideological divisions, just for the
heck of it
Ok, I admit this one’s a rather
basic, O-level sort of partywrecking trick… but damn it, it
works every time. In fact it works
especially well after you’ve also
given your assurance that you
would do the very opposite: so
you might want to start off your
entire stint as party leader by
proclaiming a ‘new way of doing
politics’.
Once you get that out of the
way, you can immediately launch
into any number of archaic,
ultra-conservative campaigns
that make even your predecessor
(the ‘family guy’, remember?)
look ‘liberal’ and ‘avant-garde’ by
comparison. And when members
of your own party try to draw
Spring and Summer collection
your attention to the fact that
this new direction is seriously
(but SERIOUSLY) worrying
certain crucial sectors of your
party’s power base… you let
slip the dogs of war: portraying
them all as baby-killers who are
hell-bent on destroying Maletse
traditional family life, etc.
Step Four: piss off all the
different categories of your own
supporters… systematically, one
by one.
Naturally there are a million
ways to piss people off. I do it
by writing about them… and
they return the compliment
by reading my articles and
responding in kind. But party
leaders are particularly wellpositioned to piss people off.
Honestly: imagine you were the
newly appointed leader of a party
whose supporters included the
vast majority of middle class
citizens, who happen to feel very
strongly about the environment…
perhaps not the real environment
(as in, resources, ecosystems,
and so on…); more like the
urban environment they actually
encounter in their everyday lives:
the traditional architecture, the
village cores, the need for open
spaces, stuff like that.
Well: wouldn’t it piss them
all off royally, if you were to
(for instance) suddenly and
inexplicably increase the
country’s development zones by
an area roughly equivalent to the
footprint of, say… Siggiewi? And
wouldn’t it just infuriate your
party’s same environmentally
conscious supporters beyond
all reasonable measure, if you
also used the same orchestrated
media campaign to rubbish and
ridicule their otherwise justified
howls of protest?
Step Five: help yourself to
absolutely everything, while
telling everybody else to ‘make
sacrifices’
You will probably have realized
by now that it’s actually the
small, inconsequential and rather
silly little things that really
incense people out there…and
not the really big and important
cock-ups at all.
For instance: you can
mismanage the country’s
finances all you like, and even
engineer a whopping great big €6
billion budget deficit to boot…
and guess what? Nobody will so
much as bat an eyelid.
But just so much as think about
helping yourself to an ultimately
meaningless little pay-rise
without actually bothering to
inform anyone beforehand…
and you can rest assured that
Armageddon will be unleashed.
So if you want to make yourself
seriously (but SERIOUSLY)
unpopular, then a simple increase
to your own pay packet – even
if this has a negligible effect on
the economy as a whole, and is
in any case entirely justifiable if
presented properly – should do
the trick all on its own.
Just imagine, therefore, how
much more of an effect it will
have, if – on top of augmenting
your own salary behind
everybody’s back, and then
trying unsuccessfully to play the
whole thing down the moment
you are caught red-handed– you
also oversee a series of arbitrary
decisions, such as the overnight
removal of a subsidy on energy
bills, that will eat directly into
the same people’s expendable
income… why, what is that, if not
the equivalent of hitting the Mr
Unpopular Jackpot?
At this point, all that remains
to seal your doom is to openly
make fun of and belittle people’s
claims to be suffering economic
hardships… by laughing directly
in their faces, and telling them all
that ‘they don’t know how lucky
they are’ (while simultaneously
cashing your own newly acquired
500 euro cheque for a week’s
‘work’)…
And if, at this point, the streets
are not lined with lynch mobs, all
baying for your blood… well, all
I can say is: you don’t know how
lucky you are. Really…
CHECK OUT RAPHAEL VASSALLO’S LATEST COLUMNS ON
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Republic Street, Valletta
Tel: 2723 3386
(next to the Courts)
26
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Letters
to the
be concise.
No pen names are accepted.
Road in Hal Mula area
left in state of disarray
My family and I live in Triq Hal
Mula, Haz Zebbug. In the summer
of 2011, works began in the Hal
Mula area of Zebbug to provide
much needed resurfacing to the
area’s roads. The contractor resurfaced a number of these over the
coming weeks and months, and it
was with a sense of eager anticipation that I called the local council
for a date when Triq Hal Mula
would be completed.
I was informed that this would be
one of the last as work would also
take place to lay pipes and cables.
Fair enough, but at least it seemed
that the work would be done by the
end of 2011. However, Christmas
rolled around and still the road was
in as bad a state as ever. Its condition highlighted by the fact the
adjoining road had been resurfaced
months before and is now a pleasure to traverse.
In January of this year (2012) a
contractor dug a trench the length
of Triq Hal Mula (on the left hand
side towards the village) to lay a
pipe. This was roughly filled in just
with earth and rubble, due to the
fact that the road was due to be resurfaced shortly. However a month
or more passed and still nothing.
Then in April, the same contractor dug a second trench on the
opposite side of the road, again only
roughly filling in the trench with
rubble and dirt. This work left the
residential street in a much worse
stare than before.
Now the road is left looking like
a war zone. There are deep craters,
rocks and pot holes everywhere
and because the trenches were not
capped, every time a vehicle passes
a dust cloud smothers the entire
road.
At the end of April, the contractor removed the surface of the road
further down from my residence
and subsequently disappeared,
PN secretive on ‘Yes’ to
accession campaign
10 years ago – 14 July 2002
A road in the Hal Mula area of
Zebbug has been left in a state of
disarray after a contractor had a
trench dug the length of the road
leaving raised manhole covers, dirt,
dust and everything else associated
with building sites.
Malta has just been through the
hottest June for many years, and
the residents of this area are unable
to open windows to provide much
needed relief from the heat. Walking down the street is now a health
hazard. The amount of dust and
other airborne particulate matter
is at dangerous levels, particularly
for children and the elderly. This
is leading to respiratory problems
such as asthma and eye infections.
On top of this, the uneven surface
is a danger to traffic and pedestrians alike. I have lost count of the
number of children I have seen trip
over rocks, protruding from the
road surface.
The trenching works have left
potholes six inches deep in places.
KNZ 20th anniversary
This year marks the 20th anniversary of the National Youth
Council (KNŻ), a voluntary and
autonomous NGO.
Over 150 individuals have
served within the council
throughout these 20 years. KNŻ
will be organising an event to
mark this anniversary for which
all alumni will be invited. Thus
KNŻ is kindly asking those who
served in the council to get in
touch with us by sending an email to [email protected].
Karl Agius
PRO, KNZ
Floriana
Malian man’s alleged murder
Malta, summer 2012. A young
man from Mali is found to have
been beaten to death. One week
later, two marches are planned in
Valletta – one in solidarity with
migrants, the other in solidarity
with the Armed Forces of Malta
personnel being accused of his
murder.
To a certain extent, could
AFM soldiers also be considered
‘victims’ of the racist peoplefiltering system, being forced to
take on the role of oppressors?
No justification for a murder, of
course. Sometimes, where compassion begins, justice ends.
What if both sides were to
march together, to denounce
the detention system as a whole,
which creates the environment
for frustration, fury and violence
in the first place?
Malta, summer 2012. Dream
on.
Antoine Cassar
Via e-mail
YOUR FIRST CLICK
OF THE DAY
Apart from the obvious trip hazard,
the damage to vehicles suspension
and steering has to be taken into
account.
We have now entered the month
of July and still there is no end in
sight to these works. Calls to the
local council leave one frustrated
and none the wiser as to when the
works will be finished.
The situation has now become
unacceptable. The local council
have no idea when the contractor
will (if ever) return to the job, and
seem in no rush to replace them.
I appreciate that the country has
pressing matters that need to be
dealt with, however we have been
suffering for over seven months and
we still have no end in sight.
Daniel Jones
Zebbug
The Nationalist Party remained tight-lipped about
the impending ‘Yes’ referendum campaign with
official quarters giving no
hint regarding the launch
date.
As parliament went into
summer recess, expectations were that come
September the PN would
start gearing itself for the
referendum campaign.
Former Prime Minister
Eddie Fenech Adami had
quashed rumours during a
public speech two weeks prior
that the general election, or
the referendum, was going to
be held during the summer or
soon after.
The ‘Yes’ campaign was left
in the hands of the Iva Movement but lacked the forcefulness of a full-on referendum
campaign.
The PN would bring to the proEU campaign more electoral
strategy and grassroots contact, especially in sectors such
as fishing and agriculture,
where resistance to membership is high, but may prove to
be invaluable. The negotiating
process with the EU was slow-
Eddie Fenech Adami
ly reaching the crucial stage
with contentious and highly
sensitive electoral issues such
as VAT, hunting and the environment up for discussion.
The European Union would be
issuing its progress update report in October and Malta was
expected to have a clear indication whether it would make
it in the next enlargement.
The scenario left a big question
mark on whether the March local elections would be held.
The PN had good cause to be
wary of a local electoral test so
close to a referendum, given
that the Labour Party managed to win both in 2002 and
2001’s rounds of local council
elections.
Giving Gozo its due
A discussion was held at the
Circolo Gozitano on 4 May 2012
on the proposed amendments to
the Code of Organisation and Civil
Procedure affecting the set up of
Gozo’s Law Courts.
Members of parliament from
Gozo were invited including Justice
Minister Chris Said, Labour MPs
Anton Refalo and Justyne Caruana
and Opposition spokesman on
Justice Affairs Jose’ Herrera. The
discussion was very well attended,
mostly by lawyers, practicising in
the island of Gozo.
Caruana, who last year had tabled
a motion which triggered the drafting process, pointed out the clear
anomaly in the aims and purposes
of the motion and the provisions
of the proposed amendments. The
purpose of the motion was primarily to restore Gozo’s courts to the
dignity it deserves, namely to be a
Superior Court presided by a judge.
At the moment the Gozo Court
is an Inferior Court presided by
a magistrate, dealing also with
superior matters. Certain remedies
such as a Constitutional complaints as well as action relating to
Fundamental Human Rights were
beyond the present scope of the
Gozo courts. In this manner one
would not only restore to Gozo
the institution that belongs to it
historically but also stengthen the
regional insitutions of the island, if
one were to, afterall, regard Gozo
as a region while at the same time
better serve Gozitans and their
access to justice.
On the other hand, the proposed
amendments were doing the very
opposite. They were eliminating
all vestiges of the Gozo Courts as a
Muncipal Court if they existed at
all, and only extending the jurisdiction of the courts in Malta to Gozo.
This was not the intention behind
the motion tabled by Caruana.
Refalo stated that in his opinion
the proposed amendments were
useful because they were going to
eliminate odious features in the
law of procedure relating to the
‘privilegium fori’ and at the same
time working the whole sytem
between Malata and Gozo’s courts
to become more streamlined. In
this manner and in his opinion a
lot of time will be saved and there
will be less opportunities to use
delaying tactics.
Herrera referred to the fact that
since time immemorial the Gozitans always prided themselves with
having their own local institutions
to which they felt much closer than
the central government. Evidence
of this is the fact that in recent
history, the Gozitans had their
own political party, their own Civil
Council and their own Diocese.
Earlier on in its history, Gozo had
a governor as the head of the civil
administration and its own universitas. It would be fitting now, if we
are to consider Gozo as a region of
the Maltese islands, that Gozo will
have its own municipal court.
Said meanwhile agreed that the
bill proposed a need to be amended
so as to reflect the spirit and
aims behind the motion promoting these amendments. He also
averred to the fact that a lot of
improvements had been carried
out in the Gozo Courts including pioneer projects which in due
time will be implemented in the
Maltese Courts as well. He also
stated that the present building
housing the Gozo Courts was no
longer able to serve the demands of
today’s working load, and for this
reason the government had already
earmarked a location to which
eventually the Gozo Courts will be
transferred.
He also promised that the proposed bill together with the suggested amendments will be made
law before parliament adjourns for
the summer recess.
Frank Masini
Victoria
27
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Editorial
Where does all this lead?
On Thursday, the PN executive announced that
the three ‘rebel’ government MPs would not be
allowed to contest the next election on the PN
ticket.
Considering that two of these three MPs –
Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando and Jesmond Mugliett
– had already made it abundantly clear that they
would not contest the forthcoming election
anyway, this latest development would appear
to leave everything exactly as it was before the
vote was taken.
With one significant difference: Gonzi’s government has finally ceased to pussyfoot around
the central issue of its own backbencher revolt.
Following this latest action, there can be no shying away from the fact that government is officially at ‘war’ with three of its own members…
though how this same war will develop in the
immediate future remains difficult to guess.
One thing is however certain: government
can no longer rely on its majority in the House,
especially now that one of the three (Franco
Debono) has openly declared he will no longer
support Lawrence Gonzi’s administration ‘so
long as it has Austin Gatt as a minister’.
Admittedly, this does not de facto translate
into a Constitutional crisis. Parliament is currently in recess: which also means that the three
MPs will simply not have the opportunity to
vote against their government until October at
the earliest.
From this perspective alone, the Nationalist
Party clearly played its cards with its customary political finesse. The timing of events was
painstakingly contrived in order to preemptively limit the MPs’ options, while maximise the
PN’s own room for manoeuvre: starting with
the hurried closure of Parliament itself, which
effectively robbed the MPs of the only weapon
in their arsenal.
This is all very clever from a purely political
viewpoint. But the sad truth of the matter is
that the ingenuity at work behind the scenes
has clearly been invested only in ensuring that
Gonzi survives for as long as possible… to the
exclusion of all other considerations.
Hence the exorbitant price at which this latest
Pyrrhic victory has been bought: effectively,
all government’s resources have now been
channelled only into its own survival, with little
or nothing to spare for the many issues that urgently need to be addressed on a national level.
Gonzi himself has also paid a price, this time
in terms of credibility. Thursday’s meeting was
supposed to reinforce the view of a prime minister fully in control of own his party and government. But the way the event unfolded, very
strongly suggested the opposite. The decision
to take the vote by show of hands, in such an atmosphere of tension and belligerence, smacked
heavily of the suspicion that Gonzi could not
trust the executive council with a secret ballot.
Under such circumstances, one wonders how
much of the ‘unanimous’ support he received on
Thursday was actually genuine.
Worse still for Gonzi’s image was the sudden
reappearance of Eddie Fenech Adami at the
executive council meeting. By turning up the
way he did, Fenech Adami merely underscored
the fact (often complained about in private by
Nationalist supporters) that what is currently
lacking in the PN is precisely the style of leadership associated with his own long reign – a
reign which, unlike Gonzi’s, was also characterised by unswerving support from his parliamentary group.
To be fair, however, the blame for this state of
affairs cannot be laid completely at the prime
minister’s door. The backbenchers themselves
must also be held accountable for the impossible demands they have occasionally made of
their party: Debono, for instance, for failing to
back down when the prime minister gave into
his request to split the justice and home affairs
minister; and Pullicino Orlando for insisting
to expel Gonzi’s staunchest supporter (Richard
Cachia Caruana) after he had received a vote of
censure in parliament.
All the same, the government’s handling of
such matters was far from unimpeachable, and
what we are left with is a grossly untenable
situation for any country to find itself in. Indeed, one would be justified in asking whether
it truly is in the national interest for the Gonzi
administration to see through its full term (as,
understandably enough, Gonzi himself has all
along argued).
But how can it possibly be in “the national
interest”, for the national interest itself to be
constantly sidelined and made subordinate
to the interest of the PN and its leader? Who
gains from a situation where Parliament has
been unable to function for over half a year?
And how does prolonging the status quo benefit anyone at all… including Gonzi himself,
who is ultimately only prolonging his own
humiliation by clinging on so desperately for
so long?
As for the rebels, at this stage there is effectively little or nothing stopping them from
breaking away from the PN altogether: either
to form a new party, or more likely still to set
themselves up as independent MPs until the
next election. Again, one will have to wait until
October for the resulting crisis to be felt in full
force… but this is perhaps the
best thing that has emerged from Thursday’s
showdown.
With government finally biting the bullet
cutting its rebels loose, it is no longer a question of ‘if’ a Constitutional crisis occurs…
but rather, ‘when’: with the likeliest answer
remaining next October, immediately upon the
reopening of Parliament.
Quote of the week
“It was unfair to ban the MPs from the list for not having observed the whip in one case, when they had voted several times against their own wishes.”
Backbencher Jesmond Mugliett during the PN’s executive meeting on Thursday.
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THIS WEEK
THIS WEEK
CULTURE | TV | FILM
CINEMA LISTINGS
FOOD | WHAT’S ON
Rising star of jazz piano to
at the Malta Jazz Festival
Among the musical luminaries taking part in the 22nd edition of the
Malta Arts Festival is the Armenian-born Tigran Hamasyan, who will
be performing on July 20, when he will share the stage with Terri
Lyne Carrington, Diane Reeves and the Carlo Muscat/Alex Bezzina
Project
TIGRAN Hamasyan, born in
1987 in Armenia is a winner
of several competitions, including the prestigious Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz
competition. At the age of 24,
Hamasyan has already seduced
numerous audiences in the major festivals across the world.
His music, intensely lyrical,
finds inspiration in the folk
melodies of Armenia but is also
deeply rooted in the American
jazz tradition and in his album
Red Hail we can also find elements of metal and progressive
rock.
His latest album on Verve
records entitled A Fable is a
solo piano album of haunting
melodies heavily inspired by
Armenian folk songs.
Hamasyan performs at the
Malta Jazz Festival on Friday,
July 20.
He will be accompanied by
Sam Minaie on bass and Nate
Wood on drums.
The 22nd edition of the Malta Jazz Festival will be held on
July 19, 20 and 21 at Ta’ Liesse,
Grand Harbour in Valletta.
For more information and a
full programme of events, log on
to: www.maltajazzfestival.org.
Tigran Hamasyan
Almost-Maltese painters
take on the world of music
TWO ‘foreign but local’ artists
will be exhibiting their work at
Opus 64 Galerie, Tigne Street,
Sliema from next Wednesday as part of In Tune with
Jazz. Though they come from
different countries – one is
Macedonian, the other British
– and though they hail from
different generations and cultural backgrounds, their paintings find a common ground in
their enduring relationship to
the Maltese islands.
The artists – Ljupco Samardziski and Jeni Caruana –
also share a common passion
in their tendency to depict
musicians in live performance.
Much like Wassily Kandinsky worked by ‘visualising’
music in his paintings during
the 1920s – hoping that they
would be ‘heard’ by audiences
– Caruana and Samardziski
mirror these same values.
Their love for music and
movement can be are seen in
many of their most interesting and vibrant works. Both
in sense of colour, movement
and composition manage to
draw the audience into their
world of music and performing arts.
The exhibition will run until July 24. Opening hours:
10:00 to 13:00 and 17:00 to
19:00 (Monday to Saturday).
For private viewing and more
information: 21 323206, 79
496419, info@[email protected].
mt, www.opus64galerie.com.
Nightwalk by Jeni Caruana
Untitled by Ljupco Samardziski
29
maltatoday,
SPIDER
SENSE
pg 34
o perform
Tonight: Wayne
Marshall performs
free organ recital
WORLDRENOWNED virtuoso
organist Wayne Marshall will perform a free concert as part of the
Malta Arts Festival tonight at the
Church of St Augustine in Valletta.
The Recital inaugurates the recent
refurbishment of the pipe organ
built in 1952 by the Mascioni firm
of Varese, Italy.
The recital will simultaneously
serve as the inauguration of the
newly refurbished Mascioni pipeorgan within the priory.
Marshall will also be conducting
the Malta Philharmonic Orchestra
for the closing night of the Malta
Arts Festival on July 18.
This priory’s pipe-organ was
built in 1952 by the Mascioni firm
of Varese, Italy. Mascioni, which
also built the organ in St John’s
Co-Cathedral in 1960, is the oldest
active Italian organ builder having
been founded in 1829. Over half-acentury of being played, the organ
started to show obvious signs of decay. The Augustinian community
decided to take immediate action
before the organ deteriorated further and appointed organ-restorer
Robert Buhagiar of Zabbar to take
charge of the extensive refurbishment works.
Born in the UK, Wayne Marshall
swiftly established an international reputation as an organist and pianist. Today he is in great demand
as a conductor and was appointed
Principal Guest Conductor of the
Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano
Giuseppe Verdi in September 2007.
He has appeared at the BBC Proms
on a number of occasions. In 2010,
HRH Prince of Wales inducted
Marshall as a Fellow of the Royal
Wayne Marshall
College of Music in London in recognition of the conductor’s musical achievements. Currently based
in Malta, last month Marshall was
appointed as Artistic Director for
Malta’s bid to become European
Capital for Culture in 2018.
The recital will begin at 21:00.
PROGRAMME FOR THE NIGHT
Wayne Marshall: Intrada
Improvisée
J.S. Bach: Prelude & Fugue in E
flat BWV 552
W.A.Mozart: Fantasia in F
minor K608
J. Bonnet: Songe d’enfant
Franz Schmidt: Variations &
Fugue on a theme from the
opera Fredigundis
O. Messiaen: Dieu Parmi Nous
(La Nativite)
Wayne Marshall: Improvisée
– On themes suggested by the
audience
DELECTABLE
DUBAI
pg 35
SUNDAY, 15 JULY 2012
LUSCIOUS
LEMONS
pgs 36, 37
Winter on a
summer’s day
In this sweltering
heat, a play with
the title The
Winter’s Tale is
bound to attract
attention – more
so when it’s
actually from the
pen of William
Shakespeare.
TEODOR RELJIC
speaks to actress
Nicola Abela
Garrett – who
will be taking
on the role of
Perdita – about
the MADC’s
return to San
Anton Gardens
for their annual
appointment
with the Bard
How does it feel to be back in
San Anton?
This will be my first time performing at San Anton Gardens, in
my beloved hometown of Attard! It
is both an honour and a privilege to
be working in such an environment
which has housed and formed the
great MADC Shakespeare tradition
for so many years. The atmosphere
of the gardens goes so well with the
story of The Winter’s Tale, and by
transforming a recreational space
by day, familiar to so many Maltese
families, into a performance space
by night, will certainly serve as an
exciting arena for our audience.
The Winter’s Tale might not
be the most popular of Shakespeare’s works. How do you hope
to make it attractive and palatable to audiences, particularly
for people who may not have a
scholarly knowledge of the Bard’s
works?
I think it’s a fresh break from
the usual big ‘uns of Shakespeare.
It shouldn’t always be King Lear
or Othello or Romeo and Juliet.
People may not know the ending
of The Winter’s Tale, so by telling a new story, our audience will
be more inclined to follow the plot
as it unfolds. As performers, it’s always refreshing to work with new
material and unknown characters.
Nicola Abela Garrett
I didn’t have a pre-conceived idea
of Perdita, as I have for Juliet or Lady Macbeth, and as I delve into her
character, it’s like getting to know
someone and later realising that
she’s quite an under-appreciated
gem in Shakespeare’s collection of
roles.
What are some of the enduring
themes of this particular play –
do you think it remains relevant
to our times?
The play deals with jealousy, fatherhood, young love, and class
difference, to mention a few. We’re
human – we get jealous and suspicious, we experience young stupid
love, and no matter how much
our politics have evolved, there’s
always the issue of hierarchy in
every society. We see the obstacle
of royal duties getting in the way of
love. But if it’s good for Prince William, it’s good for Florizel. I’m sure
Charles didn’t kick up a fuss when
Kate nabbed Wills. Perdita, eventually, gets her charming handsome
prince, and love conquers all.
Could you describe what the energy between the cast and crew is
like as you prep for the performance?
We’re lucky enough to be a troupe
of actors who have been working
together for a good five years. We’re
practically siblings. We know each
other’s reactions, moods and energies, and we’re as tight-knit as they
come. Polly [March, the director] is
like a mother to us, guiding us and
enlightening us about new ways
of approaching the Bard… and it’s
a learning experience from which
we are all greatly benefitting. (She
also makes awesome sandwiches
and curries.) Re-introducing the
MADC’s Shakespeare at San Anton is a huge responsibility for us,
I feel, but we’re close enough as a
group to know that we can rock on
as we already have in the past.
The play, naturally, requires
an ensemble cast. Having experienced the assembled mix of Maltese talent that will make up the
play, how would you describe the
level of talent on show?
As I’ve said before, it’s a fantastic
advantage to have known each other for so long. We all complement
each other and give a little something that makes the production
whole, and we deliver our fortes
to the max, all managed by Polly’s
refined but raw direction and guidance.
The Winter’s Tale will be playing
from July 25 to 29. All performances start at 20:45. Tickets at €18 can
be booked from www.madc.biz
30
THIS WEEK
WHAT’S ON
MALTA ARTS
FESTIVAL –
FINAL WEEK
The Malta Arts Festival will be
running until July 18, except
for the collective exhibition
Wicc imb Wicc, which will
remain on display until July
22. For free events patrons are
kindly requested to collect their
tickets from The Malta Council
for Culture and the Arts offices,
Casa Gaspe, 230, Republic
Street Valletta, between 09:00
and 12:30, Monday to Friday.
More information: http://www.
maltaartsfestival.org.
JULY 16
FEW Trio
Concert at Argotti Gardens,
Floriana, 21:00. Featuring
Louis Winsberg (guitar),
Renaud Garcia-Fons (Double
Bass), Prabhu Edouard (Tabla).
Entrance is at €20, with €15
concessions.
Wayne Marshall Organ Recital
World-renowned virtuoso
organist performs on the organ
of the Church of St Augustine
in Valletta at 21:00. The
Recital inaugurates the recent
refurbishment of the pipe organ
built in 1952 by the Mascioni
firm of Varese, Italy. Entrance
is free.
A LA TURCA – BERIVAN SERIN
Turkish music party at Coach and
Horses, Valley Road, Msida at the
helm of Berivan from 21:00.
RELIGIOUS FEASTS
JULY 17
A Thousand Thoughts
Concert by the renowned
American ensemble Kronos
Quartet at the Argotti Gardens,
Floriana, 21:00. Featuring,
amongst others, music by
two celebrated contemporary
composers, Sofia Gabaidulina
and Laurie Anderson. Entrance
is at €20, with €15 concessions.
JULY 18
TONIGHT
WHAT’S ON
TODAY
Porgy and Bess
Wayne Marshall conducts the
Malta Philharmonic Orchestra
in Gershwin’s all time favorite
Porgy and Bess in concert
version at the Mediterranean
Conference Centre, Valletta
from 21:00. Entrance is at €25,
€20 with €15 concessions.
Bookings: 25 595750/1,
http://booking.mcc.com.mt/
Event/1197/.
Various religious feasts will be
taking place across the island today,
including Feast of Our Lady of Holy
Doctrine (Hal Tarxien), Feast of St
NIGHTLIFE
JULY 14
From Grease to Black Eyed Peas
Decades-spanning party by Reflex
Promotions at Gianpula Main Room
and Groove Gardens, limits of Rabat,
from 21:00. Featuring DJ Alex Grech
spinning a variety of music from
the ‘60s to contemporary pop hits.
Tickets are at €6 (€8 at the door).
Bookings: 99 448080, or through
Facebook (search for ‘Alex Grech’)
and www.reflexmalta.com.
FRIDAYS
Bridge Bar Jazz Sessions
Night of jazz at Bridge Bar, Victoria
Sebastian (Hal Qormi) and the Feast
of St George (Gozo).
ARABESQUE BURLESQUE!
Another edition of The Dazzle
Troupe’s cult-favourite burlesque
show, at Marsamxett Regata Club
(Zmerc City), Marsamxett Road,
Valletta from 21:00. The variety
show, featuring comedy sketches,
belly dancing, music and more, will
have an ‘Arabian Nights’ theme.
Tickets are at €10 and can be booked
through www.creativeisland.com.
mt.
Gate, Valletta from 21:00 till late.
Rotating line up of jazz musicians
includes Marc Galea, Lawrie
Simpson, Walter Vella, Effie
Azzopardi and Eric Santucci.
THEATRE
JULY 25-29
The Winter’s Tale
MADC returns to San Anton
Gardens, Attard with their annual
Shakespeare production. Directed
by Polly March, the cast includes
Philip Leone Ganado, Yannick Massa,
Simone Spiteri, Joe Zammit, Nathan
Brimmer, Coryse Borg, Nickola
Abela Garrett, Michael Mangion,
Joe Depasquale, David Chircop and
Luke Farrugia. Tickets are at €18.
Bookings: www.madc.biz, 79 796232.
EXHIBITIONS
MARSOVIN SUMMER WINE
FESTIVAL
Annual wine and food festival
at Hastings Gardens, Valletta
from 20:00 to 00:30. Featuring a
variety of wines and food stalls,
as well as live music. Token Fee:
€10 (get €10 worth of tokens
with which you can taste up to
14 wines, drink by the bottle
or by the glass – the fee also
includes a Premium Festival
wine glass to take home).
Under-17s are not allowed to
consume any wine.
For more information: 99 292488,
www.lilyagiusgallery.com.
UNTIL JULY 29
Peasant Costumes: Insights into
rural life and society
An exhibition of authentic peasant
costumes at Ministry for Gozo,
Victoria. Featuring kabozza, the terha
and ħorga, the typical waistcoat,
the qorq, the gezwira, culqana and
to a certain extent the ghonnella,
among others. Organised by Heritage
Malta. Opening hours: 08:30 –
12:30 (weekdays). 09:00am till noon
(Saturdays). Closed on Sundays.
UNTIL JULY 29
L-Ghawdxija by Clare Borg
An exhibition of photographs by
Clare Borg will be held at Banca
Giuratale, Independence Square,
Victoria. Opening hours are at 08:00
to 15:00 from Monday to Friday,
09:00 to 12:00 on Saturdays and
Sundays. For more information
contact: 79 280205
UNTIL JULY 20
UNTIL OCTOBER 31
Walks of Life
Collective photographic exhibition
at the Malta Tourism Authority,
Merchants Street, Valletta. Featuring
works by Louis Agius, Stephen
Buhagiar, Leonard Cocks, Mark
Micallef, Ray Muscat and David
Sant. Opening hours: 07:30-17:30
(Mondays and Wednesdays); 07:30
to 14:00 (Tuesdays, Thursdays and
Fridays).
The Art and History of Counting
Prayers
Exhibition of rare rosary beads,
Archconfraternity articles dedicated
to ‘Our Lady of the Rosary’ and other
related liturgical works at Palazzo de
Piro, Mdina. Opening hours: daily
from 10:00 to 17:00.
FOLKLORE
UNTIL JULY 21
Quixotic
Exhibition of paintings by Selina
Scerri at Lily Agius Gallery, Sliema
created over the last year in Madrid,
Rome and Malta. Opening hours:
11:00 to 13:00; 16:00 to 19:00
(Tuesday to Friday) and 11:00 to
13:00 (Saturday), or by appointment.
UNTIL JULY 17
Fiori d’Argenta
Festival celebrating local traditions,
feast decorations, exhibitions, farmers
market, horse parades, historic sites,
local talent and other entertainment
at St John the Baptist Square, Xewkija.
More information: 21 558822.
31
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Boy 14:49 Great Women 15:00 Agatha Christie’s Poirot
16:53 SMS 17:00 JAG 18:00 JAG 19:00 Agatha Christie’s Marple 20:53 Parole D’Amore 21:00 ER 21:55 ER
22:50 Maybe 23:00 Mystery Woman
THE STYLE NETWORK 352
ZONE REALITY 308
06:00 Lifeline 06:50 Border Force 07:40 Medical Detectives 08:05 Medical Detectives 08:30 Trauma 09:20 Final Justice with Erin Brockovich 10:10 Gift of Life 11:00
Baby ER 11:25 Baby ER 11:50 Lifeline 12:40 Medical
Detectives 13:05 Medical Detectives 13:30 Trauma
14:20 Final Justice with Erin Brockovich 15:10 Gift of
Life 16:00 Baby ER 16:25 Baby ER 16:50 Border Force
17:40 Bounty Hunters 18:30 Medical Detectives 18:55
Medical Detectives 19:20 The Force 19:45 The Force
20:10 Unsolved Mysteries 21:00 Dark Waters of Crime
21:50 Forensic Investigators 22:40 Creepy 23:30 The
Real NCIS
ITV GRANADA 309
06:00 Party Wars 07:00 Doc Martin 08:00 Emmerdale
10:00 Coronation Street 12:00 Britain’s Best Dish 13:00
Sorority Girls 14:00 Are You an Egghead? 15:00 Doc
Martin 16:00 White Van Man 16:30 Miranda 17:00 Are
You an Egghead? 18:00 Britain’s Best Dish 19:00 House
Gift 20:00 Jericho 22:00 Chatsworth 23:00 Moving On
TCM 310
06:00 The Philadelphia Story [U] 07:55 Police Academy 7: Mission to Moscow [PG] 09:25 Charlie and the
Chocolate Factory [PG] 11:35 Driven [PG] 13:45 Now,
Voyager [A] 16:00 The Horse Soldiers [U] 18:20 Siege at
Red River [U] 20:05 Eight Legged Freaks [12] 22:00 Hell
06:00 Videofashion News 06:30 Videofashion News
07:00 Videofashion Daily 08:00 Videofashion Daily
08:55 Designer Marathon 09:50 Videofashion News
10:20 Videofashion News 10:50 Fashion Classics 11:20
Fashion Classics 11:50 Videofashion Daily 12:45 Open
House 13:15 Open House 13:45 The Amandas 14:40
The Amandas 15:35 Kimora: Life in the Fab Lane 16:30
Kimora: Life in the Fab Lane 17:25 How Do I Look? 18:25
How Do I Look? 19:20 How Do I Look? 20:15 Glamour’s
25 Biggest Do’s and Don’ts 21:10 Big Rich Texas 22:05
Jerseylicious 23:00 Jerseylicious
FOOD NETWORK HD 372
06:00 Food Network Challenge 06:50 Kid in a Candy
Store 07:15 Barefoot Contessa: Back to Basics 07:40
Paula’s Best Dishes 08:05 World Café 08:30 Easy Chinese: San Francisco 08:55 Extra Virgin 09:20 Everyday
Italian 09:45 Unwrapped 10:10 Unique Eats 10:35 Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives 11:00 Food Network Challenge
11:50 Grill It! with Bobby Flay 12:15 Cooking for Real
12:40 Barefoot Contessa: Back to Basics 13:05 Mexican
Made Easy 13:30 Kid in a Candy Store 13:55 Paula’s Best
Dishes 14:20 Extra Virgin 14:45 Chopped 15:35 Cooking
for Real 16:00 Barefoot Contessa: Back to Basics 16:25
Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives 16:50 Unique Eats 17:15
Unwrapped 17:40 Reza, Spice Prince of India 18:05 Kid
in a Candy Store 18:30 Food Network Challenge 19:20
Chopped 20:10 Unwrapped 20:35 Unwrapped 21:00
The Devil’s Own [Film]
21:00 on AXN HD (Channel 330)
06:00 Cuori rubati 06:30 Real School Il Divertinglese 07:00
Timon e Pumbaa 07:20 Ulisse Polifemo 07:45 I Viaggio al centro della Terra 08:00 Fresh Pretty Cure Scambi incrociati 08:20
Avengers –Ultimatum alla Terra 08:45 Lola e Virginia Trattamento
di bellezza 09:00 Battle Dance 10:00 McBride – Sinfonia di un
delitto 11:20 La Nave dei Sogni Zambesi: Cascate Vittoria 13:00
Tg2 – Giorno 13:30 Tg2 Motori 13:40 Meteo 2 13:45 Il commissario Herzog 14:45 Delitti in Paradiso La profezia 15:45 Omicidi nell’alta società Memorie segrete 17:20 Due uomini e mezzo
18:00 Tg2 L.I.S. 18:03 Meteo 2 18:05 Nessuno vuole credermi
19:35 Il Clown Doppio Gioco 20:30 Tg2 – 20.30 21:05 N.C.I.S. Los
Angeles Linea di confine 21:50 Ringer 23:25 La Domenica Sportiva Estate 00:30 Tg2 00:50 Sorgente di vita 01:20 Hawaii Five-0
RAI TRE
06:00 Fuori orario 07:00 Wind at my Back – La febbre 07:50
L’angelo bianco 09:25 I quattro monaci 11:00 TGR – Premio Flaiano 11:40 TGR RegionEuropa 12:00 Tg3 12:10 Tg3 Agenda del
mondo estate 12:25 TeleCamere Salute 12:55 Prima della Prima
13:25 L’architettura e la Madonna 14:00 Tg Regione 14:09 Tg
Regione Meteo 14:15 Tg3 14:30 Tour de France - Tappa: Limoux
– Foix 15:00 Tg3 LIS 15:03 Tour de France – Tappa: Limoux - Foix
(cont.) 17:30 Tour Replay 18:07 Tour de France – Tappa: Limoux Foix (cont.) 18:10 I misteri di Murdoch Il padrone 18:55 Meteo 3
19:00 Tg3 19:30 Tg Regione 19:51 Tg Regione Meteo 20:00 Blob
20:20 Pronto Elisir 21:00 Kilimangiaro Gli incontri ravvicinati
di Licia Colò 23:15 Tg3 23:25 Tg Regione 23:30 Good Morning
Aman 00:22 Good Morning Aman (cont.) 01:17 Meteo 3
Grill It! with Bobby Flay 21:25 Grill It! with Bobby Flay
21:50 Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives 22:15 Diners, DriveIns and Dives 22:40 Grill It! with Bobby Flay 23:05 Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives 23:30 Outrageous Food 23:55
Unwrapped
man 20:10 Junk Men 20:35 Junk Men 21:00 Prophets
of Science Fiction 21:50 Through the Wormhole with
Morgan Freeman 22:40 Investigation X 23:35 The Future of...
TLC 403
DISCOVERY CHANNEL 400
06:00 Fifth Gear 06:25 How Do They Do It? 06:50 How
Do They Do It? 07:15 American Chopper: Senior vs Junior: Fired 08:10 Mythbusters: Water Stun Gun 09:05
Destroyed in Seconds 09:35 Destroyed in Seconds 10:00
Extreme Engineering: Abu Dhabi 10:55 Swamp Loggers:
Truck Wars 11:50 Dirty Jobs: Greenland Shark Quest
12:45 Swords: Life on the Line: Needle and Thread to the
Head 13:40 Auction Hunters: Miami Heat 14:10 Auction
Hunters: The Chicago Grand Slam 14:35 Dealers 15:30
How Sports are Made 16:00 I Could Do That 16:25
Mighty Ships: Norwegian Epic 17:20 Deadliest Catch:
The Aftermath 18:15 River Monsters: Hidden Predator
19:10 Extreme Fishing with Robson Green: Thailand
20:05 Hillbilly Handfishin: A Laugh, a Scream, and a Giggle 21:00 Human Body: Ultimate Machine: Sight 21:55
Stan Lee’s Superhumans: Electro Man 22:50 Fight Quest:
The Philippines 23:45 Surviving the Cut: Naval Special
Warfare Combatant-Craft Crewmen
DISCOVERY WORLD 401
06:00 Coldest Race on Earth with James Cracknell
06:50 Race Across America with James Cracknell 08:35
Nature’s Power Revealed 09:30 The Aviators 09:55 The
Aviators 10:20 Showdown: Air Combat 11:10 Anthony
Bourdain: No Reservations 12:05 3 Men Go to Venice
12:55 I Shouldn’t Be Alive 13:50 I Shouldn’t Be Alive
14:45 I Shouldn’t Be Alive 15:40 I Shouldn’t Be Alive
16:35 I Shouldn’t Be Alive 17:25 History Cold Case
USA 18:20 Secret Service Secrets 19:10 Storming Juno
21:00 The True Story 21:55 3 Men Go to Venice 22:50
Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations 23:45 The Will: Family Secrets Revealed
DISCOVERY SCIENCE 402
06:00 Mega World 06:50 Mighty Ships 07:43 Things
That Move 08:10 Things That Move 08:40 Nextworld
09:30 Game Chasers 09:55 Game Changers 10:20
Mega World 11:10 Junk Men 11:35 Junk Men 12:00
Prank Science 12:25 Prank Science 12:50 Scrapheap
Challenge 13:45 Weird or What? 14:35 Ecopolis 15:30
Future Weapons 16:20 Meteorite Men 17:10 Game
Chasers 17:40 Mighty Ships 18:30 Prophets of Science
Fiction 19:20 Through the Wormhole with Morgan Free-
06:00 While You Were Out 06:50 Sister Wives 07:40
Ludo Bites America 08:30 Cake Boss 08:55 Cake Boss
09:20 Kitchen Boss 09:45 Extreme Couponing 10:10
Toddlers and Tiaras 11:00 Say Yes to the Dress 11:25 Say
Yes to the Dress 11:50 What Not to Wear 12:40 Ultimate
Cake-Off 13:30 Cake Boss: Next Great Baker 14:20 Cake
Boss 14:45 Cake Boss 15:10 World’s Worst Mum 16:00
Sister Wives 16:25 Sister Wives 16:50 What Not to Wear
17:40 Driving Me Crazy 18:30 Ace of Cakes 18:55 Ace of
Cakes 19:20 Toddlers and Tiaras 20:10 Rich Bride/Poor
Bride 21:00 Driving Me Crazy 21:50 New York Ink 22:40
Family Fat Surgeons 23:30 Being Chaz
INVESTIGATION DISCOVERY 404
06:00 Forensic Detectives 06:50 Murder Shift 07:40
Mystery ER 08:30 Real Emergency Calls 08:55 Who on
Earth Did I Marry? 09:20 On the Case with Paula Zahn
10:10 Disappeared 11:00 Forensic Detectives 11:50
Murder Shift 12:40 Mystery ER 13:30 Real Emergency
Calls 13:55 Who on Earth Did I Marry? 14:20 On the
Case with Paula Zahn 15:10 Disappeared 16:00 Forensic
Detectives 16:50 Murder Shift 17:40 Real Emergency
Calls 18:05 Mystery ER 18:55 Who on Earth Did I Marry?
19:20 On the Case with Paula Zahn 20:10 Disappeared
21:00 American Greed 21:50 American Greed 22:40
Crimes of Passion 23:30 Stalked: Someone’s Watching
23:55 I Was Murdered
ANIMAL PLANET 405
06:00 Karina: Wild on Safari 06:25 Meerkat Manor
06:50 Bondi Vet 07:15 Corwin’s Quest 08:10 Dick ’N’
Dom Go Wild 08:35 Breed: All About It 09:05 The Crocodile Hunter 10:00 Dogs, Cats, Pets 101 10:55 Michaela’s
Animal Road Trip 11:50 Wild France 12:45 Wild France
13:40 Rescue Vet 14:05 Rescue Vet 14:35 Safari Vet
School 15:00 Safari Vet School 15:30 Must Love Cats
16:25 Bad Dog 17:20 Nick Baker’s Weird Creatures
18:15 Into the Pride 19:10 Great Ocean Adventures
20:05 Wildest Africa 21:00 Speed of Life 21:55 Monster Bug Wars 22:50 Untamed and Uncut 23:45 Shark
Attack File 3
NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC 406
06:00 World War II: The Last Heroes 07:00 Super Pride
Nomad’s Land [Docu-Travel Show]
20:00 on Travel Channel (Channel 410)
33
THIS WEEK
TELEVISION
Caged 13:00 Caged 14:00 Teen Mom 2 15:30 Teen
Mom 2 16:30 Extreme Cribs 17:00 Extreme Cribs
17:30 Extreme Cribs 18:00 Punk’d 18:30 Punk’d
19:00 Caged 20:00 Plain Jane 21:00 Teen Mom 2
22:30 The Pauly D Project 23:00 Behind the Music
MEZZO 510
09:30 Festival de Saintes 2010 10:55 Festival
de Saintes 2010 11:55 Festival de Saintes 2010
13:05 Clips musicaux 13:30 Claudio Abbado dirige
l’Orchestre de Jeunes Simón Bolívar 15:30 Battle
Royal Basie Vs Ellington. Live à Jazz à Vienne 16:35
Clips musicaux 17:00 Zubin Mehta dirige Fidelio
de Beethoven à Valence 19:15 Clips musicaux
20:30 Songe d’une nuit d’été 22:30 Nuit Gwana
au Porquerolles Jazz Festival 2011 23:20 Clips musicaux
EUROSPORT 600
08:30 Tour de France Cycling 09:45 Live: Bank of
the West Classic Tennis 11:15 Live: World Series by
Renault Motor Racing: Race 2: Moscow [Live] 12:30
Tour de France Cycling 14:00 Live: Tour de France
Cycling: Stage 14: Limoux - Foix [Live] 17:30 Live:
UCI World Tour Cycling: Tour of Poland: Stage 6 [Live]
19:00 Live: World Junior Championship Athletics
[Live] 20:30 Live: UEFA European Under 19 Championship Football: Final [Live] 22:30 Live: Bank of the
West Classic Tennis: Final [Live] 23:45 Motorsports
Weekend
Love and Other Drugs
EUROSPORT2 601
In this emotional comedy, alluring free spirited Maggie (Anne Hathaway), won’t let anything, including a formidable personal challenge, tie her down. But
she meets her match in Jamie Randall (Jake Gyllenhaal), whose relentless and nearly infallible charm serve him well with women. Jamie is a charismatic
underachiever who’s finally found his niche, as a sales rep for a drug called Viagra that has just hit the market, launching a thousand jokes as it becomes a
pharmaceutical – and cultural – phenomenon. Maggie and Jamie’s evolving relationship takes them both by surprise, as they find themselves under the
influence of the ultimate drug: love. Most relationships proceed from love to sex. This one goes the opposite direction and thus makes an unexpected film from
an unconventional love story.
21:00 on melita movies (Channel 801)
06:00 Live: Australian Goldfields Open, Snooker
[Live] 09:00 UCI World Tour Cycling 10:00 World
Junior Championship Athletics 11:30 Live: Australian Goldfields Open, Snooker [Live] 14:30 Live:
Bank of the West Classic Tennis 17:00 World Junior
Championship Athletics 18:00 Live: World Junior
Championship Athletics: Day 6 [Live] 19:00 WATTS
19:30 Eurosport2 News 20:00 Tour de France Cycling 22:00 Live: Bank of the West Classic Tennis:
Final [Live] 22:30 UCI World Tour Cycling
ESPN CLASSIC 1 603
08:00 Last Lioness 09:00 Inside: Nirvana: Pickpocket
King 10:00 Test Your Brain: Memory 11:00 Dog Whisperer: The Power of the Pack 12:00 Dog Whisperer: Boo
and Brittany Dawg 13:00 Mother Warthog 14:00 Thunder Beasts 15:00 Apocalypse 16:00 Apocalypse: WWII:
The Great Landings 17:00 Apocalypse: WWII: Inferno
18:00 Apocalypse: WWII: The Crushing Defeat 19:00
Crime Lab: Smoking Guns 20:00 Taboo: Booze 21:00
Taboo: Hoarders 22:00 Taboo: Prostitution: The Oldest
Trade 23:00 Taboo: Booze
NAT GEO WILD 407
06:00 World’s Wildest Encounters 07:00 Monster Fish
08:00 Valley of the Wolves 09:00 How To Build a Volcano
10:00 Sharks in the City 11:00 Wild Mississippi 12:00
The Incredible Dr. Pol 13:00 Secrets of Wild India 14:00
Built for the Kill 15:00 Night Stalkers 16:00 World’s
Deadliest Animals 17:00 Animal Impact 18:00 Lion Battle Zone 19:00 Leopards of Dead Tree Island 20:00 The
Incredible Dr. Pol 21:00 Lion Battle Zone 22:00 Leopards
of Dead Tree Island 23:00 Monster Fish
NAT GEO ADVENTURE 409
06:00 Bondi Rescue 06:25 Dream Cruises 07:15 City
Guide 07:45 Meet the Natives: USA 08:35 David Rocco’s
Dolce Vita 09:00 David Rocco’s Dolce Vita 09:25 By Any
Means 10:20 NASCAR: Racing to America 11:15 Perilous
Journeys 12:10 Dream Cruises 13:05 Meet the Natives:
USA 14:00 David Rocco’s Dolce Vita 14:25 David Rocco’s
Dolce Vita 14:55 By Any Means 15:50 City Guide 16:15
City Guide 16:45 City Guide 17:10 City Guide 17:40 City
Guide 18:05 City Guide 18:30 City Guide 19:00 Dream
Cruises 19:55 Meet the Natives: USA 20:50 David Rocco’s
Dolce Vita 21:15 David Rocco’s Dolce Vita 21:45 By Any
Means 22:40 Which Way To 23:35 Perilous Journeys
TRAVEL CHANNEL 410
06:00 Globe Trekker 07:00 Intrepid Journeys 08:00
People of the Sea 09:00 World’s Greatest Motorcycle
Rides 10:00 Megalopolis 11:00 Globe Trekker 12:00
Third Class Traveller 13:00 Departures 14:00 Megalopolis 15:00 Globe Trekker 16:00 Wild Camping 17:00
Wild Camping 18:00 Globe Trekker 19:00 Globe Trekker
20:00 Nomad’s Land 21:00 The Path to Shaolin 22:00
Globe Trekker 23:00 Departures
BIO 411
06:00 Storage Wars: Brandi’s First Time 06:30 Storage
Wars: Hooray for Holly-Weird 07:00 Eye for an Eye: 11
07:30 Pawn Stars: Pablo Pawncasso 08:00 Pawn Stars:
The Pick, the Pawn and the Polish 08:30 Pawn Stars:
Going Postal 09:00 Pawn Stars: Buffalo Bill 09:30
Pawn Stars: Evel Genius 10:00 Confessions of an Animal Hoarder: Bonnie and Don 11:00 Confessions of an
Animal Hoarder: Janice and JD 12:00 Confessions of an
Animal Hoarder: Lolette and Robin 13:00 Confessions of
an Animal Hoarder: Bonnie and Don 14:00 Confessions
of an Animal Hoarder: Janice and JD 15:00 Pawn Stars:
Pablo Pawncasso 15:30 Pawn Stars: The Pick, the Pawn
and the Polish 16:00 Pawn Stars: Going Postal 16:30
Pawn Stars: Buffalo Bill 17:00 Pawn Stars: Evel Genius
17:30 Pawn Stars: Pablo Pawncasso 18:00 Pawn Stars:
The Pick, the Pawn and the Polish 18:30 Pawn Stars:
Going Postal 19:00 Pawn Stars: Buffalo Bill 19:30 Pawn
Stars: Evel Genius 20:00 Bio: Kate Winslet 21:00 Freddie Mercury: A Kind of Magic 22:00 Pawn Stars: Missile
Attack 22:30 Pawn Stars: Peacemaker 23:00 Pawn
Stars: Buffalo Bill 23:30 American Restoration: Keep on
Trucking
HISTORY 412
06:00 Pawn Stars: Bumpy Ride 06:30 Pawn Stars: Helmet Head 07:00 Pawn Stars: Knights in Fake Armour?
07:30 Pawn Stars: Boom or Bust 08:00 Pawn Stars:
Confederate Conundrum 08:30 Pawn Stars: Sink or
Sell 09:00 Storage Wars: Hooray for Holly-Weird 09:30
Storage Wars: Don’t Bid So Close to Me 10:00 Storage
Wars: Not Your Average Bear 10:30 Storage Wars: Hook,
Line And Sucker 11:00 American Restoration: Suds and
Duds 11:30 American Restoration: Cold War Crusin’
12:00 American Restoration: Tractors & Trucks 12:30
American Restoration: Bikes & Barbeques 13:00 Pawn
Stars: Bumpy Ride 13:30 Pawn Stars: Helmet Head
14:00 Cash Cowboys 15:00 American Pickers: Trading
Up 16:00 Storage Wars: Hooray for Holly-Weird 16:30
Storage Wars: Don’t Bid So Close to Me 17:00 Storage
Wars: Not Your Average Bear 17:30 Storage Wars: Hook,
Line And Sucker 18:00 Cash Cowboys 19:00 American
Pickers: Trading Up 20:00 Pawn Stars: Buffalo Bill 20:30
American Restoration: Keep on Trucking 21:00 Ancient
Aliens: Aliens and the Third Reich 22:00 A History of Britain 23:00 Falklands Combat Medics
DISCOVERY HD SHOWCASE 420
06:00 Coal 06:50 Way of Life 07:35 Mythbusters 08:25
Time Warp 08:50 GT Racer 09:35 Chasing Classic Cars
10:00 Chasing Classic Cars 10:25 Ultimate Journeys
11:10 Coal 12:00 Way of Life 12:50 Into the Unknown
with Josh Bernstein 13:35 GT Racer 14:25 Ultimate
Journeys 15:15 Wild Fisherman: Norway 16:00 Gold
Rush: Alaska 16:50 Storm Chasers 17:40 Mythbusters
18:30 Design DNA 18:55 Design DNA 19:20 Through
the Wormhole with Morgan Freeman 20:10 Rising:
Rebuilding Ground Zero 21:00 Gold Rush: Alaska 21:50
Storm Chasers 22:40 Space Pioneer 23:30 Through the
Wormhole with Morgan Freeman
NAT GEO HD 421
06:15 Monster Fish 07:05 Most Amazing Photos 07:30
Monster Fish 08:20 Great Migrations 09:10 Great Migrations 10:00 Great Migrations 10:50 Light at the Edge of
the World 11:40 Monster Fish 12:30 Make Me a Dino
13:20 Light at the Edge of the World 14:10 Inside 15:00
Commando Rescue 15:50 MegaStructures 16:40 Is It
Real? 17:30 Make Me a Dino 18:20 Monster Fish 19:10
Seconds from Disaster 20:00 China’s Ghost Army 20:50
Ancient Secrets 21:40 Seconds from Disaster 22:30
China’s Ghost Army 23:20 Ancient Secrets
DISNEY CHANNEL 450
06:05 So Random 06:30 Phineas and Ferb 06:50 Have a
Laugh 06:55 Shake It Up 07:20 Good Luck Charlie 07:45
Good Luck Charlie 08:10 Jessie 08:35 ANT Farm 09:00
Austin and Ally 09:25 Camp Rock [U] 10:55 Have a
Laugh 11:05 Fish Hooks 11:30 Shake It Up 11:55 Shake
It Up 12:20 Shake It Up 12:45 Shake It Up 13:10 Jes-
sie 13:30 Have a Laugh 13:35 Wizards of Waverly Place
14:00 Good Luck Charlie 14:25 Phineas and Ferb 14:50
Shake It Up 15:15 So Random 15:40 So Random 16:00
Halloweentown 17:25 ANT Farm 17:45 Austin and Ally
18:10 Shake It Up 18:35 Shake It Up 19:00 Shake It Up
19:25 Shake It Up 19:50 Camp Rock [U] 21:20 Have a
Laugh 21:30 Fish Hooks 21:55 The Suite Life of Zack
and Cody 22:20 The Suite Life of Zack and Cody 22:45
Sonny with a Chance 23:10 The Replacements 23:35
The Replacements
NICKELODEON 452
06:15 Bubble Guppies 06:40 Kikoriki 07:05 Little Kingdom 07:30 Olivia 07:55 Dora the Explorer
08:20 Bubble Guppies 08:45 The Fairly Odd Parents 09:10 The Fairly Odd Parents 09:35 Monsuno
10:00 Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness
10:25 SpongeBob SquarePants 11:40 Life with
Boys 12:05 House of Anubis 12:30 House of
Anubis 12:55 House of Anubis 13:20 SpongeBob
SquarePants 13:45 T.U.F.F. Puppy 14:10 Back at
the Barnyard 14:40 The Mighty B 15:05 The Fairly
Odd Parents 15:30 SpongeBob SquarePants 15:55
iCarly 16:20 Big Time Rush 16:45 True Jackson, VP
17:10 Supah Ninjas 17:35 SpongeBob SquarePants
18:00 Fanboy and Chum Chum 18:25 Power Rangers Samurai 18:50 The Fairly Odd Parents 19:15
The Penguins of Madagascar 19:40 iCarly 20:05
True Jackson, VP 20:30 Big Time Rush 20:55
SpongeBob SquarePants 21:20 Avatar: The Legend
of Aang 21:45 Avatar: The Legend of Aang 22:10
The Penguins of Madagascar 22:35 The Penguins of
Madagascar 23:00 SpongeBob SquarePants 23:25
SpongeBob SquarePants 23:50 CatDog
JIM JAM 458
06:00 Barney and Friends 06:30 Wobblyland 06:35
Pingu 06:40 Tiny Planets 06:45 Pingu 06:50 Jarmies 07:05 Anthony Ant 07:20 The Hoobs 07:45
Jakers: The Adventures of Piggley Winks 08:10 See
The Sea 08:15 James the Cat 08:20 Fluffy Gardens
08:28 Fluffy Gardens 08:35 Mio Mao 08:40 Mio
Mao 08:45 Baby Antonio’s Circus 08:50 My Animal Family 09:05 Benjamin’s Farm 09:10 See The
Sea 09:15 P.B. Bear and Friends 09:20 P.B. Bear
and Friends 09:25 Monkey See Monkey Do 09:35
Oswald 09:50 Kipper 10:00 Barney and Friends
10:30 Connie the Cow 10:38 Connie the Cow 10:45
Connie the Cow 10:55 Connie the Cow 11:05 Connie the Cow 11:15 Connie the Cow 11:23 Connie the
Cow 11:30 Connie the Cow 11:40 Connie the Cow
Connie the Cow 12:15 Connie the Cow 12:23 Connie
the Cow 12:30 My Animal Family 12:45 Benjamin’s
Farm 12:50 See The Sea 12:55 Mio Mao 13:00 Mio
Mao 13:05 P.B. Bear and Friends 13:15 Monkey
See Monkey Do 13:25 Bob the Builder 13:35 Thomas and Friends 13:43 Thomas and Friends 13:50
Bob the Builder 14:00 Fireman Sam 14:10 Pingu
14:15 Tiny Planets 14:20 Pingu 14:25 Barney and
Friends 14:55 Kipper 15:05 Oswald 15:20 Dougie
in Disguise 15:30 Wobblyland 15:35 Monkey See
Monkey Do 15:45 Pingu 15:50 Tiny Planets 15:55
Pingu 16:00 Connie the Cow 16:08 Connie the
Cow 16:15 Connie the Cow 16:25 Connie the Cow
Connie the Cow 17:00 Connie the Cow 17:10 Connie the Cow 17:20 Connie the Cow 17:30 Connie
the Cow 17:38 Connie the Cow 17:45 Connie the
Cow 17:53 Connie the Cow 18:00 Slim Pig 18:10
Pingu 18:15 Tiny Planets 18:20 Pingu 18:25 The
Hoobs 18:55 My Animal Family 19:00 Tork 19:08
Tork 19:15 Dougie in Disguise 19:25 Pingu 19:35
Angelina Ballerina 19:50 My Animal Family 19:55
The Hoobs 20:25 Pingu 20:30 Tiny Planets 20:35
Pingu 20:40 Tiny Planets 20:45 Tork 20:53 Tork
21:00 Monkey See Monkey Do 21:10 See The Sea
21:15 My Animal Family 21:30 Benjamin’s Farm
21:35 Jakers: The Adventures of Piggley Winks
22:00 Bob the Builder 22:10 Thomas and Friends
22:18 Thomas and Friends 22:25 Bob the Builder
22:35 Fireman Sam 22:45 Oswald 23:00 Kipper
23:10 Dougie in Disguise 23:20 Barney and Friends
23:55 Anthony Ant
DISNEY JUNIOR 462
06:00 Special Agent Oso 06:15 Jungle Junction
06:30 Little Einsteins 06:55 Mickey Mouse Clubhouse 07:20 The Hive 07:30 Jake and the Neverland
Pirates 07:45 Jake and the Neverland Pirates 08:00
Handy Manny 08:15 LazyTown 08:45 Minnie’s
Bow-Toons 08:50 Mickey Mouse Clubhouse 09:15
Minnie’s Bow-Toons 09:20 Mickey Mouse Clubhouse
09:45 Art Attack 10:10 Imagination Movers 10:35
LazyTown 11:05 Special Agent Oso 11:15 Mouk
11:30 Jungle Junction 11:45 Jake and the Neverland Pirates 12:00 Jake and the Neverland Pirates
12:15 Handy Manny 12:30 Minnie’s Bow-Toons
12:35 Mickey Mouse Clubhouse 13:00 Minnie’s
Bow-Toons 13:05 Mickey Mouse Clubhouse 13:30
The Hive 13:40 Mickey Mouse Clubhouse 14:00
Minnie’s Bow-Toons 14:05 Mouk 14:20 Mouk
14:35 Handy Manny 14:50 Jake and the Neverland Pirates 15:05 Jake and the Neverland Pirates
15:20 LazyTown 15:45 Art Attack 16:10 LazyTown
16:35 Minnie’s Bow-Toons 16:40 Mickey Mouse
Clubhouse 17:05 Jake and the Neverland Pirates
17:20 101 Dalmatians 17:35 Disney Fairies 18:00
Minnie’s Bow-Toons 18:05 Mickey Mouse Clubhouse
18:30 Minnie’s Bow-Toons 18:35 Mickey Mouse
Clubhouse 19:00 Mini Adventures of Winnie the
Pooh 19:05 Jake and the Neverland Pirates 19:20
The Hive 19:30 Mini Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
19:35 Minnie’s Bow-Toons 19:40 Animated Stories
19:45 Mouk 20:00 Mickey Mouse Clubhouse 20:25
Jake and the Neverland Pirates 20:40 Special Agent
Oso 20:55 Little Einsteins 21:20 Timmy Time 21:30
Jungle Junction 21:45 Handy Manny 21:55 Mickey
Mouse Clubhouse 22:20 Special Agent Oso 22:35
Special Agent Oso 22:50 LazyTown 23:15 Little
Einsteins 23:40 Jungle Junction 23:55 Jungle Junction
MTV 500
06:00 Breakfast Club 08:00 Nothing but Hits 11:00
The Evolution of 11:30 The Evolution of 12:00
06:00 Moto GP Classics 07:00 Moto GP Classics
08:00 World’s Strongest Man 08:30 World’s Strongest Man 09:00 World’s Strongest Man 09:30 World’s
Strongest Man 10:30 World’s Strongest Man 11:00
World’s Strongest Man 11:30 Goose 12:30 Joe Frazier: When the Smoke Clears 14:00 FIFA World Cup
Classic Matches 15:00 FIFA World Cup 16:35 FIFA
World Cup Stories 17:00 Moto GP Classics 18:00
Moto GP Classics 19:00 Moto GP Classics 20:00
Classic Boxing 21:00 Classic Boxing 22:00 Black
Magic 23:00 Joe Frazier: When the Smoke Clears
NAUTICAL CHANNEL 611
06:00 Deep Wreck Mysteries 07:00 Hot Water
08:00 News 2012 08:15 Offshore Adventures 08:45
America’s Cup Series Yachting 09:15 America’s Cup
Series Yachting 09:45 A Surfer’s Paradise 10:15
A Surfer’s Paradise 10:45 News 2012 11:00 Sailing Girls 11:30 Discovering Beirut 2012 12:00 La
Solitaire Du Figaro 12:30 Volvo Ocean Race, Yachting 13:30 News 2012 13:45 Offshore Adventures
14:15 Fleet Racing Tour 14:45 Inside Sailing 15:15
Deep Wreck Mysteries 16:15 News 2012 16:30 Sailing Girls 17:00 Kayaking 18:00 Defi La Baule 18:30
Semaine de Saint-Barthélemy 19:00 News 2012
19:15 Offshore Adventures 19:45 Sea Master Sailing Series 2012 20:15 Inside Sailing 20:45 News
2012 21:00 Kayaking 22:00 News 2012 22:15 Sailing Girls 22:45 America’s Cup Series Yachting 23:15
America’s Cup Series Yachting 23:45 News 2012
ESPN AMERICA HD 622
06:00 Friday Night Fight Boxing 08:00 American Le
Mans Series 09:00 SportsCenter 09:45 SportsCenter
10:30 Global Rallycross Championship Rally 11:30
Lacrosse Major League 13:30 Baseball Tonight
14:30 ESPY Awards 15:00 ESPY Awards 17:00
SportsCenter 17:45 SportsCenter 18:30 Baseball
Tonight 19:00 Live: Major League Baseball: Los
Angeles Angels at New York Yankees [Live] 22:00
Live: Major League Baseball: San Diego Padres at
Los Angeles Dodgers [Live]
MELITA MOVIES 801
11:00 Stuart Little 12:25 Diary Of A Wimpy Kid
14:00 Gullivers Travels 15:25 Marley And Me: The
Puppy Years 16:47 Hollywood Buzz 17:10 Crazy On
The Outside 18:50 Grown Ups 20:30 Hollywood
Buzz 21:00 Love And Other Drugs 22:50 The Great
New Wonderful 00:15 Awake
MELITA MORE 802
08:00 Hollywood Buzz 08:30 Full House 09:00 The
West Wing 09:50 ER 10:40 Top Gear 11:45 Brothers And Sisters 12:30 Amazing Race 13:20 Amazing Race 14:05 Amazing Race 14:50 Amazing Race
15:35 Amazing Race 16:20 Amazing Race 17:05
Amazing Race 17:55 Amazing Race 18:40 Amazing
Race 19:30 How I Met Your Mother 20:00 Mike &
Molly 20:22 2 Broke Girls 20:45 Suburgatory 21:15
Brothers And Sisters 22:00 Desperate Housewives
22:45 Alcatraz 23:30 Bored To Death 23:55 The
Mentalist 00:45 Supernatural
34
THIS
THISWEEK
WEEK
FILM
IN CINEMAS TODAY
★ ★ ★ ★ ★ AMAZING ★ ★ ★ ★ BLAZING ★ ★ ★ CURTAIN RAISING
★ ★ GLAZING ★ GRAZING
Rising star Andrew Garfield gets
tangled up in this new reboot of
the Spider-Man franchise
A Z IN G
THE AM MAN
S P ID E R
(PG)
★
★ ★ ★
Embassy Cinemas
Valletta
Tel. 21 227436, 21 245818
The Amazing Spider-Man (3D) (PG)
10:30, 14:30, 18:00, 21:00
What to Expect When You’re
Expecting (14)
10:00, 12:15, 14:30, 16:45, 19:00,
21:15
Dark Shadows (12)
10:20, 16:05, 18:25, 21:05
Ice Age 4: Continental Drift (14)
10:00, 12:10, 14:20, 16:30, 18:40,
20:50
Avengers Assemble (PG)
10:30, 14:15, 18:00, 20:50
The Dictator (16)
10:00, 12:00, 14:00, 16:00, 18:10,
20:50
Eden Cinemas
St Julian’s
Tel. 23 710400
Expecting (14)
14:05, 16:25, 18:45, 21:05, 23:25
The Raid: Redemption (18)
14:05, 16:25, 18:45, 21:05, 23:25
Joyful Noise (PG)
14:00, 16:25, 18:50, 21:15, 23:40
The Dictator (16)
14:15, 16:15, 18:30, 21:10, 23:05
Avengers Assemble (PG)
14:15, 18:00, 20:50, 23:40
Ice Age: Continental Drift (3D) (U)
14:00, 16:15, 18:30, 20:55, 23:00
The Lucky One (12)
14:10, 16:20, 18:30, 20:45, 23:00
The Hunger Games (12)
14:20, 18:00, 20:50, 23:40
In A Better World (16)
14:00, 16:25, 18:50, 21:15, 23:45
Mirror Mirror (U)
14:00, 16:15, 18:30, 20:45, 23:00
Prometheus (3D) (16)
14:00, 18:55, 21:15, 23:45
Rock Of Ages (18)
14:25, 18:35, 21:05, 23:35
Dark Shadows (12)
14:00, 16:20, 18:40, 21:00, 23:20
Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter
(14)
14:00, 16:15, 18:50, 21:15, 23:30
Safe (14)
14:05, 16:25, 18:45, 21:10, 23:15
The Amazing Spider-Man (3D) (PG)
14:30, 16:20, 17:45, 21:00, 23:45
Men In Black III (PG)
14:00, 16:15, 18:30, 20:55, 23:10
Empire Cinemas
Bugibba
Tel. 21 581787, 21 581909
Ice Age: Continental Drift (3D) (U)
10:45, 13:40, 16:30, 18:40, 21:00
The Amazing Spider Man (3D) (PG)
14:15, 17:45, 20:45
The Amazing Spider Man (PG)
10:30
Men in Black III (PG)
11:00, 13:45, 16:00, 18:35, 21:15
Expecting (14)
11:15, 13:55, 16:25, 18:50, 21:20
The Dictator (16)
13:50, 16:05, 18:15, 21:10
Valletta Living History (PG)
11:00, 12:00
The Raid (18)
14:10, 16:30, 18:45, 21:05
Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter
(14)
14:00, 16:20, 18:40, 20:55
With great power…
ARRIVING to us sandwiched between The Avengers and Dark Knight
Rises, The Amazing Spider-Man is
unfortunately the runt of the pack
among this summer’s crop of superhero mega-blockbusters.
But in a way, this also feels heartwarmingly appropriate. Because if
director Marc Webb (500 Days of
Summer) is somewhat handicapped
when it comes to rebooting the alltoo-recent Spider-Man film franchise, it only serves to bring him
closer to the core of what his subject
is all about: an underdog who gains
extraordinary powers, and who then
faces the challenge of how best to use
them.
The familiar origin story – culled
from the Marvel Comics dating back
to the ‘60s and most recently retold
in the Sam Raimi-directed, Tobey
Maguire-starring trilogy, which
began with 2002’s Spider-Man – is
given a few significant retouches, to
better adapt to contemporary mores
(yes, it’s been that long) and to help us
forget the all-too-recent Raimi films.
Orphaned teenager Peter Parker
(Andrew Garfield), when not being
bullied by his high school’s resident
Jerk-Jock Flash Thompson (Chri
Zylka) while secretly coveting his
pretty school mate Gwen Stacy (Emma Stone), daughter of police captain
George Stacy (Denis Leary), stumbles
upon a clue related to his parents’
mysterious deaths. While his guardians – Uncle Ben (Martin Sheen) and
Aunt May (Sally Fields) – appear to
be as in the dark about the truth as he
is, Peter’s clues lead him to Dr Curt
Connors, his father’s former research
partner and a leading expert in ‘cross
species genetics’ who is in the employ
of the high-powered organisation
OsCorp, run by the enigmatic and
ailing Norman Osborn.
Sneaking into the one-armed scientist’s OsCorp enclave – and eventually establishing a professional rapport with him – Peter stumbles upon
a scientific installation which uses
spiders as test subjects… only to be
bitten by a stray one.
Waking up to discover he’s been
blessed with strange superpowers,
Peter’s life takes a dramatic turn for
By Teodor Reljic
the worse after the sudden death of
his beloved Uncle Ben.
Resolving to prowl New York City
as a masked vigilante in search for
revenge, Peter comes under Captain
Stacy’s radar.
Pursued by New York’s finest while
romantically pursuing the eager
Gwen – who warms to his recent
spike in confidence – Peter is forced
to abandon his simple quest for
vengeance when his former partnership with Connors yields malignant
fruit: driven to desperation by OsCorp, the recently-fired scientist has
opted to experiment on himself using
a regenerative formula Peter helped
him devise.
But instead of helping to re-grow
his arm, the reptile-tested serum
turns out to have a deadly side-effect
– it turns the previously meek scientist into a giant, lizard-like beast,
morphing not just his body but also
his mind.
As ‘The Lizard’ rampages across the
city, it appears that only ‘The SpiderMan’ can stop him… possibly at the
risk of his loved ones’ safety.
The great thing about (the serendipitously-surnamed) Webb’s adaptation is that it takes its time to tell
an alternative take on Spider-Man’s
origin story that is both firmly rooted in contemporary reality while
also boasting enough edgy tricks and
kicks to distinguish it from its successor.
Garfield is ganglier, slinkier and
funnier than Tobey Maguire. Perhaps his Parker is a tad too skinny
and a tad too indie-cool to be a proper
geek-cum-athletic superhero, but his
superior acting chops (as evidenced
in The Social Network), and his spoton delivery of Spidey’s trademark
wisecracks (mysteriously omitted in
Raimi’s versions) is a pure delight.
Emma Stone’s presence completes
the masterful one-two punch of the
film’s casting choices. The knowledge
that Garfield and Stone have hooked
up in real life (aww!) is hard to erase
from memory while watching the
film, because their banter does in fact
feel natural, Gwen being only slightly
less neurotic than our geeky hero.
We have a rarity here: a comic book
movie whose relationship moments
are just as easy to relish as its action
set pieces. It’s expected for Webb to
hit the right human-drama notes, but
the worry with indie directors taking on big blockbusters – though it
may sound interesting on paper – is
that they won’t be able to handle bigbudget beasts and end up being puppets of the studios (see: X-Men Origins: Wolverine, The Green Hornet).
Luckily, however, the film still comes
packed with enough visual pizzazz to
not only justify an early reboot for the
franchise – it also leaves you with the
rare feeling of a big budget studio film
made with some artistry.
A memorable sequence showing
Spider-Man doing a spot of espionage
in a sewer – which yields to a slightly
surreal encounter with a troop of
chameleons – is an example, and it
makes you hope that Webb will stay
on for the inevitable array of sequels
which are bound to follow… particularly when it comes to rendering
some of the more exotic members of
Spidey’s rouges gallery.
Of course, one can’t not comment
on the most radical omission from
this version of the Spider-Man mythos – the fact that this time around,
Peter is not employed by The Daily
Bugle, the fictional newspaper run by
the cranky editor with an irrational
dislike of the wallcrawler, J. Jonah
Jameson… a role whose essentials
are somewhat distilled into Captain
George Stacy.
But the fact that the film is not at all
hurt by this radical alteration is a hint
that Webb and co. might just be doing something right.
This week’s
picks
ACTION
THE RAID: REDEMPTION
In this Indonesian action-thriller
directed by Gareth Evans
(Merantau), a rookie member of
an elite special-forces team, is
instructed to hang back during
a covert mission involving the
extraction of a brutal crime lord
from a rundown fifteen-story
apartment block. But when a
spotter blows their cover, boss
Tama offers lifelong sanctuary to
every killer, gangster and thief in
the building in exchange for their
heads. Starring: Iko Uwais, Ray
Sahetaphy.
ANIMATION
ICE AGE 4: CONTINENTAL DRIFT
Scrat’s nutty pursuit of the
cursed acorn, which he’s been
after since the dawn of time, has
world-changing consequences – a
continental cataclysm that triggers
the greatest adventure of all for
Manny, Diego and Sid. In the wake
of these upheavals, Sid reunites
with his cantankerous Granny,
and the herd encounters a ragtag
menagerie of seafaring pirates
determined to stop them from
returning home. With voices of: Ray
Romano, John Leguizamo, Dennis
Leary.
MUSICAL
JOYFUL NOISE
The small town of Pacashau,
Georgia, has fallen on hard times,
but the people are counting on the
Divinity Church Choir to lift their
spirits by winning the National
Joyful Noise Competition. The choir
has always known how to sing in
harmony, but the discord between
its two leading ladies now threatens
to tear them apart. Starring: Queen
Latifah, Dolly Parton, Keke Palmer.
35
maltatoday,
TRAVEL
Family fun in Dubai
Dubai
Travelling with the little ones
is always a challenge as parents
try to find fun and exciting
things to do. Emirates and
Dubai Tourism and Commerce
Marketing have developed a
campaign to help families with
children under 12 make the
most of their holidays to Dubai
until 30 September. Do More in
Dubai also coincides with Dubai
Summer Surprises when stores
have their summer sales.
What to do?
Emirates partner Dubai
Mall will further enhance the
exclusive Do More in Dubai
packages by including free
children’s access to the Dubai
Aquarium & Underwater Zoo,
Sega Republic and Dubai Ice
Rink at the mall, the world’s
largest. Additionally, the offer
includes entrance deals to some
major attractions in Dubai such
as the Wild Wadi Water Park;
Aquaventure & Lost Chambers
at Atlantis, iFLYDubai; Soccer
Circus & Cite’ des Enfants at
Playnation – Mirdif City Centre;
and the Dubai Dolphinarium at
Creek Golf Club.
For visitors to Dubai travelling
without children, the Dubai Mall
discount voucher book provides
one-of-a-kind experiences for
those still young at heart such
as golfing at the Els Club in
Dubailand and Arabian Ranches
Golf Club.
The 10-million litre Dubai
Aquarium tank, located on the
Ground Level of The Dubai Mall,
is the largest suspended aquarium
in the world, home to 33,000
aquatic animals and over 140
species including sharks and rays
and the largest collection of Sand
Tiger Sharks in the world.
Take a walk through the 48metre tunnel for 270-degree
views going through the tank
at the Dubai Aquarium
Take a walk through the 48metre glass tunnel that provides
a 270 degree view, 11 metres
from the tank’s surface, or take a
ride on a glass bottomed boat for
spectacular views beneath your
feet.
The more adventurous can take
a dip inside the tank and go cage
snorkeling or shark diving, a
unique experience that takes you
within inches of live sharks and
rays.
The Underwater Zoo
offers a world of knowledge
The Wild Wadi Water Park offers
traditional downhill slides, more
exciting extreme rides and the
largest wave pool in the Middle East
aboutcreatures that inhabit the
rivers and oceans. Just above the
Aquarium tank the Underwater
Zoo consists of three ecological
zones – Rainforest, Rocky Shore
and Living Ocean.
Check out the otters, piranha,
penguins, crocodiles, giant crabs,
seahorses, garden eels and many
more in 40 aquatic displays.
Catch a behind the scenes
glimpse of Aquarium life as staff
prepare fish food and divers
prepare the take the plunge.
Set your spirit free on the Dubai
ice-rink. The Olympic-sized ice
rink is a great destination of
endless fun for people of all ages
and abilities, whether you are
learning to skate, perfecting your
technique, playing ice-hockey or
just socializing with friends. It is
by far the coolest place to hang
out in Dubai.
Have you ever wanted to jump
out of plane? At iFLY Dubai you
can experience that unforgettable
experience for a tenth of the cost
of a tandem jump and what’s
more is you can take the kids
with you as it is perfectly safe
for children. The skydiving
simulator offers a longer freefall
feeling than a real sky dive and
is challenging for adults, safe
for kids, exciting for teens and
realistic for sky divers.
Imagine exploring the
mysterious ruins of Atlantis,
lost for thousands of years
deep beneath the sea. The
Lost Chambers Aquarium is a
series of tunnels and mazes of
the lost civilisation of Altantis
surrounded by 65,000 marine
animals including sharks, eels,
seahorses and piranha. Check
out more than 20 remarkable live
exhibits including a touch tank
and an interactive Aquatheatre
show.
Where to stay?
The kids can fly at iFLY Dubai in a skydiving
simulator tunnel that is perfectly safe for children
Up to two children under
age 12, travelling with two
accompanying adults in economy
class, are eligible to receive
complimentary accommodation
(minimum three night stay),
meals in participating hotels, plus
airfare discounted 50% off the
adult fare.
Families will have a choice of
over 70 hotels and apartments in
Dubai, ranging from two- to fivestar, with city or beach locations,
to meet every family’s need.
Furthermore, to take advantage
of even more fun in Dubai, at
participating hotels, offers can be
extended beyond three days and
will include free breakfast, lunch
and dinner buffets for children,
plus room taxes and service
charges.
The Jumeirah Beach hotel, www.
jumeirah.com, is conveniently
located within walking distance
from the Wild Wadi Water Park,
with its waterslides and artificial
surfing machines as well as
restaurants and snack stands.
The park offers entertainment
and fun for the whole family with
traditional downhill slides and
the more extreme rides for the
more adventurous.
Breakers Bay is another
attraction of the Wild Wadi
Water Park. This is said to be the
largest wave pool of the Middle
East. In this pool, swimmers
can enjoy crossing and parallel
waves, which are almost five
feet high and splash in many
configurations.
Standing 1,050 feet above sea
level, Burj al Arab is the world’s
second tallest building solely
operated as a hotel, and is linked
from its mock island to the Dubai
mainland through a private
bridge. Lavishly decorated in
bold stones, the hotel offers an
indoor and outdoor swimming
pool; swim up bar, private
beach, health spa and massage
treatment rooms, steam room,
fitness equipment, library, hair
salon and a pool table. Even if
you can’t afford the steep room
rates, the hotel is worth a visit.
The Palm is an exclusive property
spread across 46 hectares of land.
Located about 35 kilometers away
from the Dubai International
Airport, the resort offers a
variety of entertainment options
along with on-site shopping and
tempting dining options. Water
lovers can enjoy the private
beaches, swimming pools, marine
and water parks or swim with the
dolphins.
Accommodation packages are
available at Emirates Holidays on
www.emiratesholidays.com.
Where to eat?
For a warm and traditional
atmosphere, try Awtar in Dubai’s
Green Valley. Delicious Lebanese
food complemented with lively
entertainment, make it popular
among many local Emiratis. The
restaurant offers an extensive
array of kebabs, raw-meat dishes
and hot and cold meze.
Gordon Ramsay takes his
glowing reputation worldwide to
the Creek side restaurant Verre
(www.gordonramasy.com/dubai).
Outstanding choices on the menu
may cause some confusion but
classic French dishes will surely
not disappoint.
Al Mahara does not only offer
the most exquisite seafood
dishes but also fascinating
surroundings. A spectacular
aquarium awaits your arrival,
filled with fish, sharks, turtles
and other sea creatures. If you
are lucky you may even spot a
diver feeding the fish. The menus
range from classic, modern,
Arabic adventure and Seafood
experience, offering various types
of specialties. This restaurant
is one of the most expensive in
Dubai but its unique atmosphere
is worth at least a visit.
How to get there?
Emirates operates daily flights
to Dubai via Larnaka, Cyprus.
Flights leaving Malta on 20 July
and returning on 2 August were
priced at €686.66, including tax,
at the time of going to print.
Flight EK 108 departs at 15.45pm
from MIA and arrives in Dubai at
00.55am the following day.
Adults flying to Dubai with
children under 12 in economy
will be eligible for a 50% discount
off the adult fare until 30
September.
Do More in Dubai covers Meet
& Assist service at the Dubai
airport, airport transfers, and
a free Dubai City Tour & Dhow
Cruise with dinner for up to two
children with accompanying
paying adults.
Further information can be
obtained from Emirates Sales
Office on 2255 77255 or from
local travel agents.
36
FOOD
RESTO OF THE WEEK
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to rzammitcutajar@
A stroll along the Birgu waterfront is a
treat in itself – beautiful baroque architecture forms a backdrop for the superyachts berthing in the harbour. After a
pleasant stroll up and down the waterfront stop for something to eat at a great
fish restaurant – Riviera della Marina –
and take a break from the summer heat.
Fresh ingredients are the number one
priority at Riviera della Marina. Mediterranean cuisine with a slant towards
Italian dishes calls for the freshest ingredients with little interference from overambitious chefs.
Specialising in fresh fish, pasta and
shellfish dishes sourcing of local ingredients is paramount. Azzopardi Fisheries
provide the restaurant with the best fish
on the market while vegetables including pumpkins, marrows and potatoes are
grown by the owner of the restaurant,
Dine in a historical setting surrounded by fortifications and super yachts
Michael Micallef himself, and other vegetable needs are met at the local markets.
After leaving La Dolce Vita after 25
years of service Micallef swore he make
a change and leave the catering world behind. However he sorely missed the bustle of the kitchen and soon wanted to be
right back there so he set up Riviera della
Marina in 2009.
Specialities include the home-made
pasta which changes according to ingredients available – and nothing beats the
combination of fresh pasta with fresh
fish. Try the home-made ravioli with
fresh grouper and Maltese prawns for
the ultimate treat or ask for their recommendation for the freshest dishes
available.
Enjoy these fantastic dishes in a
stunning setting steeped in history.
The ancient fortifications are offset
by the new luxury yachts berthed a
stone’s throw from the restaurant.
Whether dining in summer or winter
Riviera della Marina has it covered.
A fantastic outdoor area keeps diners
close to the sea breeze in the summer while the huge archways provide
shelter during the winter months.
Enjoy the intimacy of the dining
room, with its rustic restoration and
candlelight atmosphere.
The combination of great local
food, warm and friendly service and
reasonable prices keep Riveria della
Marina a quality choice when dining
out this summer.
Riviera della Marina is open daily
from 12:00 till 15:00 for lunch and
from 19:00 till 23:00 for dinner.
Riviera della Marina
Address: Riviera della Marina,
Vittoriosa Marina, Birgu
Contact: 99997973, 21807230
Website: www.rivieradellamarina.com
Indulge in a vast selection of fishermen’s catch
Prosecco ‘Special Cuvee’ –
Zonin
VINIFICATION AND MATURATION
The must is obtained by very soft pressing of
solely Glera grapes, then 50% undergoes an
initial fermentation at a controlled temperature
of 18°C (64°F) while the remaining 50% is
stored at 0°C (32°F) as unfermented must.
Lately they are assembled and transferred into
pressurized stainless steel tanks where the
wine is made sparkling using the traditional
Charmat metho. Bright pale straw-yellow; a
fine, clear mousse with a very delicate perlage.
Attractively intense; very fruity and aromatic,
with hints of wisteria flowers and Rennet
apples. Very well-balanced and appealing,
with the extremely delicate almond note that is
typical of Glera.
FOOD COMBINATIONS
An excellent aperitif, it can also be served
throughout the meal - including dessert - as
long as the dishes are not too strongly flavored.
RETAILS AT CHARLES GRECH SHOPS
AT € 6.10
Charles Grech & Co. Ltd., Valley Road, B’Kara
Tel: 2144 4400
37
FINE FOOD OF THE WEEK
Stay chilled with lemon flavours
Lemons
Lemon ice-cream, lemonade,
lemon chicken, lemon chocolate
and of course limoncello, there
are a huge number of ways to enjoy refreshing Maltese lemons,
and while they are in abundance
why not use them in every way
possible and preserve what you
can for those dreary days when we
have to make use of the waxy lemons found in supermarkets that
seem to have been made in a factory rather than on a tree.
Although fresh lemons are available in Malta throughout the year,
the Maltese variety is most productive over the summer months
with good local lemons difficult to
come by in the winter.
Though the precise origin of
lemons remains unknown it is
largely believed that their roots
are in India, Burma and China,
having made it to Europe as early
as the 1st century AD during the
Roman Empire. Lemons have had
culinary as well non-culinary purposes ever since.
The five to six percent citric acid
found in lemons gives them their
characteristic sour taste making
them a key ingredient in dishes
throughout the world. Though it
is mainly the juice that is sought
after, pulp and zest are also used
for culinary purposes in a variety
of dishes.
The average lemon contains approximately three tablespoons of
juice. If removed from the fridge
and allowed to come to room temperature or placed in the microwave for a few seconds the juice
becomes easier to extract. Rolling
them under the palm of your hand
will also help extract more juice.
Once picked lemons will remain
fresh for up to a week at room
temperature and can remain fresh
for up to four weeks in the fridge.
Lemon juice can be frozen in icecube trays and then transferred to
plastic bags and kept for the offseason. Dried lemon zest can be
kept in an air-tight container in a
cool dark area.
Serving ideas using lemons
• Place thinly sliced lemons, peel
and all, underneath and around
fish before cooking. Baking or
broiling will soften the slices so
that the can be eaten along with
the fish.
• Combine lemon juice with salad
dressings to add a refreshing
zing.
• If you are watching your salt
intake serve lemon wedges with
meals as their tartness makes a
great salt substitute.
• Lemons, preserved in brine
with spices and allowed to ferment can be served as a condiment, particularly with Moroccan cuisine.
RECIPE OF THE WEEK
Meringue and lemon curd stacks
Ingredients (serves 8)
4.
•
2 eggwhites
5.
•
200g sugar
6.
•
1 punnet raspberries, or strawberries
7.
Lemon curd
Add sugar, 1 teaspoon at a time,
beating until dissolved.
Spoon mixture into a piping
bag fitted with a 1cm nozzle.
Starting from the centre, pipe
a 6.5cm spiral in each marked
circle.
Bake for 15 minutes or until
firm. Turn off oven. Cool in
oven with door ajar.
To make lemon curd:
•
2 egg yolks
•
2 eggs
•
130g sugar
•
2 tsp lemon zest, finely grated
•
Juice of 2 lemons
11.
•
100g butter, cubed
12.
Method
1.
2.
3.
Preheat oven to 140°C.
Line 2 large baking trays with
baking paper.
Using an electric mixer, beat
eggwhites until stiff peaks
form.
8.
9.
10.
13.
14.
Place egg yolks, eggs, sugar,
lemon rind and lemon juice in
a heavy-based saucepan.
Whisk to combine. Add butter.
Place over medium heat. Cook,
whisking, for 7 to 8 minutes or
until butter is melted and mixture coats the back of a spoon.
Remove from heat. Stand for 5
minutes.
Pour into a bowl. Cover surface
with plastic wrap. Set aside to
cool.
Place one meringue disc onto
each plate. Top each with 1 tablespoon lemon curd followed
by remaining meringue disc.
Dollop 1 tablespoon remaining
lemon curd on each. Top with
raspberries or strawberries.
Serve.
38
39
maltatoday,
THIS WEEK
Malta Film Fund gets boost for 2012
THE Malta Film Fund has been
launched last Thursday by the
Minister of Finance Tonio Fenech and
Culture Minister Mario de Marco.
This year’s Fund has been increased
to €250,000 for the development of
films and documentaries and the
production of short films, feature films
and documentaries, with calls for
entries for 2012 now open.
Minister Fenech explained that this
Fund is intended to further support
the development of the film industry
in Malta, based on the successes
achieved so far which have seen not
only 65 international productions
choose Malta as their location over
the past four years, but also the
encouraging growth of the local
indigenous industry.
“Through this fund, we want to
continue supporting the development
of new talents and skills. This will
assist the growth of the local film
industry and local productions,
but will also allow locals to provide
better value added to foreign film
makers, thus benefiting from the
new opportunities which are being
created.”
He also pointed out that the
development of the industry is also
being supported through investment
in training, and announced that the
European Union has recently approved
the allocation of €0.5 million from
the European Social Fund to support
the development of further training
programmes.
Fenech remarked that the “filmmakers are cultural entrepreneurs
and the aim of these initiatives is to
ultimately create a more professional
environment and lead to the creating
of a mainstream source of revenue”.
However, the fund looked beyond
the economic impact, and aims
to preserve and promote Maltese
cultural and linguistic diversity
through audiovisual works, to
develop the artistic scope, quality and
dissemination of Maltese audiovisual
works and to strengthen films as
a cultural product and Malta as a
production location.
Culture Minister Mario de Marco
said that the Malta Film Fund
enhances the creative economy –
which currently employs 8,000 people
in 3,600 enterprises.
He explained that the fund aims
to strengthen the local audiovisual
industry which forms part of Malta’s
creative economy.
The Fund is beneficial for the cultural
and creative sector as it assists artists
and film producers in developing their
talent and in producing local quality
films, documentaries and productions.
These serve also as a promotion of
the Maltese islands and are therefore
also beneficial to the tourism sector.
De Marco said that the Malta Film
Fund is amongst the several schemes
that government has launched to
strengthen the creative economy
and which include the Culture Card,
Kreattiv and INVEX initiatives.
He said that in these past few years
since the Malta Film Fund’s inception
in 2008, there has been a diversity of
audiovisual production works, with
diverging styles and themes – these
varying from documentaries to
animated films. The University of
Malta and MCAST also offer courses
related to the area of audiovisual
production.
Film Commissioner Peter Busuttil
gave an overview of the fund’s aims
and outlined the two funding strands,
one for development and one for
production, with up to €20,000
available for development and
€120,000 for production.
The Fund is involved with the making
of full-length features, documentary,
experimental, short and animation
films.
Busuttil also highlighted that the
Malta Film Commission – which is
responsible for the implementation
and administration of the fund
– recognises the importance of
supporting emerging talent, as
well as actively encourages and
stimulates local film-making and the
development of new skills.
Now in its fifth year, the Malta Film
Fund encourages emerging and
experienced film-makers to develop
their potential and support original
and exciting ideas and stories for
new works or the completion of film
projects.
Busuttil also hoped that budding
filmmakers will be inspired by
previous awardees and apply.
He advised that an independent
evaluation board, including foreign
experts, is nominated to assess and
award applicants.
He revealed that in the next coming
weeks an information seminar
regarding the fund application process
will also be held.
Busuttil also referred to the ESF
funding approval, pointing out that
this allocation will be invested towards
accredited courses in the filming
production sector for those interested
in starting a career in this industry
or in improving their expertise in
the field.
The commission aims to increase
the number of persons adequately
skilled in the filming industry with
the potential to increase innovation
opportunities in this sector. It
is intend that these courses will
commence towards the end of the
year.
A number of teaser trailers from
past awardees were also presented.
A total of 17 Maltese films/
documentaries have received the
fund’s support.
Detailed guidelines, criteria and
application form for the Malta
Film Fund 2012 can be found and
downloaded from the Malta Film
Commission website www.mfc.com.
mt. For any further queries send
email to [email protected]. All
applications are to be submitted
to the Malta Film Commission by
12:00 on Thursday, August 30.
Shot entirely in Malta, the first
season of Sky One’s TV series
Sinbad began airing from last
Sunday
40
maltatoday,
THIS WEEK
SUNDAY, 15
15 JULY
JULY 2012
2012
SUNDAY,
More than just a series of events
As the Malta Arts Festival comes to a close on Wednesday, TEODOR RELJIC speaks to Davinia
Galea, Executive Director of the Malta Council for Culture and the Arts, about the festival’s
wide-ranging scope… and what’s in store for Malta’s cultural future
Davinia Galea: “We need to find
spaces for cultural industries to
flourish in”. Photo by Elisa von
Brockdorff
What were some of the highlights
of this year’s festival?
What are some of the key
‘principles’ behind the festival?
I dare say that all the events in
this year’s Malta Arts Festival have
each been highlights in themselves,
judging from the reaction of the audiences so far. From Enrico Dindo
to Theatre Week, from Bombyx
Mori – the dance production by the
The Inbal Pinto & Avshalom Pollak
Dance Company from Israel, to the
two MAF commissions: Ftakar by
Big Band Brothers and Old Salt by
the rubberbodies collective.
All the festivals that the Malta
Council for Culture and the Arts
organises under my direction are
developed in compliance with the
aims of the National Cultural Policy launched last year. Even before
the Cultural Policy was actually
launched, we started targeting its
goals through the way we always
organise our various initiatives, by
ensuring that we empower people
through participation, and enable
or facilitate relationships both locally and internationally through
our networking. However, festivals
are not our only remit. The MCCA
wears many hats. The work of a
Culture and Arts Council is to give
added value to Maltese artists and
the arts, both nationally and internationally.
To do this, we run different
support structures for the sector, including the Malta Arts
Fund, offering advisory services,
and supporting various entities
through the work of our staff, and
through loan of equipment. We
abide by the arms-length principle,
as advocated by the cultural policy,
that ensures choices of excellence
when it comes to programming and
transparency in funding decisions.
We are working on getting EU and
international networks to promote
artists and tap outside funding.
The success of MCCA can be seen
through many factors. Albeit short
of resources, I believe our team excels in best practices from a cultural
management perspective, and it is
a source of personal pride and satisfaction to me when other entities
and private individuals would like
to loan our staff to carry out work in
various cultural sectors.
The Malta Arts Fund, which was
launched only three years ago with
the full support of the Minister of
Culture, has proved to be a very effective enabling tool. We started out
with a fund of €50,000 annually and
in just three years, we have lobbied
and augmented funding to €430,000.
Our international experts who also
sit on some of our Arts Fund evaluation boards have praised our modus
operandi.
On an international level, we have
achieved some very good results
such as Malta’s participation in the
Frankfurt Book Fair. On the local
level we have provided new dimensions to existing activities, such as
taking further the Francis Ebejer
Prize, by giving additional support
for production of plays rather than
just prizes for scriptwriting. There
is now more participation of Maltese artists in international initiatives, and all the Maltese arts world
was proud to witness the fact that
the EU prize for literature this year
was won by Maltese author Immanuel Mifsud, an award that was
duly commemorated in Brussels by
the Malta Council for Culture and
the Arts. The Music Composition
Competition is also contributing to
the creation of a new body of works
by Maltese composers, and it will be
our task to promote these both nationally and internationally.
What could you say about
audience turnout, and feedback?
Was it in any way different from
last year?
So far, we have had full houses with
the exception of the dance performance, which was, however, over half
full. This was a bit disappointing as
we offered a performance of excellence, which actually earned the Festival a photograph and an article in
international media distributed by
Reuters immediately the morning
after! Audience feedback has been
fantastic and augurs well for the future. Ghanafest, the annual Mediterranean folk music festival, also had
an excellent programme this year
and a great audience. The upcoming
Jazz Festival also promises a worldclass programme and ticket sales so
far are looking excellent.
The Malta Arts Festival, being
longer than all the rest, is obviously
more difficult to sell, but from our
experience, most tickets are sold at
the last minute and at the door of
the performances. People want to
be sure that they will be able to attend and that they are guaranteed
their money’s worth, which I assure you is certainly the case with
all our festivals. This year we are
experiencing a great demand for
tickets as they sell out.
Given the recent freedom from
censorship would you say that
the arts festival has soaked up
some of this mood of increased
cultural awareness and
participation?
We don’t programme to sensationalise or gain exposure by shocking
audiences; we programme excellence in the arts and all that comes
with it. MCCA has been very much
behind the scenes working with the
Ministry of Culture on changes to
the law. There is a lot of work going on that is not necessarily seen
in public, but it is slowly and surely
being felt, contributing to, as you
say, to increased cultural awareness and participation. We are getting there. We will hopefully have
more productions next year in the
festival that we are currently negotiating, that will test the grounds,
but as I say the aim is not to sensationalise but to programme works
of excellence that can be provocative. Of course, they will be classified but definitely not censored!
How would you say that the Arts
Festival has evolved from 2006
until now?
It is not just a series of events,
thanks to the networking, and professional growth of our staff. We
are succeeding in creating dialogue
through the Festival but of course
also through the many platforms
that the MCCA has managed to
create in the short span of four
years.
What is the way forward for Maltese culture as a whole?
There is still a long way to go and
lots of more work to do. The next
goals to be tackled are finding spaces for cultural industries to flourish
in. Our first major project in this
context has started, the building of
the Carnival workshops – that is,
creating professional spaces for the
float builders to work in the right
environment. The MCCA would, of
course, like to have its own adequate
space, considering our role, position
and responsibility to the sector. Our
current offices are not conducive to
the nature of our work. Together
with the Ministry for Culture and
other entities, we need to see three
infrastructure projects carried out
in the very near future, the modern
and contemporary art museum,
the multi purpose performance
space and a centre of architecture
and the Built Environment. Another important project we are in
the process of developing is ‘artists’
residencies.
Eat out and win with MaltaToday’s Restaurant Watch
Grill 3301 at the Corinthia San
Gorg in St Julian’s
THIS week’s winners of the MaltaToday restaurant watch are Anthony Saliba of Balzan, Angelo Vassallo
of San Gwann and Claudine Cachia
Markham of Safi.
Dining out is not about what
connossieurs say you should and
shouldn’t like but what appeals to
the people. MaltaToday has given
diners the chance to have their say
with a Restaurant Watch competition where diners can submit a review of a restaurant and be in with
the chance to win one of three Caravaggio box sets from Marsovin.
Anthony Saliba’s pick was Estilo in
Paceville, a welcoming spot where
the food is excellent and the kids are
well entertained in the supervised
play area. Saliba’s picked the sushi
platter as a dish to remember, with
a meal for two consisting of starter,
main course, dessert and a bottle of
wine costing between €40 and €50.
Angelo Vassallo’s restaurant of
choice was Grill 3301 at the Corinthia San Gorg in St Julian’s, with
fantastic fresh fish on the menu.
His favourite dish was the fresh sea
bream. His meal for two cost between €70 and €90.
Claudine Cachia Markham selected Da Rosi in St Paul’s Bay as
her recommendation because of the
great value for money on excellent
food served by friendly staff. The
spaghetti with calamari was her
meal of choice. Her meal for two
cost between €40 and €50.
Tell us which restaurants are worth
going to and what makes them special and be in with a chance to win
these fabulous prizes next week by
filling in MaltaToday’s Restaurant
Watch on page 24.
41
maltatoday,
THIS WEEK
GO create first-ever reality show on cabin
cruiser
The cruise liner which will serves
as the setting for GO’s three-day
reality programme, featuring the
public’s two favourite characters
from its quirky campaign (inset)
TEODOR RELJIC
AS part of their ‘Join the Revolution’ campaign, GO will be creating the first ever Maltese reality show to take place on a boat
during the GO Reality Weekend,
which will be shown from July 20
to 22 on One TV.
Along with two other participants who will be revealed on
Wednesday, the show will star Phil
Cope and Althea Corlett – two of
the familiar faces that have graced
GO’s billboards and television adverts ever since the campaign was
launched in mid-May of this year.
Cope and Corlett were selected
after the public was invited to
vote for their favourite ‘characters’
from the GO campaign – scoring
1,331 and 560 votes respectively,
beating their fellow campaign
participants Ariane Darmanin
(207) and Paul Cuschieri (178).
“We strived to make the campaign as innovative as possible.
For example, we put Phil Cole on
a toilet, while Althea’s ad was gayinclusive,” Johann Grech of GO
said.
Going on to elaborate on the
reality show’s format, Grech explained how Cope and Corlett will
be put on a cabin cruiser which
will be moored on the Sliema Ferries, where they will be asked to
perform a number of challenges.
On Saturday, July 21 a party will
cap off the reality show’s events,
with a live performance by the
3Artists – the trio of musicians
who were employed by GO to create an original song as part of the
Join the Revolution campaign.
“A common thread for all of the
challenges is that they will all be
making use of mobile internet
technology. For example, if the
challenge involves getting supplies for Saturday’s party from a
nearby boat, the group will have
to coordinate this using their
phones.”
The reality show will also be an
interactive experience, as passersby will be able to join in the fun by
309. POSIDONIA
We call it ‘alka’ and yet this is no alga, but just as much a flowering plant as your garden rosebush. True, its flowers are nothing
showy and rarely seen, but the posidonia (or neptune grass) is
much closer related to your lawn than to all the algae of the
sea. An endemic of the Mediterranean Sea, posidonia form
large ‘meadows’, an extremely important habitat for breeding
fish, crustaceans (crabs, etc.) and cephalopods (octopus, etc.).
Our islands are blessed with good patches of posidonia, but
pollution, dredging and turbidity caused by seacraft have depleted or degraded many more. Posidonia meadows are now
protected and will hopefully start to recolonise former areas.
Text Victor Falzon
Photo Desirée Falzon
means of a big screen projection
of the show placed just in front of
boat.
“One of the key philosophies behind this campaign is GO’s belief
that nowadays, consumers are not
just receivers. Now, people can
spread the message themselves,
thanks to the myriad communications outlets available today.”
Food Matters –What is behind an organic
label? – National Standards
The Codex Alimentarius
and IFOAM guidelines are
minimum standards for
organic agriculture, intended
to guide governments and
private certification bodies
in standard setting.
As such, they can be
considered as standards
for standards. Governments
can use these texts to
develop national organic
agriculture programs, which
are often more detailed as
they respond to specific
country needs. Most
national standards (e.g. EU
countries, Japan, Argentina,
India, Tunisia USA), are
specified in regulations
which are legally binding.
In Malta, legal notice
237/2004 has been
published on 30 April 2004
Agricultural Services and
in order to transpose the
Rural Development Division,
EU Regulation on Organic
which now falls under the
Farming. The Maltese
Ministry for Resources and
legislation starts by
Rural Affairs.
declaring the competent
authority on Organic
Farming as the
Visit Friends of the Earth’s website
Green Idea of the week 211: : Ice-cream tubs – Wash out
empty plastic ice cream containers and use them as lunchboxes or
to store food in the fridge. They’re also ideal for storing all sorts of
things around the house, shed or garage - such as batteries, nails
and screws, small toys, make up, pencils, and all those little bits
and pieces that normally end up as clutter.
for more information about our
work, as well as for information
about how to join us
www.foemalta.org.
You can also support us by
sending a blank SMS donation on
50618070 (€4.66) or
50619223 (€11.65).
42
Business & Technology
Focusing on the importance of
backups and a disaster recovery plan
on information technology today, it is
very important to have a solid recovery plan which can help you minimise
the impact of system failures and loss
of data. Let’s face it: a malfunctioning
computer is not a rare occurrence these
days. But what if the malfunction affects your valuable data? You need to be
prepared for anything in order to ensure
that your business continues to operate
in the event of a catastrophic failure of
your IT infrastructure.
Mark Bishop
WITH the ever-increasing dependency
Data backups
Of course data backups are an essential part of any disaster recovery plan.
It makes it possible for you to restore
corrupt or otherwise lost data from an
earlier copy. Data backups are traditionally stored on tape cartridges and more
recently even on removable hard disks
and Network-Attached Storage (NAS)
devices.
Data backups provide the most basic
form of recovery from a disaster, but
in many cases they are not sufficient
alone, and there are also some considerations to take into account, such as
the frequency at which Data Backups
are taken, and the amount of copies
to retain before overwriting an older
Backup. The latter is perhaps one of the
Act before it’s too late: it is very important
to have a solid recovery plan which can
help you minimise the impact of system
failures and loss of data
most important considerations because
many times, data may be corrupted but
is not yet detected. If you only have one
Backup, it is very likely that the backup
contains a copy of the corrupt data,
rendering it rather useless. Keeping a
few copies helps reduce the likeliness
of such a problem occurring since you
can always check for the same data on
earlier backups.
Data backups should also be checked
and verified every once in a while to ensure that the data is in fact recoverable
from the Backups. Backup media wears
out over time and you can very easily
end up storing a corrupt backup.
Disaster recovery and business
continuity
In order to obtain a higher level of
resiliency in case of a catastrophe, you
need a more solid plan than just backing
up your data. The first thing to consider
is the storage of the backup media. If you
store your backups in the same location
as your IT infrastructure, they are both
exposed to the same risks and you are
likely to still lose everything in case of a
fire, a flood, or a structural collapse. It
is therefore essential to store your backups securely in an off-site location.
A proper Disaster Recovery Plan
should also contain all relevant documentation to enable you to rebuild your
IT infrastructure from scratch. The
key point here is business continuity
no matter what happens to your IT infrastructure. However considering that
time is money, this may also imply that
your disaster recovery plan caters for
minimal interruption of your business
operations, because taking a long time
to recover from a disaster could result
in a financial loss big enough to bust
your business.
For this reason, many businesses
set up a disaster recovery site which is
essentially a replica of their businesscritical IT infrastructure in another
data centre. The idea behind this is to
minimise the time required to get back
up and running should the primary
infrastructure suffer an unrecoverable
failure.
www.alert.com.mt
The author is the head of the Alert
eBusiness Data Centre
New CEO for GO
GO plc announced that Yiannos Michaelides, currently
Chief Commercial Officer,
will be assuming the role of
Company Chief Executive Officer as of September 7, 2012.
David Kay, who has been
Chief Executive of GO since
2006, has resigned for personal reasons. He will be working
Outgoing GO CEO,
Newly appointed
closely with the Chief ExDavid Kay
GO CEO, Yiannos
ecutive designate to ensure a
Michaelides
smooth and orderly transition
On the appointment of Yiannos
over the coming weeks.
With immediate effect, GO’s Michaelides, Padmanabhan continBoard of Directors has appointed Mr ued: “I would like to welcome Yiannos,
Michaelides as Deputy Chief Execu- who has more than 20 years of intertive of the Company until he takes over national experience in the telecom
and media sectors, to his new role. He
the role of the Company CEO.
GO plc Chairman, Deepak Pad- previously served on GO’s Board of
manabhan, commented: “Under the Directors and in 2011, also assumed
leadership of David Kay, GO has been the role of Chief Commercial Officer.
transformed from a traditional tel- Doubtless, he will continue the Comecommunications incumbent into an pany’s strategy of innovation to proagile, modern and customer-centric vide a superior customer experience.
quad play organisation. Together with Furthermore, I wish him all the best in
GO’s management team, David has his leadership to enhance the value for
been instrumental in driving Compa- all GO shareholders”
Prior to joining GO, Mr Michaelides
ny’s performance and led GO to record
significant achievements. These in- was Senior Executive at Emirates Intercluded developing GO into one of the national Telecommunications Limited
most recognised brands in Malta, es- (EITL), GO’s main shareholder, with
tablishing a strong presence not only responsibilities which included portin the mobile sector but in broadband folio management and value creation
and Pay TV markets and launching in- at EITL portfolio companies. Before
novative products and services across joining EITL he was Vice President
all sectors of the business. Therefore, of Strategic Marketing at du, the new
on behalf of the shareholders, staff and integrated telecoms operator in the
the Board of Directors, I would like to UAE. Prior to du he held a variety of
thank him for his outstanding contri- senior marketing and managerial posibution, commitment and dedication. tions with leading telecommunication
We wish him all the best in his future businesses in North America, Europe,
the Middle East and Africa.
endeavours.
43
Time in a bottle
WE are all allotted the same 24
hours, but what we each do with that
time separates success from mediocrity. It is never too late to learn time
management techniques and even
the simplest system can improve
your job satisfaction.
It’s all relative
Metaphors thrive to illustrate the
finite quality of time. There is the
24-litre bucket, a pickle jar, a bottle,
the calendar – all nice and two-dimensional time-management techniques. The images remind us that
you have this much fixed time, you
need to do this much in it, so you just
prioritise what needs to be done and
it follows logically that it can and will
be done in the best possible manner.
But does it?
The world seems to have gone crazy
about coming up with time management systems, all promising a magic
bullet that will change you into an
efficient, satisfied, and productive
employee. Indeed, you may recognise
that you need help in managing your
time if you are constantly stressed,
you fail to take lunch breaks because
there is so much to do, and you take
work home with you. Life is becoming more complicated because we
are multi-tasking so much more, and
have so much vying for our attention.
If we do not have a system in place
to keep us on track, we can easily be
sidetracked by phones, emails, the
internet, chit-chat, and impromptu
meetings, amongst others. The
most common interruptions result
in a fragmentation of working time
which is then broken up into periods
so small that it is virtually impossible to handle any serious task.
Control follows focus
If we agree that everyone would
benefit from time management, the
question now is whether you are
ready to empower yourself. If you
are the kind of person who likes to
let life happen to you, or be told what
to do, or who feels like you have no
choice in what happens, then no way
are you going to even consider a plan
of action. What you might think
about, is how considering the concept of time management will give
you an insight into how you do have
control over what you choose to focus on in life.
When choosing whether and how
to better manage your time, keep
in mind that you can have the most
sophisticated and tailor-made time
management system set up, but you
have to have the motivation and
commitment to stick to it. Every time
management system has to take into
account a person’s personality, too.
What shall I do next?
It may be taken for granted, but
who’s to say that the goal of time
management is to get as much done
in as little time possible? We cannot
deny that many workers get by without any type of time management
system at all. They work proactively,
doing what is urgent first, or what
is asked of them, and the tasks get
done. Some of the smartest managers of time may even be the skivers of
this world. Yes, those people who get
away with doing the least possible,
only doing the absolute minimum
whilst remaining totally unflustered.
They set their goals such as ‘do only
what I can’t get away with not doing’
and they achieve them. Full marks!
We have to recognise that it is the individual person who holds the reins.
Apart from jobs where there is constant interaction with clients, machinery, equipment or instruments,
no matter what the company’s goal
might be, it is the individual employee who calls the shots. For example,
call centre personnel are more like
machines in that they have no choice
as to what to do next. Most of us
do have this choice, a choice we are
constantly making, whether we are
conscious of it or not.
Tracking time-frames
Ever tried juggling? Two balls are
relatively easy; three balls are twice
as tough as two. It is just as difficult
to keep track of various time-frames
in time management. You need to
plot, plan, allocate time to each individual workday, see how each day
overlaps with your personal life,
prioritise projects that span more
than one day as well as autonomous
work and teamwork, and on top of
this, plan for the unexpected. Phew!
It sounds like a battle plan! Critics
even point fingers at the amount of
time spent on planning that is inherent in time management!
Time management is a question
not of managing the clock but of
managing ourselves with respect
to the clock. The best technique to
start with is to learn how to focus on
the job at hand. This will ensure that
your work gets finished on time and
is far better in quality that it used to
be. Don’t let yourself get distracted
on the way.
Basic advice as a starting point
would be to keep any system as simple as possible, and then evaluate
how well that works for you. You can
use the tried-and-tested ‘back-ofthe-envelope’ system; that is simply
spending one minute every morning
to remind yourself of what needs to
be done. Even though it sounds simple, it may be one further rung up
the ladder for you and just what you
need to keep focused. You could try
having a whiteboard on the wall near
you that you can’t avoid looking at.
There are many software packages
and e-mail clients that include task
list applications, which allow you
to prioritise tasks with due dates,
alarms, reminder notes - you name
it.
Planning and structure
A simple tiered task list system includes a general to-do list to record
all the tasks the person needs to accomplish, and a daily to-do list which
is created each day by transferring
tasks from the general to-do list.
Task lists are often prioritised. One
method of organizing a general todo list is the ABC method. The list is
divided into three sections, labelled
A, B, and C, containing tasks that
need to be done within a day, a week,
and a month, respectively.
To prioritise a daily task list, either
record the tasks in the order of highest priority, or assign them a number
It’s never too late to learn about
time management techniques
after they are listed (“1” for highest
priority, “2” for second highest priority, etc.) which indicates in which
order to execute the tasks.
Pareto’s 80:20 principle helps in
understanding the ratio of work to
achievement. Pareto analysis is the
idea that 80% of tasks can be completed in 20% of the disposable time.
This principle is used to sort tasks
into two parts. The Pareto Principle
reminds you to identify and focus
on the 20% that matters. Those 20%
produce 80% of your results. The
concept of ‘fit’ looks at how well the
requirements of a task correspond
with the available resources at the
time. If you have a gap of 15 minutes
in your schedule, it is more efficient
to complete a task that would require 15 minutes, than to complete
a task that can be done in 5 minutes,
or to start a task that would take four
weeks. This concept also applies to
time of the day and location: free
time on the road would be used differently from free time at work.
A SMARTS formula (Specific,
Measurable, Achievable, Realistic,
Time-oriented, Signed off) can also
help assess the validity and priority
of a task.
Steve Prentice, the author of Cool
Time and the Two Pound Bucket,
suggests that every task should fall
into one of four quadrants i.e. Urgent
And Priority, Urgent But Not Priority, Priority But Not Urgent, Not Urgent And Not Priority.
Prentice also points out that most
people work in phases, and only at
about one third of their total effectiveness. As the body and
mind go through highs
and lows every 90 minutes, you need to keep in
mind your natural cycles
while planning. Scheduling time for
‘white space’, to simply do nothing, is
also recognised as being important
for rejuvenation and reaching one’s
full potential.
Another interesting time management theory is known as The Pickle
Jar. The theory states that if only your
large priorities are tackled, scheduled, and done for the day, you can
then let the smaller but less important things in. Everything fits well
because you first schedule in your
major priorities and simply watch
how your other necessary tasks - the
unexpected and little things you do
all day - fill in the gaps. You don’t
need to schedule them in because
they are low on the list of priorities
and will fit into smaller time frames
anyway.
Carpe Diem
Be prepared that any changes that
you are going to adopt will take
some time to perfect and become
routine. Watch out for negative personal habits such as worrying and
procrastination through indecision
will outdo even the best time management plans. Improving your decision-making and delegation skills
are paramount to making a success
of your new worklife changes. Once
these changes are put into motion,
your workday, and life as a whole,
should be much smoother and rewarding. Good luck!
Article prepared by CSB Group and
VacancyCentre.com
Xetra goes live
LAST Monday, the Malta Stock
Exchange successfully changed
over to the Xetra trading
platform, provided by Deutsche
Borse AG. The changeover followed an intensive implementation period which encompassed
functional, technical, as well as
operational and compliance work
streams and resulted in significant changes to the Exchange’s
trading and post-trading processes. Eileen V. Muscat, CEO, said
that “The smooth changeover was
due to the excellent collaboration and cooperation between the
multi disciplinary Project Teams
from the MSE and Deutsche Borse
as well as
the invaluable contribution from
the Members of the Exchange”.
As part of the changeover to
the new trading system, the Exchange also entered into a Market
Data Dissemination contract with
Deutsche Borse. As a result of
this, as from 9 July 2012, a number
of global data vendors were disseminating data in relation to the
Exchange’s market. This is a very
positive indication of the value and
confidence given to the Maltese
market and gives financial instruments that are listed on the Malta
Stock Exchange a very broad level
of visibility to potential interested
investors all over the world.
Any members of the public
wishing to know more about this
migration to Xetra may phone on
Freephone No. 80072287 between 8.30am and 4.00pm, every
day from Monday to Friday or else
may access the Exchange’s website.
44
All HSBC’s in-branch ATMs to
be upgraded by end 2012
BY end 2012, all of HSBC Malta’s
branch ATMs will be upgraded
to next-generation ATMs. ATMs
outside branches will be upgraded
by the end of 2013.
Twenty-four new Wincor ATMs
have already been installed at Mosta, Zejtun, San Gwann, Paola, Swieqi, B’Kara, Bugibba, Gzira, Victoria (Gozo), Qormi, Fgura, Balzan,
Zurrieq, Mellieha and Rabat.
“Among the advanced Express
Banking functionalities, the upgraded ATMs offer real-time
processing of cash deposits without the need of a deposit envelope,
with the result that cash deposits
are instantly credited in one’s account. The deposit envelope is
also not required when depositing
cheques,” explained HSBC Malta’s Head of Retail Banking and
Wealth Management, Paul Steel.
The new ATMs meet with customers’ increasing demand for fast and
efficient services for their everyday banking transactions by offering more elaborate and detailed
ATM banking functionalities. For
cash deposits, the machine counts
the notes and provides a receipt
showing the number and value of
deposited notes. When depositing a cheque, the client receives
an instant image of the deposited
cheque on the print out receipt.
The installation of next-generation ATMs coincides with an ongoing €8 million upgrade programme
for HSBC Malta’s branches. HSBC’s newly refurbished branches,
located in Buġibba, Ħamrun, Swieqi, Paola, Żejtun, Mosta, Zurrieq, San Ġwann and B’Kara, are
designed to give more privacy and
space to customers visiting HSBC’s
branches.
Around 30% of HSBC Malta’s
ATMs have already been upgraded to next-generation machines,
in line with the bank’s €3 million
ATM upgrade programme. Mr
Steel said: “By 2013, we will have
upgraded all HSBC Malta’s ATMs
both in branches and offsite locations.”
HSBC Malta’s new ATMs offer enhanced
Express Banking functionalities
Get the fastest Wi-Fi
Energy efficiency in manufacturing
hotspot with Vodafone’s
new mobile Wi-Fi
The new hotspot will enable
you to connect up to five
devices at the same time
VODAFONE has launched the
fastest wireless hotspot available
in its portfolio – the new Mobile
Wi-Fi.
Vodafone’s Mobile WiFi is a
portable Internet device reaching
speeds of up to 21.6Mbps and allows you to connect up to five devices at the same time. The device
can be used anywhere and everywhere including at home, at work
and on the move. Customers may
connect multiple devices including their PC, laptop, tablet, camera
and gaming console to simultaneously access the internet through
a single broadband connection.
“Following the huge success
of Mobile WiFi launch last year,
we are launching an even better
Mobile WiFi device with speeds
reaching up to 21.6Mbps. It also
connects 5 devices at the same
time. said Alexandre FromentCurtil, Head of Marketing at Vodafone Malta. “Vodafone is offering an Internet plan for everyone
from low end users to high end us-
ers giving customers the flexibility to choose the tariff which best
suits their needs.”
Customers on a Smartphone
Plan can avail themselves from
a free Mobile WiFi with an Internet connection from as little
as €10 per month for 5GB when
subscribing to a 24-month agreement. Customers who are not on
a Smartphone Plan can get a free
Mobile WiFI with 2GB data allowance from €15 a month. The device is very easy to set up. No wires
or installation is required. The
device also has a display screen
which provides information about
the type and strength of the signal
available, WiFi connectivity and
battery life.
More information is available
by calling 247 for free from a Vodafone line or 9999 9247 from any
other line. Alternatively one may
visit any one of Vodafone’s retail
outlets or log onto vodafone.com.
mt/mobilewifi for further details.
YOUR FIRST CLICK OF THE DAY
APART from a myriad of other
things, the Department of Industrial Electrical Power at the University
of Malta have actually built an electrical car and a boat. What’s more,
they’re always looking to develop
ways to increase energy efficiency
and save it where possible – which
made them ideal for carrying out
research under the Manufacturing
Research Platform (MRP).
The Malta Council for Science
& Technology has been awarded
€710,000 under the European Regional Development Fund in order
to proceed with the MRP project,
which aimed to highlight the importance of research and information
on manufacturing, as well as assist
and quicken the transformation of
the local manufacturing industry to
higher value added activity.
The MRP carried out research
projects in Energy Efficiency, Information & Communication Technology, and Innovation – all within the
manufacturing industry.
The Energy Efficiency Project fell
under key experts Professor Ing.
Cyril Spiteri Staines and Dr. Ing.
Maurice Apap from the Department of Industrial Electrical Power
Conversion. The first project the
department developed was based
on increasing energy efficiency in
electric motors, which account for
75% of all energy consumption in
manufacturing. Large manufacturers of plastic components, such as
Playmobil and Toly, cumulatively
hold hundreds of injection mould
machines, ranging from 10-50kw
in output power. In order to keep
the technology up to date, large
plastics manufacturers typically replace their machines around every
15 years. Another partner in the
project was Andrews Feeds where
standard electrical motor applications were considered.
Under the supervision of Ing.
Cyril Spiteri Staines and Ing. Cedric Caruana, Engineer researcher
Peter Spiteri carried out a detailed
application for injection mould machines, whereby the power during
one cycle was monitored and analysed so as to find ways and means
of reducing energy losses. By applying energy saving techniques, it
was found that savings of around
three, up to five percent could be
achieved.
The second project was carried out
by Research Ing.Francarl Galea under the supervision of Ing. Maurice
Apap and Ing. Cyril Spiteri Staines.
This project was based on increas-
ing the energy efficiency during
testing of manufactured electrical
equipment for Delta Malta (which
manufacture power supplies, ranging from a couple of watts up to
6kW) and Abertax (which manufacture battery-related products).
When power supplies are built, a
reliability test needs to be carried
out, whereby a resistor is plugged as
a load for a certain amount of hours.
The amount of time this process
takes can range anywhere between
1 to 48 hours, which means the energy dissipation can be variable and
very large. This process not only
wastes a substantial amount of energy but also heats up the premises.
Ing.Francarl Galea’s idea was to load
the power supply with a specially
built converter, which diverts the
‘testing’ energy back into the grid.
The result was that this converter
saved approximately 60-80 percent
of the energy. In the case of testing
related to batteries, Francarl’s idea
was to plug the regenerative load
during the discharging process, in
so doing directing the energy back
to the grid. The outcome of these
research projects is public domain.
For more information log on to:
www.manufacturingresearch.eu.
Forestals launches new portal
and internet payment gateway
FORESTALS’S website, www.forestals.com, has been revamped with a
new and fresher look, providing enhanced and new online products and
services. The new website makes it
easier for Forestals customers to find
the company on the internet and purchase products through a new fullyfledged shopping cart.
The new portal has been designed to
offer customers an extensive range of
products, which have been classified
into a list with category labels. The
full range of products, which include
domestic appliances, video and hifi
equipment, IT hardware and peripherals, PlayStation consoles and software, are easily retrievable real-time
through the new optimized search
engine.
The website also has a stock control
engine where customers can check the
availability of any product at their preferred Forestals or Matrix outlet.
The stock control engine is directly
linked with a payment gateway which
allows secure, encrypted card transactions from BOV and HSBC debit cards,
VISA and Mastercard or Paypal. The
site was designed and developed by
Alert Communications whilst payment gateway services are provided by
Endeavour.
The Forestals site also contains a
newsletter application to which clients
can easily subscribe and be instantly
informed about any new products and
offers. Furthermore, the new website
is ideal for browsing from an iPhone
or an iPad tablet.
Speaking about the new website,
Forestals’ Marketing Manager, Tonio
Schembri said: “The revamped portal
is another step in the company’s initiatives to keep abreast of the continuous
developments in the customer’s shopping behaviour and internet marketing. Given people everywhere are becoming less apprehensive about credit
card payments online, we are now in a
position to offer them a better choice
and service.”
In a bid to enhance their communication process with their customers,
the Forestals’ Facebook page, facebook.com/forestals, went viral with
over 2000 likes in less than a month.
“The company sees the social networking as a real tool to help us communicate directly with our customers.
All feedback is valid as it allows us to
interact with customers,” Schembri
concluded.
45
Monetary statistics: January 2012
THE following is the Central Bank
of Malta’s commentary on the release of monetary statistics for January 2012.
Contribution to euro area
monetary aggregates and
counterparts
The contribution of resident Monetary Financial Institutions (MFIs)
to the euro area broad money stock
(M3) rose by 182 million euros, or
1.8%, in January, to EUR10.4 billion.
As a result, the annual growth rate
increased to 12.4% from 9.1% in December.
The month-on-month rise in
broad money was mostly driven by
the narrow money component (M1),
which grew by 150.6 million euros,
or 2.8% in January, fuelled entirely
by higher overnight deposits. The
latter increased by EUR154.9 million mainly because holdings by
private non-financial companies
(NFCs) and households both rose
considerably. Meanwhile, currency
issued recorded a slight decline.
The annual growth rate in M1
gained momentum, rising to 11%
in January, from 8.5% one month
earlier.
Deposits with agreed maturity of
up to two years, which together with
M1 are included in intermediate
money (M2), expanded by 25.2 million euros, or 0.6%, in January. This
mainly reflected higher holdings
belonging to NFCs and households.
Deposits redeemable at notice up to
three months rose slightly during
the period. Consequently, growth
in intermediate money picked up to
6.9% in January, from 3.8% in December.
Repurchase agreements, which
had registered substantial growth
during the past three months,
contracted marginally while debt
securities forming part of M3 and
with an initial maturity of up to two
years grew by a moderate 2.6% during the month.
Turning to the counterparts of
M3, credit to euro area residents
contracted by 42.7 million euros
in January. This stemmed entirely
from a drop in credit to general government of 53.2 million, or 1.2%, as
banks continued to reduce their
holdings of government securities. In contrast, credit to residents
outside general government rose
by 10.5 million, or 0.1%, reflecting
higher loans to the private sector.
On an annual basis, growth in credit to euro area residents decelerated
to 10.0% in January, from 11.1% one
month earlier.
The external counterpart of M3,
which reflects transactions between MFIs residing in Malta and
residents of countries outside the
euro area, expanded by 817.1 million euros, or 10.4%. This reflected
a surge in assets which offset a considerably smaller rise in liabilities.
The rise in assets reflected two major factors, namely a rise in bank deposit balances held abroad coupled
Victoria Hotel
earns TripAdvisor
Certificate of
Excellence award
with increased holdings of securities issued by governments outside
the euro area. The rise in liabilities
was principally attributable to an
increase in the volume of repurchase agreements entered into by
one resident bank.
The other counterparts of M3
grew by 592.4 million, or 4.3%, in
January driven by a rise in other liabilities (net), which mainly reflect
interbank transactions with other
euro area residents. Nevertheless,
an increase in longer-term financial
liabilities, principally in the form of
reserves also contributed substantially.
Transactions with Maltese
residents: deposits and credit
Deposits belonging to residents of
Malta and held with resident MFIs
expanded by 164.6 million, or 2.0%
in January (see Table 2). This rise
was mainly fuelled by a higher volume of overnight deposits, which
went up by 133.5 million, or 2.9%.
In contrast, deposits redeemable at
notice of up to three months edged
up by 1.8 million, while those with
an agreed maturity of up to two
years increased by 29.3 million.
Hence, the annual growth rate of
total deposits more than doubled,
rising to 5.4% from 2.6% in December. By comparison, the growth rate
of euro area residents’ deposits included in M3 held at all euro area
MFIs was 2.1% in January.
January’s month-on-month rise in
overnight deposits was mainly attributable to higher balances held
by non-financial companies, households and non-bank financial intermediaries. The increase in deposits
redeemable at notice up to three
months was fuelled by households,
while the rise in deposits with an
agreed maturity of up to two years
was driven by private non-financial
companies.
Credit issued by resident MFIs to
residents of Malta (including government) fell by EUR19.0 million,
or 0.2%, in January. Consequently,
on an annual basis credit growth
slowed down to 5.4% from 6.1% in
December. Mainly as a result of
a lower volume of loans extended
to private NFCs, particularly in
the wholesale & retail trade sector, credit to residents outside the
general government contracted by
EUR20.0 million, or 0.2%. As a result, the annual growth rate of credit to these borrowers edged down to
4.3% in January from 4.4% in December, while the corresponding
growth rate for loans fell marginally
to 4.1%. By comparison, the growth
rate of loans made by all euro area
MFIs to residents of the euro area
excluding general government was
1.2%.
In contrast, credit to the general
government went up by EUR1.1
million, as a sizeable drop in credit
institutions’ holdings of Treasury
bills was counterbalanced by an
increase in bank holdings of gov-
ernment securities. On an annual
basis, growth slowed down to 9.4%
from the peak of 12.5% recorded in
December.
Net foreign assets of Maltese MFIs
Net foreign assets held by resident
MFIs went up by EUR243.2 million, or 2.1%, in January, as a rise in
foreign assets outpaced an offsetting increase in foreign liabilities
(see Table 2).
While the rise in
the former stemmed mainly from
higher bank deposits held abroad
and holdings of securities issued
outside Malta, the increase in foreign liabilities reflected higher
deposit balances belonging to nonresidents with domestic banks. In
annual terms, net foreign assets
expanded by 5.9%, up from 1.5% in
December.
Bank lending and deposit rates
In January, the weighted average
interest rate paid on deposits included in M3 as well as the interest
rate charged on loans both declined
from their December level, falling
from 1.13% and 4.71%, respectively, to 1.11% and 4.69%. Compared
with a year earlier, the deposit rate
fell by three basis points, while that
charged on loans declined by five
basis points.
Further economic and monetary
information can be obtained from
the website of the Central Bank of
Malta www.centralbankmalta.org.
BOV Club offers enticing gifts for members
BANK of Valletta has just launched
the attractive benefits that are available to all students who enroll in
BOV Club, including a range of
must-have gifts.
BOV Club members benefit from
the BOV Student eAccount which
pays a premium interest rate when
compared to a normal savings account. The eAccount allows holders
to manage their finances through
various alternative channels which
offer you the flexibility and convenience of being able to bank in real
time, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week
using debit cards, the BOV 24x7
services, ATMs and also through
BOV Mobile.
BOV 24x7 services are being offered free of charge for the first year
to students, aged 18 and over, who
receive a regular stipend. This suite
of services allows access to bank
accounts via Internet Banking, Telephone Banking and BOV Mobile,
making life easier and giving you
the freedom and flexibility to manage banking requirements wherever
and whenever. A Customer Service
Centre is on stand-by, 24 hours a
day 7 days a week for assistance.
To add to all of these benefits,
new BOV Club members attending a post-secondary institution or
the University of Malta and those
renewing their BOV Club membership because they are continuing
their studies are eligible to choose
great gifts.
These gifts include vouchers from
Agenda Bookshop, Rip Curl and Esprit, as well as vouchers from Classic
Jewellers towards the purchase of an
Ice-Watch. The fashion conscious
have the options of free Remington
Hair Straighteners and Hair Tongs
and stylish Sony Headphones. Wireless Bluetooth Speakers, 500GB
portable hard drives, Uninterrupted
Power Supplies (UPS) and the complete Norton Anti Virus Package at
highly discounted prices complete
the gift list for this year’s BOV Club
Package
BOV Club Personnel will be at University on the 18th, 20th, 23rd and
24th July, at the MCAST campuses
in Corradino, Naxxar, Mosta, Luqa,
Kalkara and Gozo between the 23rd
and the 27th July to assist students
in their banking requirements. They
will also be at the Higher Secondary in Naxxar on application days
throughout September.
Further details may be obtained
through the BOV Club website at
www.bov.com/bovclub, or by visiting the BOV Club page on Facebook.
Mapfre Group’s ranking
The TripAdvisor accolade has been
awarded both to Victoria Hotel and
its main bar – The Penny Black Bar
THE Victoria Hotel, a member of
AX Hotels has received a TripAdvisor Certificate of Excellence award.
The accolade, which honours hospitality excellence, has been awarded
both to Victoria Hotel and to the
hotel’s main bar – The Penny Black
Bar for consistently achieving outstanding travellers reviews on site.
This award is given only to establishments that consistently achieve
outstanding traveller reviews on
TripAdivsor and is extended to
qualify businesses worldwide.
To qualify for the Certificate of Excellence, businesses must maintain
an overall rating of four or higher,
out of a possible five, as reviewed
by travellers on TripAdvisor. Additional criteria include the volume of
reviews received within the last 12
months.
“The management of AX Hotels is
pleased that The Victoria hotel and
its main bar - Penny Hotel received
such an award,” said Kevin Callus,
hotel manager at The Victoria Hotel.
“This accolade is the evidence that
our hard work is translating into
positive traveller reviews on TripAdvisor. We shall definitely strive
to consistently improve our mission
statement, that is, we serve you like
royalty with warmth and personal
attention,” he added.
ACCORDING to the Ranking of the
Largest European Non-Life Insurance Groups published by FUNDACIÓN MAPFRE, the Mapfre
Group, which continues to rank
sixth, stands out with a 13.4% rise in
Non-Life premiums, to €14,473 million, significantly outperforming all
other companies.
In a year marked by the eurozone
crisis and record losses from natural
catastrophes for the world’s insurance industry, Europe´s top 10 insurance groups in the Non-Life segment
achieved in 2011 a 3% increase in
premiums, to €198,150 million.
The ranking, published for the
eighth consecutive year, continues
to be led by the German group Al-
lianz, with Non-Life premiums of
€44,772 million. The next four positions –Axa, Zurich, Generali and
Achmea– remain unchanged. MAPFRE’s performance, which is driven
by the dynamism of its international
and reinsurance businesses, exceeds
by over 10 percentage points the
increase in premiums achieved by
the group of companies featured in
the report. Moreover, the increase
in premiums posted by MAPFRE
in 2011 is seven points higher than
that of the UK group RSA (6.2%),
the company with the second largest growth. The Spanish group is
followed by Ergo from Germany,
which surpasses the British Aviva,
a company that ceased to consoli-
date its stake in Delta Lloyd in 2011.
Groupama (France) and
RSA rank eighth and ninth, respectively. The difficulties faced
by the major European insurers in
their domestic markets in 2011 and
the expenses stemming from natural catastrophes were partly offset
by the dynamism of the emerging
economies in the Asia-Pacific region
and Latin America. FUNDACIÓN
MAPFRE’s ranking also includes information on the solvency levels of
the groups analysed. These figures
show that, in 2011, four out of the
ten groups (MAPFRE, Zurich, Achmea and RSA) held more than twice
the solvency capital required in each
country.
Scotts Supermarkets benefit from EU
programmes for staff training sessions
SUPERVISORS of Scotts Supermarkets cheese and deli counters recently
attended an intensive training course
at the headquarters of the Consorzio
Ricerca Filira Lattiero Casearia (CoRFiLaC) in Ragusa Sicily. The group
was led by Scotts Managing Direc-
tor Mario Said and Consultant John
O’Dea.
The course, part of the EU programme T-Cheesimal, focused on traditional Sicilian and Maltese cheeses
– their characteristics, potential evaluation criteria, production methods,
cheese cutting techniques, nutritional
values, cheese sensory characteristics
and classifications.
“We are proud that through our input the Maltese Gbejna will eventually
gain DOP classification,” Scott’s Managing Director Mario Said said.
46
Motoring
Ford’s easy access door system designed
with undercover observation
THE all new Ford B-Max is best
known for its revolutionary new easy
access door design, which allows individuals access to the rear seats of
the car without an obtrusive B pillar
getting in the way of day-to-day life.
Ford claims that this new door design
was inspired by observation work in
the car parks of DIY shops, shopping
centres and schools.
Much of the observation was carried out in secret so that the ones
being filmed acted naturally, thus
allowing the design team time to pin
point the major problems of loading
and unloading cars. The individuals
who were filmed gave permission to
be filmed, they just didn’t know when
it was going to happen.
Observation took place in Cologne,
Germany, where a couple of middleaged men, dressed in casual clothing so as not to attract any attention
to themselves, placed themselves in
a quiet corner of a garden centre car
park watching customers getting in
and out of their cars. They observed
the problems drivers face when loading their cars with shopping or when
fixing a child seat into place.
“We normally spend most of the
time in engineering labs and at our
desks, so becoming an undercover
agent was an exciting change of pace,”
said Stephen Fleming, product innovation engineer, of Ford Europe. “The
insights we gained really prove that
there is nothing like actually observing people in real life to understand
their needs and find the solutions.”
Through this observation, designers were able to better understand the
problems drivers and passengers face
day in and day out with their cars. Designers watched families load bulky
items in and out of cars and struggle
with child seats in the back of cars.
These observations and several brainstorming sessions inspired designers
to create the innovative door design
found on the new Ford B-MAX. This
new design features conventional
hinged front doors and sliding rear
doors which, when opened, create 1.5
metre unobstructed opening. These
sliding doors are also incredibly useful when parking in very tight spots.
“The concept for the door system
came from one of our brainstorming
sessions,” explained Fleming. “Having seen the difficulties created for
customers by narrow door openings,
we were determined to find a solution.”
After hours of analysing these videos, Ford engineers also acted out
these various scenarios in order to
gain a better understanding of the
obstacles everyday drivers actually
face in day-to-day activities. It was
through these many hours of analysis and experimentation that the Ford
designers came up with the innovative door design on the new Ford BMAX.
The design of this new door arrangement features front hinged
doors and sliding rear doors. The
most innovative feature of these doors
is that the central B-pillars of the car
are now integrated to the door, rather
The Ford B-Max
than forming part of the car’s internal
structure. This integrated B-pillar
creates easy access into the rear of
the car, creating a 1.5m opening, the
largest opening of any car of this segment.
Once the car was designed, Ford
then introduced this new design to
a few of their customers, in order to
gain an insight into their views of this
new door design. “We saw straight
away from the look on people’s faces.
They couldn’t believe how easy it was
to deal with those everyday tasks. We
knew we were on to a winner,” added
Fleming.
the single driver who wants a compact
car with a unique sporting edge. The
Fiat Punto became a reference point
for many models that ensued. Today,
the supermini segment accounts for
approximately a quarter of all the new
cars sold with around 30 models from
Europe, Japan and Korea all vying for
a share of the market. The new 2012
Punto is tasked with developing this
while appealing to a younger customer profile.
The most noticeable of the new
modifications is a new front bumper.
To ensure the exterior look of the car
reflects the cutting edge technology
inside, it blends the strong points of
the 2005 Grande Punto’s design with
those of the 2009 Punto Evo. At the
rear the Fiat badge now doubles as
the door lock: push it and the tailgate
opens. The rear bumper has been redesigned to be the same colour as the
rest of the car. Beneath it the rear fog
and reversing lights have been elongated and integrated into the surrounding surface. The 15-inch alloys
have a new design and there are three
new metallic bodywork colours.
To demonstrate its technical excel-
lence, at the heart of the 2012 Punto
is a revamped range of five petrol
and two diesel engines, each offering
a varying degree of driveability and
class-leading efficiency to ensure the
new Punto is capable of satisfying all
manner of demanding drivers. All engine options feature Fiat’s Start&Stop
(optional on Pop 1.2) combined with
a Gear Shift Indicator which suggests
the best gear to reduce fuel consumption and emissions by up to 15 per cent
on an urban route.
The five engines are TwinAir Turbo,
MultiJet 2 Turbo diesel, MultiAir petrol, 1.2-litre Fire EVO II engine and
the 1.4-litre eight-valve. With such
a host of high efficiency, low environmental impact technologies now
available on its cars, Fiat has given
them an umbrella name. Included in
the new Air Technologies brand are
the Start&Stop and Gear Shift Indicator plus the exclusive eco: Drive software.
The new Fiat Punto starting price for
the 1.2 petrol version, in Pop specification level is 11,637 euros with a rich list
of equipment consisting of *including
scrapping scheme.
Fiat Punto Series 6 launched
THE new Fiat Punto, now in its 6th
series and now referred to as the Fiat
Punto Pop, is now in Malta and available for viewing at the Fiat showroom
in Psaila Street Birkirkara.
Whilst maintaining the model’s
instantly recognisable and dynamic
shape, the new 2012 Fiat Punto is even
more elegant thanks to a host of detail
changes, inside and out.
Available with either three or five
doors, the new Punto features a wider
range of engines, more equipment,
and more choice of specification than
ever before. This enables it to meet
buyers’ ever more demanding requirements for smaller, more environmentally friendly cars that are affordable
to run, easy to live with, yet still chic,
safe, comfortable and fun to drive. The
new Punto comes in five trim levels,
Pop, Easy, Lounge and the new GBT
and TwinAir.
“The new 2012 Fiat Punto builds on
the Italian company’s heritage of producing mould-breaking, class leading
small cars,” states Francesca Mamo,
Managing Director of Pater Group,
owners and distributors of the Fiat
brand in Malta. “Aimed at the most
Fiat Punto Series 6
competitive and dynamic sector of the
car market, the 2012 Punto cements
its hard-won reputation as a stylish,
technologically advanced supermini.
The major developments in this model include a new exterior design, a new
range of exterior colours, new alloy
wheel designs, new colours and materials inside, and a new engine with the
ground-breaking TwinAir joining the
line-up,” added Ms Mamo.
The importance of the new Punto
shouldn’t be underestimated. The
mytical Fiat Punto model has always
been one of the strongest models that
drove the FIAT brand to spiralling
new levels of success.
Since its launch in 1993 to replace the
ageing Fiat Uno, the Punto has been a
leader with more than 8.5m vehicles
sold throughout Europe. The Punto’s
distinctive clean-cut styling was an instant hit mostly due to the car’s most
recognisable features, the vertical tail/
rear lights.
Throughout the following years, the
Punto not only became a very sought
after car for all the family but also by
Homes
Free garage with
selected properties
in Sta Venera
residential project
DHALIA Real Estate Services is
offering a free garage with every property valued in excess of
€94,000 at former 7Up factory
residential project in Sta Venera.
At the cost of €94,000 customers can purchase a finished
three bedroom flat, with two
bathrooms, terrace and washroom and a free garage in one
of the most desirable residential
projects in the inner harbour area of the island.
This unique and one time offer which was launched in June,
has been an instant success and a
promise of sale for over 30 properties have already been com-
pleted.
Commenting about this offer,
Dhalia Real Estate Services, CEO,
Chris Grech said: “This new initiative is clearly an excellent opportunity for those who wish to
buy, upgrade or invest in property.
“Dhalia’s strong position on the
local market has made it possible
negotiate one of the best opportunities for those seeking to purchase a residential property. Given the current market conditions
we have been working very hard
over the past few weeks to ensure
that we offer our clients the best
value for their money.”
Joinwell’s special July offers
JOINWELL is dedicating the month
of July to those fine details in your
home that make all the difference by
giving a 25% discount on soft furnishings and reproduction furniture all
throughout the month. Whether you
harbour classic tastes or are more inclined towards contemporary styles
and colours, at Joinwell you’ll find the
best brands of soft furnishings – enabling you to perfect your home with
that unique touch.
If you’re looking to liven up your
home with a new set of curtains, at
Joinwell you’ll find a hand-sewn range
that boasts the finest manufacturing.
Joinwell also stocks a diverse variety of
printed blackouts, fine washable linens, exclusive sheer fabrics, as well as
a large selection of silks.
Customers are also spoilt for choice
when it comes to wall coverings, carpets, bed linen, and even their innovative range of Japanese panel systems
that feature panels that are made out
of parchment with wood trims.
When it comes to blinds, Joinwell’s
imported Luxaflex collection is ideal
for all budgets and comes in a wide
variety of different colours and ranges. These include silhouette shades,
facette shades for light control, Venetian blinds, motorised blinds, and
many others that are all handmade
and tailored specifically for your per-
sonal needs.
Additionally, Joinwell is offering a
25% discount on reproduction furniture for the rest of July. Joinwell’s
dedicated workshop has been producing hand-finished premium quality
furniture for over 60 years. Requiring
a professional craftsmanship, these
classic pieces come in a variety of finishes and will integrate perfectly with
contemporary furniture.
Apart from being met with an outstanding and expansive range of designer fabrics, Joinwell customers can
also count on Joinwell’s dedicated
professional staff who are fully trained
and prepared to help you make the
best choices to suit your tastes, home
and budget. Joinwell’s staff would also
be happy to assist you when selecting
and ordering bespoke upholstery such
as settees, headboards, poufs, and any
other soft furnishings you may require. When it comes to the the purchase of home curtains, Joinwell staff
would also be able to pay you a complimentary visit so as to be better able to
offer you their expert advice.
47
Social
London 2012 Olympic
Games tickets winner
announced
COURTESY of Visa, the lucky
winner of tickets to the London
2012 Olympic Games was announced by Bank of Valletta.
Jason Pace was presented with
a package including flights for
two persons to London, four-star
accommodation on a bed-andbreakfast basis and two tickets
per event for two Olympic Games
events.
Holders of the Visa credit card
issued by BOV were eligible for
this lottery when making a retail
transaction of a minimum of €25
between 15 January and 15 May
2012.
To commemorate this historic
sporting event, the London 2012
Olympic Games theme was applied to the BOV Visa Classic
card. This new design will be
used on all new and renewed
cards issued until December
2012. Michael Galea, Chief Officer at Bank of Valletta, present-
Dial-A-Cab drivers
trained to assist people
with limited mobility
The Dial-A-Cab seminar focused on how drivers should care
for wheelchair users and persons with limited mobility
VICKY Gauci, from the National
Commission Persons with Disability, was the main speaker in a
training seminar for Dial-A-Cab
drivers, as part of the company’s
constant commitment to make its
services accessible to everyone. The
seminar focused on how the drivers
should care for wheelchair users
and persons with limited mobility.
This included the proper use of the
ramps, adapting the right approach
to make passengers feel at ease and
securing wheelchairs onboard the
cab. These procedures ensure a
safe and comfortable journey for
the passengers and the driver.
Speaking on behalf of Dial-A-Cab,
Dennis Gatt said that “the course
was very well received by all drivers. We have invested in vehicles
that are fully equipped with wheelchair ramps, swivel chairs and the
correct seat belt system to secure
equipment. We are now confident
that all staff have been trained to
use the equipment in a safe and
correct manner”.
Gauci concluded the seminar by
congratulating Dial-A-Cab for the
positive feedback they received
throughout their operation, while
thanking the company for their
initiative and dedication. She highlighted that wheelchair users have
the right, and finally the means,
to travel freely and independently.
“All we have to do is Dial-A-Cab,”
she exclaimed.
Dial-A-Cab delivers hundreds of
journeys in Malta every day, in recognisable yellow London cabs, operating round the clock and available by simply dialing 2345 6789.
All cabs seat up to five passengers
and are equipped with Wi-Fi. Further details can be found on their
website www.dialacab.com.mt.
Preparing for the London
2012 Olympic Games
FOR the London 2012 Olympic
Games, Michael Phelps, an Olympic
swimming champion and winner of
14 Olympic gold medals is the new
Head & Shoulders ambassador and
is leading the ‘up to 100% dandrufffree; 100% confident’ campaign for
the new Head & Shoulders shampoo variant – Sports Fresh.
Designed specifically for active
and athletic men, H&S Sports Fresh
shampoo eliminates the hassle and
concerns around dandruff and
provides the confidence needed in
working towards certain achievements. Formulated with a highly effective ZPT, Sports Fresh preserves
the natural moisture of the scalp,
cleans up to 100% of the dandruff
and ensures confidence in leading an active life without worrying about dandruff. The shampoo
contains conditioning agents for
the hair and the scalp to provide
beautiful, clean hair and effective
treatment against dandruff. Sports
Fresh is designed for daily use, before or after physical exercise.
“We know that worries such as
dandruff may adversely impact a
person’s life and lead to doubts that
impair one’s self-confidence. It was
our understanding of the importance of self-confidence and the way
it helps people lead active, doubtfree life that motivated us to launch
the ‘up to 100% dandruff-free; 100%
confident’ campaign,” said Lisa Jennings, global marketing director for
Head & Shoulders.
Michael Phelps commented on
his new role: “I am excited to join
the P&G brand Head & Shoulders,
a brand I have learnt to trust, given
the time I spend in the swimming
pool every week and with my hair
and scalp in frequent contact with
chlorine and other chemicals.”
The Head & Shoulders Sports
Fresh shampoo is being sold across
leading pharmacies, perfumeries
and supermarkets in Malta.
For local trade enquiries, one may
call VJ Salomone (Marketing) on
8007 2387.
ed Jason Pace with the winning
package. “A great opportunity
was given to the public through
this lottery. The range of cards
offered under the BOV Visa suite
not only offers a secure and convenient means of payment but
also various rewards. This is an
event that marks history and the
Bank is pleased that the lucky
winner has been provided the
opportunity to witness this courtesy of Visa.”
Jason Pace presented with tickets to London 2012 Olympic Games
ROCS’ Freethrow challenge
ROCS Group, synonymous
with its trade fair challenges,
this year came up with another
innovative and fun challenge!
The ROCS Group freethrow
challenge.
This latest challenge proved
to be extremely popular with
over 2,000 people trying their
skills and sometimes their luck
at one of the fundamental sin’s
of a basketball game – the free
throw. Every day the winner
with the highest score was declared and eventually walked
away with a 10 inch android
tablet courtesy of the Notebook
Centre of San Gwann.
Some of the winners were: Angele
Magro, Simon Bugeja, Manuel Cini,
Steve Bondelet, Nicholas Curmi,
Leanne Meachan, Kenneth Borg,
David Mifsud and Ryan Vassallo.
Every day, the winners were announced at the MFCC Malta Trade
Fair and on the ROCS Group facebook
page. Mr. Kenneth Borg, one of the
winners of the free throw challenge
competition was extremely surprised
at his achievement and commented, “I
never won anything my entire life, I am
so happy, grateful and proud to have
won this competition. I never thought
I would be the number 1 but for today
I am definitely top of the list!!!”
Richard Demicoli, Director The
Notebook Centre stated; “ This year
we thought of something different!
With our greatest pleasure, we worked
in conjunction with the ROCS group.
We were happy to see different people
participating in this challenge whilst
being exposed to our company. It was
an honor for us to work with ROCS.”
ROCS group Head of Finance and
Business Development,Colin Aquilina added “It was such great pleasure to
have the Notebook Centre
as one of our main partners for the Malta Trade
Fair 2012. This campaign
proved to be extremely
popular and every night
it was the centre of attraction until the very last
few minutes of the fair
when the winner was announced. At the end of the
day all participants were
winners as they walked
away with a ROCS branded basketball. I am sure we
will see plenty of them on
our beaches this summer.
Get ready for next year’s
challenge!”
All Trade Fair offers have been extended until the end of July, to benefit from these great offers and for
more information, please contact us
on 2015 1515. You may also visit us
at our offices in Floriana or Mellieħa,
the INGLOT outlet in Sliema and Perfumes & More in Sliema and Hamrun.
Or check out our website http://www.
rocsgrp.com/ or e-mail us directly on
[email protected]. They also have
our ROCS, INGLOT and Perfumes &
More pages on Facebook.
MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS
C ALL
FOR
T ENDER
EBF 11/04 - External Borders fund (EBF) 2008 – 2013
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs would like to invite interested parties to
submit tenders for the:
“Supply, Delivery and Installation of Two (2) Servers for the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs”
Submissions are to be in the English language and deposited in the
Department’s tender box by not later then Wednesday 1st August 2012,
Noon.
The document/s must be submitted EITHER by registered mail/courier
service OR delivered by hand to:
Ministry of Foreign Affairs,
Office of the CIO, 172 Melita Street, Valletta.
Late submissions will not be accepted.
The tender document may be downloaded from www.mfa.gov.mt/tenders or
collected from the CIO’s office at the above mentioned address or requested by
email at [email protected]
General Programme Solidarity & Management of Migration Flows 2007 – 2013
Tender is part-financed from the European Union
External Borders Fund (EBF)
Co-financing rate: 75% EU Funds: 25% National Funds
48
Classifieds
ALUMINIUM WORKS
MANUFACTURERS of aluminium
security roller shutters for windows
and doors. Aluminium shutters for
garages (roller or ceiling systems).
All types of aluminium, apertures,
aluminium thermal insulation, PVC
apertures, security main doors, aluminium railings for stairs and balconies (chrome/stainless steel finish).
A45 Industrial Estate, Marsa. Call
on 21226320, 99891899. Email:
[email protected]. Visit www.
horvin.eu
VIN Aluminium (ex-Joevin), manufacturers of doors, windows, insect
screens, etc. We also make repairs.
Call on 21898999, 99465666
ANTIQUES
BARGAIN Prices: For sale large gild
ormolu mirror, Maltese mahogany
desk, marble dressing table, chiffonier, biscuttin table, marble chest of
drawers with grotesque lions, pair
Victorian chairs, glass domes, clocks
under domes, lusters, opalin and
ceramic vases, figurines, Persian carpets and more. Call on 21415949,
99420241, 77415949
POMSKIZILLIOUS Museum of Toys 10, Gnien Xibla Street, Xaghra Gozo.
Call on 21562489. Now in our 20th
year in Gozo. Open 10.30am till
1pm and 4pm till 6pm in July and
September. Gift shop with toys for all
ages, collecting and children’s books,
Maltese history, etc.
POMSKIZILLIOUS Museum of Toys,
open in July till the end of September
from 10.30am till 1pm and 4pm till
6pm. Group visits by appointment.
Call on 21562489. Toys of the mid
1800s - 1950’s, mostly European.
Gift shop - old Victorian play cards
and modern toys.”Keeping yesterday
for you to enjoy today.”
WE BUY ANY ANTIQUES such as
clocks, mirrors, figurines, paintings,
furniture and silver in any condition.
Very good prices paid in cash. Call on
21237597, 21470128, 99869519
AUTO-AIRCONDITIONING
TECNOPLUS LTD, for auto air-conditioning. Check and prepare your airconditioning now, repairs, servicing
and parts. Avoid summer rush. Call on
21468402, 79468402, 99468402,
99498371
BAKERY
SAN Quintin Bakery, prop. Mario
Micallef, Maltese & fancy bread fresh daily. Visit us at Censu Borg
Street, Hamrun. Call on 21251410.
G al ob ta’ veru!
BOATS
CARVER 27 feet by 9.5 feet, beam
sports cabin cruiser with 275 HP
Volvo Penta petrol duo prop fresh
water cooled. Used for only 425
hours. Sleeps 5 to 6, galley, private
toilet/ shower, full headroom, separate private double berth, all round
sun loungers, wide integrated swim
platform, electric winch, VHF, radio
/ cassette, covers, trailer, Valletta
registered, VAT and duty paid. Part
exchange with property or SUV or
MPV type of car might be considered.
Priced to sell €23,000 (Lm9,873).
Call on 21318905, 99478303,
79205023
CHRISCRAFT 27ft boat. Twin diesel engine, 4 berth toilet, kitchen,
electric winch and trailer. Needs little work. Bargain €6,000. Call on
21558975, 99460726
CRESTLINER, 23ft volvo penta
engine. Bathing platform, new upholstery/ carpet, electrical wiring, trailer, etc. In very good condition. Price
€10,000 o.n.o. Call on 21558975,
99460726
PRINCESS 35, length over all 38
feet and 12.5 feet beam. Fly bridge
cabin cruiser with 2 Volvo penta
diesel 200HP each. Sleeps 6 to 7,
private lock up double berth, toi-
MEPAwatch
RAGS AND RICHES BUY AND SELL
- the shop dedicated to quality second hand furniture. Our items can
be viewed on our Facebook page:
rags and riches buy and sell. Call on
21661983, 79593666
Permit to extend offices by
1,000sqm in ‘residential area’
approved by tribunal
A planning development application, proposing an extension to
an already operating office complex measuring 1,000 square metres was refused by MEPA on the
grounds that commercial areas in
residential zones may not exceed
75 square metres. Indeed, MEPA
made specific reference to Policy
CG 07 of the Central Malta Local
Plan, which limits office spaces in
Residential Areas to a maximum
SKI boat, Bryant233, 23ft craft,
in mint condition, hardly used.
Registration 2011. Walk through deck
design, sun lounger, ample passenger seating, deck storage with builtin cooler box. Full instrument panel
with clarion sound system. Includes
trailer. Price €29,950. VAT paid. Call
on 21453916
YOU can find the right boat for you
at the right price, visit the Used
Boats section on bjmarine.net or call
27019356.
CAR PARTS & ENGINES
A.G.R. Auto Japanes Parts, wholesaler & retailer. Supplies for Japanese
& Korean parts such as Kia, Toyota,
Isuzu, Daewoo, Mitsubishi, Honda and
Subaru. Importers of oil/ air filters,
shock absorbers, brake pads, clutches, etc. Genuine parts. We also do
servicing & repairs on all types of
cars. Call on 21446839, 99474504,
fax 21470295. Visit us at Triq inNassab, Qormi. Email on [email protected]
KONI SHOCK ABSORBERS, lowering
kits and coil-overs, Koni bus, truck
and trailer shocks; Powerflex polyurethane suspension bushes; 123
ignition for classic cars and parts for
Italian vehicles. Call on 21371801.
Visit www.twinsparkgarage.com
CAR REPAIRS
EUROSTAR is an expert in car body
repair and collision repair for all types
of vehicles. Our body shop guarantees your car’s body repair. Being in
the business for over 50 years, we
have established a reputation respect-
ed by many insurers. If you require
any of our services, call or visit our
collision centre in Qormi for a free
estimate on any accident repair or
auto body repair. Eurostar Automotive
Repair Centre, Triq l-Industrija, Qormi,
Malta. Call on 21490735, 21490500
or Paul Ciappara Jnr 99426161,
Louis Micallef 7941959. Email: info@
eurostarautomotive.com, Web: www.
eurostarautomotive.com
ITALIAN VEHICLE SERVICING, diagnostics, mechanical repairs and electric power steering repairs. Hydraulic
power steering repairs on removed
racks, boxes and pumps of all
brands. All work guaranteed. Call on
21371801. Visit www.twinsparkgarage.com
REGENCY PANEL BEATERS - don’t
look any further. Panel beating, spray
painting, mechanical repairs and also
car hire. Visit us in St Margaret Street,
San Gwann. Call on 21376784,
99427296, 79891013
SUNRISE GARAGE, panel beating
and oven bake spray painting. Full
accident repairs, chassis alignment.
Mechanical works and colour mixing. MSA approved. Prop. Joseph
Mifsud, 57, Triq il-Ballut, Mosta. Call
on 21436054, 9949 2047. Visit
www.sunrisegaragemosta.com
CAR WASH
GERMAN MAKE EHRLE TOUCHLESS
CARWASH operated round the clock
at Galea General Services Ltd, Mgarr
Road, Xewkija, Gozo. Self-service with
no brushes and hence spotless wash
and no scratches. Other washing
equipment available. For trade enquiries call on 21561122, 99494618;
fax 21554277; www.ggs.com.mt
CLEANING SERVICES
TOTAL CLEANING AND RESTORATION
SERVICES LTD, cleaning of all kinds of
carpets, upholstery and curtains (on
site) and fire places. Insurance claims
for fire and water damage accepted.
Call on 99455152 or email info@
tcrcleaningmalta.com
COMPUTERS
ALL computer problems, 24/7
express service, free antivirus given. Brand new computers and laptops also for sale. Call Chris on
99424703
ALL kinds of computer repairs at
your Home. FREE USB Pendrive with
every Format. Wireless setup, Virus
cleaning. Upgrades and technical
assistance. Call Josef on 99460939,
21227614 - www.computech.com.
mt.
ENCOUNTERING computer problems? Repairs on spot, on the same
day? Cleaning from viruses and
spyware? Swift-Tec is your answer.
Renowned for upgrades, new system
installations and distribution of the
high quality laptops. Installation of
antivirus for free. Swift-Tec. Call on
27886633
COURSES
KEUNE
PROFESSIONAL
HAIRDRESSING COURSES for beginners and advanced including hair
extensions. Limited number of students accepted. Courses, given by
hairdressers trained overseas, mornings and evenings both in Maltese and
English. For bookings call on 2143
4636, 99476170. Keune Hair Centre,
St Michael Street, Lija. Salons worldwide: Amsterdam, Berlin, London,
Sydney and Tokyo.
ENTERTAINMENT
NIGRET NIGHT CLUB in Labour
Avenue, Rabat, Malta. We cater for
all kinds of functions: coffee mornings, lunches, dinner dances, hen’s/
bachelor’s and wedding parties. For
more information call on 21454858,
21454908, 79454908. Freddie
Portelli in attendance every Friday
and Franz Grech every Saturday with
line-dancing/ country music and 60’s
music.
FOR HIRE
CHAIRS AND TABLES for all occasions including children’s parties,
weddings, Gala dinners, etc.Variation
of chairs and tables of any colours
and sizes. Call Gino ta’ Hal Qormi on
Robert Musumeci’s Weekly
landmark decisions
permissible area of 75m”. To this
end, the proposed development
was deemed unacceptable as it
would have a deleterious impact
on the amenity of the area “by
virtue of additional traffic generation and operating times”. More
so, MEPA highlighted that such
proposal would indeed require
23 parking spaces on site in line
with the provisions of Structure
Plan Policy TRA 4 and PA Circular 3/93 – in turn, this signified
a significant shortfall in parking
provision. In addition, the Environment and Planning Commis-
YOUR FIRST CLICK OF THE DAY
let/ shower, galley, radar, autopilot,
VHF, radio / cassette, sonar, twin
pilot stations, electric winch, large
comfortable saloon, large aft seating
lounge area and many extras including radar, VHF, radio cassette, autopilot, sonar, twin driving stations and
electric winch. Valletta registered and
VAT/ duty paid. Part exchange with
property or SUV or MPV type of car
might be considered. Priced for quick
sale €84,000 (Lm36,061). Call on
21318905, 99478303, 79205023
sion underlined that the design of
the proposed façade was considered to lack proportionality and,
hence, visually unacceptable. In
reaction, applicant appealed the
said decision. In his request, appellant highlighted that the site
has been in operation for nearly
15 years, adding further that that
the zone is heavily committed
with commercial use, even though
the Local Plan has designated the
area for residential use. Applicant
also stated that he was willing
to contribute towards the urban
improvement fund in compensation for any shortfall in parking
provision. In its decision, the Environment and Planning Tribunal
observed that the proposal was in
clear breach of the Local Plan provisions. That said, it confirmed
that the area is heavily
committed with commercial establishments. Besides, the proposal concerned an extension to an
already established use
and was not conducive
to a new development. In
this context, the Tribunal
referred to Structural Plan
Policy SET 1 which states
that “encouragement will
be given to continuing
development, including
rehabilitation and redevelopment within the existing built-up areas’’. On
the basis of this reasoning, the Tribunal revoked
the original decision and
ordered MEPA to issue
the permit.
Structural Plan
Policy Set 1: “…
encouragement
will be given
to continuing
development,
including
rehabilitation and
redevelopment
within the existing
built-up areas’’
49
Classifieds
99492732, 7949 2732, 21472838.
Facebook: Gino ta Hal-Qormi
TOP Hat Wedding Hiring Service:
wedding suits, Holy Communion,
Confirmation suits, coloured suits,
graduation gowns, bridesmaids. Visit
us at 210, St Edward Street, Qormi.
Call on 2148 8241, 7948 8241
TRAILERS FOR HIRE - Box trailers
length 1.44m or 2.04m with lockable
plastic cover and soft plastic cover
respectively.EC approved for EU countries. Towbars also available for sale.
Apply A check VRT station, Mosta.
Call on 21432656, 99441297. www.
acheckgarage.com
FOR SALE
ADULT NOVELTIES and lingerie, ideal
to brighten up hens’ nights, bachelor
parties or for your intimate moments.
Discreet free delivery. Available online
from www.toysfourplay.com. Arbiv
Marketing, PO Box 26, St Julian’s. e-mail:
[email protected]. Call on 9943
2019. Visit www.toysfourplay.com
CLOVER (silla), a stock of 65 bales
at the price of €5 per bale. Call on
79031640
COLOUR bulbs or clear 15w filament.
See-through or matt light bulbs, ideal for
feasts, festoons, holders, LEDs, etc. Call
on 99497336
SNOOKER and Pool tables, foreign,
made in solid mahogany. Complete with
accessories. Professional and commercial cues, soccer tables and air hockey
tables. Maintenance and recovering of
all types of tables. Call on 21227209,
99475092 or email on mr.snooker147@
yahoo.com. Visit us on http://houseofsnooker.wordpress.com or 25, Market
Street, Floriana
monument cleaning on site. Starting from
€130. Call Austin Muscat on 21449909,
79449909. www.austinmarbles.info
NEW Chinese masseuse available in
Huaxia Chinese massage centre in Pitkali
Road, Attard. Call on 79800298
GENERAL
FURNITURE
C.BORG FURNITURE, joinery works
including interior/exterior doors, kitchens, bedrooms, wall units, shoe cabinets
and more. Excellent prices and quality
workmanship. Borg Garage, St Katerina
Street, Gharghur. Call on 21413327,
99452554
FAIR DEAL FURNITURE where you
will find bedroom prices starting from
€1,375. Leather sofas at unbelievable
prices. Fair Deal Furniture, Mdina Road,
Zebbug. Call on 27282828 or visit www.
fairdealfurniture.com.m
FINO double bed, side tables with lamps,
8x8x2 mirrored wardrobe, 4 drawer
chest (4x3x2). All as new. Price €1,200
o.n.o. Call on 21341226
FOR sale: dining room in perfect condition. Call on 21809665, 99849994
SITTING room suites for sale at moderate prices. Part exchange accepted. Also
second hand ones and re-upholstery. Call
21374823, 99824139
SURPLUS Furniture. What offers? Call
on 21692182
THREE seater sofa and two armchairs
in classic style, beige velvet. Price €250.
Call on 79708282
MEMORIAL Works. Memory slabs (marble or granite), ceramic plaques and photos, additional inscriptions on graves and
=
€3
Balzan. Contact Ms Lin on 99210180,
27556688
TEDDY’S Detergent Shop at 590, St
Paul’s Street, St Paul’s Bay. Best prices
in town. We also offer free delivery to
nearby areas. Find us on Facebook. Call
on 27333357
TEDDY’S Fashion on 571, St Paul’s
Street, St Paul’s Bay. Latest women’s
fashion at lowest prices. All items under
€20. Find us on Facebook. Call on
27889987
WEDDING dress as new. Price €390.
Call on 21692182
HEALTH & BEAUTY
BEAUTY Culture Centre, in Santa
Venera, offers professional waxing,
beauty kits, couches and equipment
including pressotherapy lymphatic and
slimming machines. Sale of portable
couches, steamers and beauty equipment at favourable prices. Special offers
on student packages. Ask for the special
offer of the month. Smart cards accepted. Call on 21440424
MADAME Marie Health and Beauty
Salon, for all beauty treatments and
make-up for all occasions. Visit us at
96, Triq il-Kbira, Qormi or contact Claire
Chetcuti on 21495103, 99423894
NEW beauty Spa ‘Honey Girl’ is now
open from Monday to Saturday, offering
oriental massage, nail art, etc. Slimming
treatments also available. New Chinese
masseuse available. 37, Valley Road,
SILHOUETTE HEALTH AND BEAUTY
SALON: facials, electrolysis, manicures,
pedicures, waxing, make-up for any
occasion, gel & acrylic nails & slimming
treatments. Visit us St Sebastian Street,
Qormi. Call on 21485716, 99450829
THE Nail House for gel nail extensions,
makea nail products, waxing, Accura
lifting systems, semi-permanent make
up, fat busting, slimming treatments,
laser hair removal. Nails by Mariella at
22, Marina Street, Marsascala. For an
appointment call on 99451294
HOLIDAY ACCOMODATION
GOZO, XLENDI new furnished apartments. Call on 21555026, 79592764
TA’ Rummiena Holiday Accommodations
- If you are looking for a premium holiday on the Island of Gozo, staying in
an authentic Gozitan farmhouse rented
directly from owners, this is the right
place for you. We can guarantee you a
memorable holiday in style in one of our
luxury yet traditional farmhouses in Gozo
at the most competitive of prices. Call
TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN
This is to inform all business, corporate, marketing clientele and the general
public that I,
Martin Vella (547765M)
Has never been employed, past or present, and never was a registered
employee of Effective Marketing Ltd, The Executive magazine, Effective
Marketing Ltd’s affiliate subsidiaries, or with Jason Attard’s present or future
business transactions.
I have terminated all Editorial Advisory, Advertising and Consultancy Services
with Jason Attard of Effective Marketing Ltd, in Ta’ Xbiex,
as from 5th June 2012.
I would also like to note that I am in no way connected with Effective
Marketing Ltd, having disassociated myself with the said individual.
I will continue to offer writing freelance and advertising services to all
esteemed clients.
For further information please email me on: [email protected]
2 CLASSIFIEDS
FOR 3 WEEKS
Choose category. Fill in the boxes provided. Write in block letters. Your advert will appear for three weeks in both MaltaToday, MaltaToday Wednesday, and www.maltatoday.com.mt.
This offer does not apply to Real Estate agents. Send your form to:
MaltaToday Classifieds, Media Today, Vjal ir-Rihan, San Gwann SGN 9016.
Together with a €3 cheque payable to MediaToday Co. Ltd.
Name: ________________________________ Address: _______________________________________________________
_______________________________________ Tel: ___________________ email: _________________________________
ANTIQUES
BOATS
FURNITURE
GENERAL
LETTING
PETS
PROPERTY
SITUATIONS WANTED
SITUATIONS VACANT
SERVICE
TUITION
VEHICLES / PARTS
WANTED
ANTIQUES
BOATS
FURNITURE
GENERAL
LETTING
PETS
PROPERTY
SITUATIONS WANTED
SITUATIONS VACANT
SERVICE
TUITION
VEHICLES / PARTS
WANTED
ALL PRICES INDICATED FOR YOUR PRODUCT OR SERVICE MUST BE IN EURO
50
Classifieds
on 21554466, 99821550, 79821550.
Email: [email protected],
Website: www.farmhouseingozo.com
HOME IMPROVEMENTS
AGIUS Decorations Ltd for all types of
gypsum works, PVC Wall panelling, PVC
soffits, 60 x 60 soffits, folding doors,
coving, ceiling roses, roller nets, blinds,
curtain rails & laminate floor. Supply and
install. Agius Decorations Ltd - Shop,
Valley Road, Qormi. Call on 21472068,
21803654, 99476936, 79253740.
Email on [email protected]
ALL kinds of works of spray, brush
painting and works on antique furniture.
We also do works on spray painting for
other carpenters. Moderate prices. Call
on 27406731, 99406731
DEO’S Interiors: turnkey contractors,
gypsum works, importers/suppliers and
installers of Italian material, including
coving, ceiling roses and interior decorations. Showroom at Testaferrata Street,
Ta’ Xbiex. Call on 21334323, 99475239
or email on [email protected]
W.P. LTD Specialists in waterproofing
membrane. Ten-year guarantee. For free
estimates and professional advice call
on 21438326, 99445527, 99493840;
email: [email protected]; www.wpmalta.
com
HYPNOTHERAPY
HYPNOTHERAPY, qualified help to quit
smoking, self-esteem, phobias, panic
attacks, depression, impotency, jealousy,
anger management, weight control, positive thinking, social interaction and stuttering. Phone C. Barlow MAPHP, MNRPC
on 27339320, 99881165
LETTING
4,457 Properties To Rent on Malta’s
Best Rated Property Website: www.
simonestates.com CHECK IT OUT! Call
on 23880034, 79861510
CENTRAL areas, properties for long
rent from 1, 2 or 3 bedroom. Visit our
website www.baronproperties.org or call
on 99442756, 79706219, 99443311
GUARDAMANGIA - furnished apartment
with two bedrooms, including washing
machine. Call owner on 21809665,
99849994
GUARDAMANGIA/PIETA` - class 4
shop, large frontage and area of 35sqm,
with shower. Good area. Ideal for hairdressers, beauticians or other class 4.
May rent or sell as shell/finished. Price
€58,000 or €10 daily. Must be seen. Call
owner on 79592925
MARSASKALA - luxurious penthouse
with sea views. Long let only, ideal for
foreigners. Comprises 3 bedrooms, 2
with ensuite, kitchen/sitting/dining, bathroom, corner terrace, with lift. Lock
up garage available. No pets or smokers please. Call owner on 99824138,
79495958
PAOLA - new corner maisonette, ideal
for office or clinic, central area, with
lots of parking spaces. Call owner on
99447227
PAOLA/FGURA area - flats, maisonettes and penthouses. Brand new furnished garages also available. Call on
99447227
QAWRA - shops or stores on the seafront (best area). Basement partly finished, 250sqm, presently being used
as a store. Long term agreement. Good
terms. Would also consider partnering
with firms who would want to expand
but are already established. Call owner
on 79592925
SAN GWANN - brand new, luxurious
apartment with three bedrooms, two
bathrooms, overlooking valley. Must be
seen. Price €500 monthly. Also corner
shops, 40 to 80sqm at street level.
From €15 per day. No premium. For an
appointment please call on 79592925
SWATAR, B’KARA - recently built 2 double bedroom maisonette, modern, fully
finished, at street level with large front
terrace/backyard and 2 double bedroom
apartment with large balcony and valley
views. Both have 2 double bedrooms
with en suite, main bathroom, open plan
kitchen/dining/livin. Garage also available to let. Prices from €475 monthly. Call owner directly on 21318905,
99478303, 79205023
ZEBBUG - 2 or 3 bedroom apartments
in Vjal il-Helsien. Shop in Birkirkara in Old
Church area. Call owner on 99486496
MARINE
PRIVATE EXCLUSIVE YACHT CHARTERS:
why not charter one of our sailing yachts
or motor boats for a day around the
Maltese Islands? You may also charter
for longer periods and sail to Sicily. We
provide fully insured and licensed yachts,
which may be chartered with or without
a skipper. Contact Nautica Ltd on info@
nautica.com.mt, 21345138, 99496510.
Visit www.nautica.com.mt, www.yachtchartermalta.com
MUSIC LINK - We stock a huge range
of musical instruments such as Acoustic
and Electric Drum Kits, Cymbals,
Percussion, Digital Pianos, Baby Grand
Pianos, Digital Sound Mixers and Sound
Cards, DJ equipment, Sound Systems,
Electric, Acoustic and Classical Guitars,
Bass Guitars, Brass Instruments, Wood
Winds, Violins, spare parts and loads of
accessories. We also stock Music Tuition
Books: ABRSM, LCM and Trinity. Kindly
call at Music Link, 262, Fleur De Lys
Road, Birkirkara. Call on 21482796
PIANOS Upright/Grand: Hyundai, Kohler
& Campbell, Seiler, Schulze Pollmann.
For hire and for sale at easy monthly
payment terms. Keyboards, synthesizers, digital pianos: Farfisa, Viscount.
Jazz organs: Hammond. Church organs:
Viscount, Ahlborn. Drum kits: Ludwig,
Tamburo. Cymbals, gongs: Ufip, Istanbul,
Wuhan. Acoustic guitars: Alhambra,
Strunal. Electric guitars: G&L, Burns.
Trumpets, clarinets, saxophones: Selmer
Paris. Strings: Pirastro Other musical
instruments and accessories: concert
harps, hand held percussions, Latin percussion, violins, violas, mouth organs,
piano accordions, recorders, melodicas,
amplifiers and sound systems. Apply
Barbara Music Shop, Triq Misrah il-Barrieri, Santa Venera. Call on 21484151,
21485343. Email: barbara.trading@
go.net.mt
NAUTICAL LICENCE
INTERNATIONAL Marine Licence for
small crafts. RYA Day Skipper licence
courses that gives you the possibility of
sailing beyond our territorial waters. This
licence satisfies the requirements of the
Italian, Greek and French Coast Guard.
Contact us on 79432526, [email protected], www.maltasailingacademy.com
NAUTICAL Licence courses, costing
€120 + €35 exam fee + €23.18 Licence
for a total of €178.18. Alternatively join
us for a two day RYA Powerboat Level2,
course fee €300. Exam done on second
day. Contact us on 79432526, info@
maltasailingacademy.com, www.maltasailingacademy.com
CARE AND CURE GROUP LTD - Trained
nurses, caring assistants, nannies, companions, home help and night sitters.
24-hour service. Wheelchairs, hoists,
commodes, walking frames and Hospital
beds for hire. Call on 21376946,
99470178
OPTICIANS
SPECTACLE FRAMES, contact lenses and solutions, sunglasses, with
eye specialists in attendance. Prop.
Mario Cassar and Annabelle Cassar,
Shop 3, Regent Place, Tumas Fenech
Street, Birkirkara. Call on 21494198,
27494198, 99884445; fax: 21677916;
email: [email protected]
THE CATHEDRAL OPTICAL one-hour service, frames start from €27.96. Attard:
21418315; Guardamangia: 21226020:
Fgura: 2167 3332; Zebbug: 21465768;
Birkirkara:
21490213;
Naxxar:
21431152; Rabat: 21450845; Luqa:
21895248; Pinto Opticians (Qormi):
21488950; San Gwann: 21383947. We
are now open in Birzebbuga: 21421976.
Polar and Cebe sunglasses.
PAINTS
INTERIOR/EXTERIOR PAINTS, water
based and acrylic, graffiato, silicato,
tiles, adhesives, plastering, liquid membrane, anti-humidity plastering products,
etc. Any colours. Wholesale prices sales
direct through an Italian company. Call on
21240027, 99490964. Email on info@
muracel.com.mt
PEST CONTROL
COCKROACH CONTROL services using
Goliath Gel. Long-term effect. Do-ityourself pest control products for sale.
Ortis Ltd, Ta’ Qali (next to the new
American Embassy). Call on 21420305;
email: [email protected]
PRIVATE INVESTIGATIONS
PRIVATE investigations Malta, fully
licensed. Separation, divorce, civic, commercial, DNA and other cases. Locally
and abroad. Call on 79590000. Visit
www.privateinvestigationmalta.com
NURSERY SCHOOL
VICTORIA Nursery school in San Pawl
Tat-Targa. Playgoup/Kindergarten. Ages
between 18 months to 5 years. Accepts
registrations for October 2012. Qualified
teachers. Spacious classrooms/playground. Arts, crafts, singing, playing, etc.
Caring environment. Call on 21419740,
79431813. Webpage: Victoria nursery
school Malta
MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS
NURSING
PROPERTY FOR SALE
18,437 Properties for Sale on Malta’s
Best Rated Property Website: www.
simonestates.com CHECK IT OUT! Call
on 23880034, 79861510
BAHAR IC-CAGHAQ - penthouse with 4
bedrooms, extra large sitting/ dining/
Living, 2 large verandas at the back
and 2 extra large verandas on the front,
2 showers and 12 windows all facing
sea and country views. Has its own airspace and lift. One-car garage. Price
€385,000. Call owner on 99267747
CENTRAL areas, properties for sale
from 1, 2 or 3 bedroom. Visit our website www.baronproperties.org or call on
99442756, 79706219, 99443311
FARMHOUSE in corner. Location rural
setting in Tower Vincenti Street, Mqabba.
Freehold, site compriseswarehouse, 2
horse stables, living quarters, 3 other
rooms, yard with fruit trees, water and
electricity. Price on request. Call on
79436801
GUARDAMANGIA/PIETÀ - corner site in
a very good area. 50ft frontage. Flats of
80sqm starting from €70,000 shell and
€78,000 finished. With two bedrooms
and two bathrooms.One-bedroomed penthouse of 150sqm, €98,000. Common
parts finished. Must be seen. Bargain.
Call owner on 79592925 or email on
[email protected]
HAMRUN - ground floor house with one
bedroom, sitauted in the centre, not far
from the main road. A very good place
for an office. Very good to price to sell.
Price €46,500. Call on 79708282
MADLIENA - finished to exacting standards by its present owners, this superb
semi-detached villa (constructed on a
550 sqm plot) besides being located
in the most sought after neighbourhood on the island also affords a bright,
spacious and practical layout, perfectly
suited to modern living and entertaining!
Welcoming entrance hall, spacious sitting/dining room with functional fireplace,
state of the art, fitted kitchen, pantry and
conservatory overlooking the gardens
and pool area (enjoyable all year round),
guest bathroom, three double bedrooms
one with en-suite bathroom and a private
terrace enjoying postcard scenery and
a laundry at roof level. This wonderful
home also boasts an independent, underlying guest flat-let and a 4 car garage.
Not to be missed! Price €975,000. Call
on 79429400
MQABBA - unconverted house of character with five rooms in village core, freehold, with small yard, well, own airspace.
In need of some repairs. Immediate
vacant possession. Pay deposit to move
in. Price €99,500 (Lm42,500) or nearest
offer. Inspect now. Call on 79436801,
21436801
QAWRA - Pure luxury! A modern, superbly finished and presented apartment just
a stone’s throw from the popular and
picturesque Qawra promenade! Enjoying
lovely side sea views and served with
lift and intercom this attractive property
TODAYNEWS
From Monday - Friday
at 3pm on
51
Classifieds
offers a hallway, open plan, state of the
art kitchen with dining and lounge areas,
a study, 2 double and 1 single bedroom,
family bathroom and en suite shower and
a utility/laundry. Included in the sale: fitted kitchen with stainless steel appliances, suspended ceilings with light fittings,
air-conditioning throughout, curtains and
blinds. A great bargain! Price €175,000.
Call on 79429400
RABAT - a pristine fully detached villa
constructed on a large plot and located
in a most sought after area having a surrounding garden with large swimming
pool. Welcoming hall, ‘L’ shaped sittingdining room, fitted kitchen-breakfast room
having a good sized pantry, living room/
conservatory. The property also boasts
of 4 double bedrooms, (2 with en suite
facilities and master with dressing area),
a further bathroom, spare toilet and a
three car garage. Viewing highly recommended! Price €975,000. Call on
79429400
SAN PAWL TAT-TARGA - totally unique
penthouse style fully detached maisonette in an excellent quiet location with
easy parking and enjoying country views.
Boasting full ownership of roof and air
space, this wonderful home enjoys abundant sunlight through its many apertures
and comprises a welcoming entrance
landing, open plan fitted kitchen/dining,
lovely living area, family bathroom and 2
large double bedrooms (1 with en-suite
shower) having a spacious back terrace.
Potential for adding a large room with
lovely terraces at present roof level! Price
€204,000. Call on 79429400
SAN PAWL TAT-TARGA - well kept, bright
and nicely finished semi-detached villa offering comfortable living in tranquil
seclusion. Accommodation comprises a
welcoming entrance hall with a lovely
open plan kitchen, breakfast and TV
lounge area on one side and a smart,
formal sitting and dining room on the
other! This charming home also boasts 4
double bedrooms, family bathroom and
en suite shower. At basement level there
is a 3 car garage and 4 storage rooms
with independent entrance. Plenty of outdoor area surrounds this home with a
wonderful pool with ample deck area and
pool facilities! Highly recommended! Price
€799,000. Call on 79429400
ST ANDREWS - designed and built by its
present owner (a construction professional), this superb semi-detached bungalow
(complete with independent guest flat-let
with 2 bedrooms) enjoys sea and country views from all its reception areas and
terraces. A welcoming entrance hall with
an enchanting skylight! Fully fitted kitchen
overlooking a split level reception area
(sitting/dining) with functional fireplace
and wide veranda! Further complimenting
this great home are 3 double bedrooms,
main with en-suite and a family bathroom.
A beautifully crafted wooden staircase
leads up to a second living area and laundry enjoying large terraces on either side
(with potential for further expansion at this
level), enjoying panoramic views! Price
€620,000. Call on 79429400
ST PAUL’S BAY - apartment corner from
seafront, with 3/4 bedrooms, circa
195sqm. Fully finished to high specifications. Double glazing, bathrooms, gypsum finishings. Common parts ready with
lift. Garages available. Price €155,000.
Call on 99052077
SWATAR, B’KARA - modern maisonette,
street level, comprising 2 double bedrooms (1 with en suite), open plan kitchen/living/dining, main bathroom, large
front terrace and backyard. Optional
garages are available at special rates.
Price €123,000 (Lm52,803) unfurnished or €132,000 (Lm56,668) fully furnished. Call owner directly on 21318905,
99478303, 79205023
SWATAR, B’KARA - new apartment with
two double bedrooms, highly advanced
finish, served with lift. Open plan kitchen/living/dining, 2 double bedrooms (1
with en suite and balcony), main bathroom, large balcony overlooking valley.
Optional garages are available at special
rates. This property is priced for a quick
sale at €107,000 (Lm45,935). Call owner directly on 21318905, 99478303,
79205023
SWATAR, B’KARA - new street level maisonette with 3 bedrooms, highly finished,
ready to move into. It consists of 3 double bedrooms (1 with en suite), open
plan kitchen/living/dining, main bathroom, large front terrace and backyard.
Optional garages are available at special rates. Price €147,000 (Lm63,107).
Call owner directly on 21318905,
99478303, 79205023
SWATAR, B’KARA - semi basement
garages in corner new development.
Prices from €14,000 (Lm6,000). Call
owner directly on 21318905, 99478303,
79205023
SWIEQI - 200sqm elevated maisonette. Comprises of combined entrance,
lounge, dining and large kitchen area.
Kitchen included in the price. Large
study area leads to the corridor and
bedroom area with 3 bedrooms, 2 main
with ensuite and a spare bedroom, a
guest bathroom, good-sized backyard
and laundry room. Call on 79924373,
21384132
XAGHRA GOZO - large apartment in
quite area on the outsirts of the village
close to Calypso’s cave with sea and
country views. It consists of 3 bedrooms
(1 with en suite), large main bathroom,
dining room, fully fitted new oak kitchen,
sitting room, utility/washroom and 3
front balconies. Highly finished with rustic
interiors and decor. A must see property.
Price €155,000 (Lm66,541). Call owner directly on 21318905, 99478303,
79205023
ZEBBUG - 2 or 3 bedroom apartments in
Vjal il-Helsien. Call owner on 99486496
ZEJTIN (GEBEL SAN MARTIN) - corner
site in front of green, best area. Very
quiet, 60ft frontage ground floor maisonettes and first floor flat of 130sqm each.
Double glazing throughout. Common
parts finished. Price €85,000. Call owner on 79592925
PROPERTY WANTED
PLOTS, sites and airspaces. All areas
considered. Contact contractor directly.
We also do part exchange or build from
scratch to finish.For an appointment
please call Gilbert on 79592925. We
also rent furnished property for a minimum of 6 years. No fancy prices. Email
on [email protected]
TO rent 18 apartments with three bedrooms, preferably in Bugibba/Qawra.
Other areas considered. For July and
August, maybe more. Must be decently furnished and equipped. Payment in
advance. Maltese company guarantees.
For information or appointment call Gilber
on 79592925. No fancy prices.
TOWNHOUSE in Sliema with mediumsized yard or garden. Maximum price
€305,000. No agents. Call purchaser
on 99825126
SERVICES
CALIGARI Spray Painting and Pane
Beating specialising in 2K, metallic and
water-based paints. Low back booth
and computerised mixing room. MSA
insurance approved. De La Rue Avenue,
Gzira. Call on 27333879, 99426198 or
email on [email protected]
COUNSELING service: child, youth or
family related problems, Fibromyalgia,
bullying, bedwetting, relationships, addictions, grieve and abuse among other issues. You are not alone. Service
offered 24/7 Call on 99666663
EXPRESS WATCH REPAIRS on all types
of watches and clocks specialising in
grandfather clocks. Also selling all types
of watches and clocks. 110, Eucharistic
Congress Road, Mosta. Call 21417235,
99840431.
MICHELLE Colombo, daughter of Victor
Galea, funeral director, St Gregory’s
Sacristan; 24-hour service. Apply 43,
Blanche Huber Street, Sliema. Call on
21339579, 99490846
MINICABS 24/7, minicabs and mini buses. Competitive rates. Call Wembley’s on
21374141, 27374141, 79374141
VISIT Glassfibre Industries for all your
boating needs including resins and fiberglass, rubber fenders, made to measure canopies and a large variety of boat
accessories being sold at discounted
prices. Glassfibre Industries, San Gwakkin
Road, Mriehel. Call on 21470282
SITUATIONS VACANT
A better tomorrow starts today AVON.
Join us to become an Avon Member!
Be amongst the over 5 million women
who are making their dreams a reality with the WORLD’S LARGEST DIRECT
SELLER of beauty products. Avon helps
you start your own business for a little
more than the price of a lipstick. Work
the hours to suit your lifestyle and have a
pleasant & friendly way of earning money. With Avon, the company for women, you’re in business for yourself. Not
by yourself. Exclusively represented by
Nova Company Ltd, 51, Old Mint Street,
Valletta. Call on 21235199, 79837983.
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.avon.com.mt
HOUSEKEEPER required to work in a
family residence. Must be over 21 years
of age, responsible and reliable. Call on
79965935
SIGNAL 8 SECURITY SERVICES MALTA
LTD has new vacancies for Security
Personnel and Front Office/ Receptionist
duties. Applicants should be customercare oriented, alert, smart, and flexible.
They should be ready to work on shifts
and must have their own transport.
Preference will be given to candidates
who have part or full ECDL qualifications and experience in a similar position. Call on 21413777, 21413888. An
on-line application form can be found on
our website at http://www.signal8securitymalta.com.mt or e-mail your CV to
[email protected].
Wages and conditions according to Work
Regulation Orders.
STONE WORKS
J. Vella Stone Works (Ta’ Comba), for all
types of stoneworks (lavur), columns,
troughs (hwat), balustrades, fireplaces,
fountaines, etc. More than 30 types of
stone cladding, old building stone and
imported stone. Also flagstone (cangatura), stone slabs (xorok) and doors
for farmhouses. Open from 7am till
4pm at Triq ir-Razzett l-Ahmar, Iklin.
Showroom: 19, Main Street, Mosta. Call
on 21432352, 21412216, 99477167
TOILET SEATS
WE manufacture pine coloured toilet
seats, made to measure, complete with
fittings. For more information call on
79675053, 21675053
TUITION
ENGLISH, Italian, French all levels,
Maltese for foreigners (9/14), resits, EFL
monitoring board, Conversation. Private
tuition given by Mr C. Dowling. Call on
99283974, 21335032
MALTESE: Forms 1-5. Ordinary, intermediate, advanced level. Resits in
September 2012. Also as a foreign language. Lessons will be given in Mosta.
Call on 21410218, 79999928
MATHS lessons Form 1 - Form 5, starting soon in Mgarr area. Lessons given by
University graduate with 4 years teaching
experience. Notes provided and small
groups. If interested call to reserve a
place on 21436685, 79062301
Also years 4, 5 and 6.
SUMMER courses in Italian and French
for year 6/ Form 1 students. Start studying the language now and get ready for
September! Lessons in Paola. Call on
21697187, 99804695. Also Forms 1
till 5 and MATSEC exam courses - Italian,
French, English and Maltese. Revision
and coaching also available.
WE aim to provide a stimulating environment in which our children can thrive
to their full potential while providing a
home away from home. Registration for
October 2012 and summer school now
open. Visit www.noddyskindergarten.
com, Facebook: Noddys Kindergarten,
email: [email protected]. Call on
21339655, 99441863
TV REPAIRS
ON the spot, expert professional repairs
for tv’s, LCD’s, plasma, LED’s, microwaves and any other electronic equipment. Call on 99446918
VEHICLES/ PARTS
ATTENTION ALL ROVER AND JAGUAR
OWNERS: we supply new and secondhand Rover and Jaguar parts. We also
carry out service and repairs on all
types of Rover and Jaguar. We also have
close to manufacture diagnostic tool for
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WANTED
PIANO and theory lessons for all ages
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52
Sport
SPORTTODAY
MOTOGP
Pole position for Pedrosa
in Mugello thriller
IN a scintillating qualifying session
at the Gran Premio d’Italia TIM at
Mugello in hot conditions it was
Repsol Honda Team’s Dani Pedrosa
who put in a record-beating lap to
take pole position for tomorrow’s
race ahead of Jorge Lorenzo and
Héctor Barberá.
A new track record in the low 1.47s
held off the charge of Yamaha Factory Racing’s Lorenzo, who had been
setting the fastest lap until the fi-
nal seconds, when a bike problem
caused him to pit before completing
the lap. He stated afterwards that he
lost engine power coming out of the
final turn, yet the team had not discovered the root of the problem.
Completing the front row is
Pramac Racing Team’s Héctor Barberá, who silenced some of his critics
by recording his first-ever front row
in the MotoGP class.
Row two is headed by another
Desmosedici in the form of Ducati
Team’s Nicky Hayden, who continues to have good outright pace on
the softer option rear tyre. Lining up
next to him is Repsol Honda’s Casey
Stoner in fifth, who entered the pits a
couple of times in the final part of the
session as he struggled with set-up
on his bike. Monster Yamaha Tech
3’s Cal Crutchlow occupies sixth, despite having crashed at turn 12 with
13 minutes left in the session.
His teammate Andrea Dovizioso
leads the third row in seventh, and
did well to avoid a near crash towards the end, as he was pushing for
a faster time.
LCR Honda MotoGP’s Stefan Bradl
was able to improve on his weekend’s
form by finishing in eighth. Lorenzo’s teammate Ben Spies will start
from ninth, after suffering a crash
in the same place as Crutchlow after switching to the softer rear tyre.
Ducati’s Valentino Rossi completes
the top ten, as he could not get his
bike to work on a track he has won at
nine times in his career.
CRT top spot went to Power Electronics Aspar’s Aleix Espargaró in
12th, after he had shown the most
consistent pace of the new bikes all
weekend. NGM Mobile Forward
Racing’s Colin Edwards, who had
been evaluating a new Suter chassis
today, qualified in 19th.
FOOTBALL
PSG confirm
Thiago Silva
signing
THE Brazil international had
been heavily linked with a move
to the Ligue 1 side with owner
Silvio Berlusconi admitting that
the club had rejected a bid for his
services.
However, the French side have
confirmed on their website, psg.
fr, that the transfer had gone
through.
A statement read: “Thiago Silva,
27, a Brazilian international, from
AC Milan, has signed this Saturday with Paris Saint-Germain for
five seasons.”
A statement on the AC Milan
website, acmilan.com read: “AC
Milan announces that it has sold
Thiago Silva to PSG.”
Team-mate Zlatan Ibrahimovic
has also been linked with a move
to the Parisiens.
Sao Paulo stand firm on Lucas
SAO Paulo have insisted they are
prepared to “take the risk” of not
selling highly-rated midfielder Lucas
Moura.
The 19-year-old Brazil international is understood to be a target for
several European clubs after emerging as one of the most exciting young
talents in South American football.
Talk of an offer from Inter Milan
was recently played down, while the
player has insisted he is remaining
calm over his future.
Fresh reports have suggested that
Manchester United have tabled a bid
in the region of £26million, but Sao
Paulo have no intention of cashing in
on the youngster.
“It is a risk not selling Lucas, but we
are going to take it,” president Juvenal Juvencio is quoted as saying in
Lucas Moura
the Daily Mail.
Manchester United manager Sir
Alex Ferguson stated on Thursday
that he was looking to bring in at
least one more player this summer,
while Chelsea and Real Madrid have
also been linked with a move for Lucas.
53
Sport
OLYMPICS
Rafael Nadal hopeful over Olympics
RAFAEL Nadal hopes he will be
fit enough to lead the Spanish
team at the opening ceremony of
the Olympic Games as he continues his recovery from a knee complaint.
The 11-time Grand Slam winner
was surprisingly knocked out by
Lukas Rosol in the second round
at Wimbledon two weeks ago and
has since been battling to ensure
he will be ready to return to the
All England Club to defend his
Olympic title.
The 26-year-old is also due to
carry the Spanish flag at the opening ceremony and he is looking
forward to an experience he has
described as “unforgettable.”
Speaking as he received the flag
from the Spanish Olympic Committee, he said, “I am doing everything possible to recover. After
Roland Garros I had a difficult
time, but the excitement is at its
maximum, I am working as hard
as I can and hopefully I will be at
100 per cent. “I am the one who is
most worried. I hope that things
improve and my intention is to arrive in London well prepared and
recuperated. It is for this that I
work every day.
“Carrying the flag will the something unforgettable and I hope
that Spain continue on the path of
success it has been on for the past
few years.”
Nadal also believes that the Olympics are even more special than
some of the bigger annual tournaments on the tennis tour because
they only come around every four
years.
“This is the hardest title to win
because in the career of a tennis
player you only get two or three
opportunities. I feel very fortunate
to have been as I was that week in
Beijing. I had the luck to arrive at
almost an impeccable moment.”
The 2008 and 2010 Wimbledon
champion insisted that his confidence on grass had not been shaken by the Rosol defeat.
“Opponents intimidate everyone, you can’t hide when you are
competing against the best.
“You go onto court knowing that
you can win or lose. You have to
accept both things. I have already
had years of competing and I
know that there are bad moments
and defeats.”
Vlasic out of
Olympics
Blanka Vlasic
FORMER Olympic high jump
silver medallist Blanka Vlasic
has withdrawn from the London
Games after failing to recovery
from injury.
The 28-year-old Croatian has
undergone two operations on an
Achilles tendon problem and today conceded defeat in her battle
to fully recover in time for London.
“In this moment my health situation is getting better and my training is more complex every day,” the
world champion in 2007 and 2009
wrote on her official website.
“Still, I will not be able to get
into top shape in time for the Olympic Games. I’m not interested
in jumping below my usual level,
so it is the best thing to stay home
and get the healing process to the
end.
“I feel this is only a minor setback in my career and I’m looking forward to many more years
of successful jumping. This is my
chance for a new beginning!”
Rafael Nadal
Beckham disappointed to be
omitted from Great Britain
squad
DAVID Beckham has admitted he
was disappointed to be omitted
from Stuart Pearce’s Great Britain
squad for the Olympics.
The veteran Los Angeles Galaxy
star had long been earmarked for
a place in the 18-man squad after
helping London secure the games
back in 2005.
But despite Beckham making the
shortlist, team coach Pearce ultimately opted for Ryan Giggs, Craig
Bellamy and Micah Richards as his
over-age players.
The former Manchester United
and Real Madrid midfielder admits it came as a blow because of
the pride he would have felt to be
involved.
“Everybody knows how proud I
am to represent my country and to
do it in my home town on such a
big stage would have been incredible,” Beckham told Sky Sports
News.
“So of course yeah I am disappointed.
“I am very proud to be an ambassador and I have been for the years
that has led up to this.
“Getting the Olympics was one
of the proudest moments to be involved in with the bid team. It was
an incredible moment.
“And then all the talk of me possibly performing in the Olympics
would have been a very proud moment for me.
“Ryan obviously has had such an
amazing career with Manchester
United and also with the Welsh
team and he deserves to be there.
“He deserves to play in a big competition like this. It would have
been great to have been there with
him because we have a lot of great
memories from playing for Manchester United.
“I hope he gets a gold medal.”
Although the 37-year-old has
been overlooked, chairman of the
London organising committee
Lord Coe says Beckham will still
have a major but as yet unconfirmed role at the Olympics.
David Beckham
London-born Beckham is determined to enjoy the occasion as
a supporter of the games if not a
participant.
“I am going to be just proud just
to be there as a fan more than anything,” he added.
“In a part of London where I grew
up playing soccer over the fields
that have been changed now.
“As a fan and an Englishman I am
going to be very proud.”
But one role that Beckham does
not feel he should have is that of
lighting the torch at the opening
ceremony.
He added: “Lighting the torch
in the stadium is something that
should be done by an Olympian.
An Olympian who has done incredible things for our country
and won gold medals.
“I am sure whoever decides that,
it will be an Olympian.”
54
Sport
TOUR DE FRANCE
Andre Greipel pips Peter Sagan to victory
Andre Griepel takes third
win in Tour de France
ANDRE Griepel claimed his third
sprint victory at the Tour de France
as Bradley Wiggins spent another day
in yellow.
The German (Lotto-Belisol) held
off rival Peter Sagan (Liquigas-Cannondale) at the finish in Cap d’Agde
with Team Sky’s Edvald Boasson
Hagen third after latching on to a
special lead-out.
Wiggins had looked to repay his
team-mate for all his hard work in
the mountains by putting the power
down to string out the bunch under
the flamme rouge, pulling back a late
attack before pulling off ahead of the
sprint.
Greipel saw his team control the
exposed run for home after a tough
ramp at Mont Saint-Clair, the sprinter hauling himself over the top to
contest the finish on the coast.
Wiggins stayed safe on the technical run-in and maintained his two
minute and five second advantage
over team-mate Chris Froome, the
pair fending off a late attack from rival Cadel Evans.
Heading into the final 30 kilometres
the Australian’s BMC Racing outfit
hit the front and caused the peloton
split in half in the face of cross-winds
coming off the coast.
Evans then launched a speculative
dig on the steep ramps of Mont SaintClair, dragging rival Jurgen Van Den
Broeck (Lotto-Belisol) with him in a
move which was swiftly shut down by
Wiggins.
After the finish a happy Greipel
said: “It was a very tough final 25km.
I was dropped going over that last
climb but Lars Bak brought me back
to the bunch and then my team were
riding full gas to catch Albasini and
Vinokourov.
“I am really happy with the effort
they put in. Even Jurgen Van den
Broeck was pulling so that was awesome team-work. When Team Sky
went on the front I chose to sit on
Edvald Boasson Hagen’s wheel. He is
a really strong guy and I knew when
I was there I had a good possibility
of winning, and I did that. My target
now is looking towards Paris on the
final stage.”
On Bastille Day it was no surprise to
see five French riders present in what
eventually amounted to an eight-man
break, the move sparked inside the
opening kilometre as the race rolled
out of Saint-Paul-Trois-Chateaux.
All the talk heading into the stage
centred on the final 30km on tough
exposed roads and the steep ramps
of the Mont Saint-Clair, all played out
with the potential for cross-winds as
the race reached the coast.
Team Sky were afforded a break
from pace-setting duties on the front
of the bunch as Orica-GreenEDGE
took up the chase, still targeting their
first stage victory of the race.
Their sprinter Matt Goss was not
able to make a dent into the green jersey stranglehold of Sagan at the intermediate sprint in Mas-de-Londres,
the Slovakian taking the maximum
seven remaining points from the
bunch ahead of Greipel and the Australian.
With over 60km to go Michael
Morkov (Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank)
took off, leaving behind his breakaway counterparts on the fifth anniversary of his father’s death, continuing bravely on to the final climb
where a surge in the peloton saw him
overhauled.
The pace dropped in the bunch following the climb, allowing things to
come back together, yet providing a
springboard for Alexandre Vinokourov (Astana) and Michael Albasini
(RadioShack-Nissan) to attack.
The duo worked together to build
up an advantage of around 20 seconds but were caught with 3.5km to
go, leaving the way clear for a bunch
sprint.
Team Sky’s Mark Cavendish saw
himself distanced on the climb in a
group which crested the third category effort 1:15 off the leaders, before
eventually sitting up on the run-in.
Wiggins was happy to do what he
could to repay his colleague for the
help he had given him in the mountains.
“Most of the time you’re doing the
same effort whether you’re on front or
20th or 30th wheel with a finish like
that with the wind doing what it was,”
said Wiggins, who now has a 2mins
5secs lead over team-mate Chris
Froome in the general classification.
“There was no extra exertion doing
the lead-out and it was just nice to
help Eddie because he’s an absolute
gentleman and I’d like to be able to
pay him back in some way. But obviously Greipel proved once again that
he’s the fastest man.
“It’s always difficult and it’s better
at times when you’ve got a climb like
that at the finish because you’ve got
less guys.
“And the wind at the end wasn’t actually too difficult; the most difficult
part of the day was getting to the climb
in a good position because obviously a
lot of guys were still there. Yeah, so it’s
another step closer to Paris.
“Sunday, on paper, shouldn’t be a
day when things get out of hand. But
I think it’s a day for the breakaway
again and we’ll just marshal everything on the last climb but it’s a long
way to the finish after that.”
Leading final positions after Stage 13 (Saint-Paul-Trois-Chateaux - Le Cap d’Agde,
217km): 1 Andre Greipel (Ger) Lotto Belisol Team 4hrs 57mins 59secs, 2 Peter
Sagan (Svk) Liquigas-Cannondale at same time, 3 Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor)
Sky Procycling at same time, 4 Sebastien Hinault (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale at same
time, 5 Daryl Impey (Rsa) Orica GreenEdge Cycling Team at same time, 6 Julien
Simon (Fra) Saur - Sojasun at same time, 7 Marco Marcato (Ita) Vacansoleil-DCM
Pro Cycling Team at same time, 8 Philippe Gilbert (Bel) BMC Racing Team at same
time, 9 Peter Velits (Svk) Omega Pharma-Quickstep at same time, 10 Danilo Hondo
(Ger) Lampre - ISD at same time, 11 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale at
same time, 12 Bradley Wiggins (Gbr) Sky Procycling at same time, 13 Janez Brajkovic (Slo) Astana Pro Team at same time, 14 Kevin De Weert (Bel) Omega PharmaQuickstep at same time, 15 Christopher Froome (Gbr) Sky Procycling at same time,
16 Cadel Evans (Aus) BMC Racing Team at same time, 17 Jurgen Van Den Broeck
(Bel) Lotto Belisol Team at same time, 18 Andreas Kloden (Ger) RadioShack-Nissan
at same time, 19 Nicolas Roche (Irl) AG2R La Mondiale at same time, 20 Tejay Van
Garderen (USA) BMC Racing Team at same time
Selected others: 67 Mark Cavendish (Gbr) Sky Procycling at 8mins 36secs, 133
David Millar (Gbr) Garmin - Sharp at 14:04, 141 Stephen Cummings (Gbr) BMC Racing Team at same time
General classification after Stage 13: 1 Bradley Wiggins (Gbr) Sky Procycling
59hrs 32mins 32secs, 2 Christopher Froome (Gbr) Sky Procycling at 2:05, 3
Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale at 2:23, 4 Cadel Evans (Aus) BMC
Racing Team at 3:19, 5 Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Bel) Lotto Belisol Team at 4:48,
6 Haimar Zubeldia Agirre (Spa) RadioShack-Nissan at 6:15, 7 Tejay Van Garderen
(USA) BMC Racing Team at 6:57, 8 Janez Brajkovic (Slo) Astana Pro Team at 7:30,
9 Pierre Rolland (Fra) Team Europcar at 8:31, 10 Thibaut Pinot (Fra) FDJ-Big Mat at
8:51, 11 Andreas Kloden (Ger) RadioShack-Nissan at 9:29, 12 Frank Schleck (Lux)
RadioShack-Nissan at 9:45, 13 Nicolas Roche (Irl) AG2R La Mondiale at 10:49, 14
Jerome Coppel (Fra) Saur - Sojasun at 11:27, 15 Christopher Horner (USA) RadioShack-Nissan at 12:41, 16 Denis Menchov (Rus) Katusha Team at 17:21, 17 Maxime
Monfort (Bel) RadioShack-Nissan at 17:41, 18 Egoi Martinez De Esteban (Spa)
Euskaltel - Euskadi at 18:04, 19 Rui Alberto Faria Da Costa (Por) Movistar Team at
19:02, 20 Chris Anker Sorensen (Den) Team Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank at 20:12
Selected others: 83 David Millar (Gbr) Garmin - Sharp at 1hr 32mins 36secs, 89
Stephen Cummings (Gbr) BMC Racing Team at 1:39:11, 150 Mark Cavendish (Gbr)
Sky Procycling at 2:14:40
55
Sport
FOOTBALL
New courses held at the MFA
Technical Centre
IN view of the recent amendments endorsed by the MFA Council in June, as
from season 2013/14 it will be mandatory for all nurseries to have a Youth
Director of Coaching (Head Coach)
and a Nursery Administrator, both
qualified through the MFA Technical Centre. These persons will thus be
able to discharge their duties in a more
specialised and effective manner.
The Technical Centre has therefore
started two distinct courses, each of
60 hours duration, which are being run
simultaneously at the MFA Technical
Centre throughout the month of July
every Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
These courses are being conducted by
various tutors, all specialised in their
field, as well as professional people.
The attendees for these courses are
21 for Youth Director of Coaching and
16 for Nursery Administrator.
Weather & Crosswords
WEATHER: Fine locally partly to rather cloudy at first
VISIBILITY: Generally good
WIND: Variable force 2 or 3 becoming mainly
Southerly
SEA: Slight
SWELL: Negligible
USEFUL TELEPHONE
NUMBERS
UV: 11
UV: 10
TODAY
TOMORROW
GOZO FERRIES
DAILY OPERATION TIMES
MALTA & GOZO: 9 A.M. – NOON
www.gozochannel.com
IL-BELT: Royal Pharmacy, 271, Triq ir-Repubblika,
IL-ĦAMRUN: Darwin Pharmacy, 152, Triq il-Kbira San Guzepp,
ĦAL QORMI: Evans Pharmacy 40, Triq San
Bastjan
BIRKIRKARA: St Paul’s Pharmacy Triq Brared
IL-GŻIRA: St. Matthew’s Pharmacy 213, Triq ixXatt
TA’ GIORNI: Spizerija Merhba Shop 2, Triq Lapsi
TAS-SLIEMA: Wales Pharmacy 183, Triq Manwel
Dimech
Ħ’ATTARD: St Catherine Pharmacy Triq id-Dielja
c/w Triq Santa Katerina
IN-NAXXAR: Brown’s Chemists, Triq San Pawl
IL-QAWRA: Euro Chemist, Triq il-Kurazza
ĦAL TARXIEN: Theresa Jo Pharmacy, 3A, Triq
Xintill
BORMLA: White Cross Pharmacy, Shop A, Block
1, Fuq San Pawl
MARSASKALA: San Tumas, Triq il-Qaliet C/W
Triq il-Lampuka
MARSAXLOKK: Pompei Pharmacy 28, Xatt isSajjieda
ĦAL KIRKOP: Prestige Pharmacy 16, Triq San
Guzepp
ĦAŻ-ŻEBBUĠ: Plaza Pharmacy 86, Triq il-Kbira
L-IMTARFA: Mtarfa Pharmacy, St David Road
FONTANA: Fontana Pharmacy, Triq il-Ghajn
IN-NADUR: Nadur Pharmacy, Pjazza it-28 ta’
April 1688
Emergency,Police,Fire,
Ambulance ...................... 112
Appogg 24hrs Supportline .179
Sedqa 24hrs Helpline.........151
Social policy info centre .... 159
Malta Red Cross ...... 21922645
St John Ambulance .. 21945740
Maltacom enquiries .........1182
Go Mobile enquiries......... 1187
Vodafone enquiries .........1189
Government info service ....153
Telephone faults ................133
Gozo ferry
schedule ..................21915111
MEPA..................... 22900000
MIA flight
enquiries ................ 21697800
MIA Weather
forecast ................. 50043333
Enemalta faults
report......................21923601
Water Services Corporation
Freephone .............. 80072222
Chess
350/230
SUNNY
34/230
SUNNY
PHARMACIES OPEN TODAY
Solution to last week’s problem
Answers to the MaltaToday crossword will be published next Sunday
Across
1. Uncertain (13)
8. Polar (7)
10. Nightgown (7)
12. Cambridgeshire village (6)
13. Italian bread (8)
15. Heard by accident (9)
18. Lightweight overgarment (5)
21. Finished (5)
22. Bath crystals (4,5)
27. State in the E United States (8)
29. Ten-pound note (6)
30. Tough person (7)
31. Companion (7)
33. Vicinity (13)
Solution to last week’s crossword
Sudoku
8
8
7
7
6
5
6
4
5
3
2
4
1
3
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
White had to to play and mate in three moves
2
1
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
Mate in four or more moves
Qxf7
Re7
Qxe7
b5
Qd8# (Qd7#,
Qc7#)
....
bxc6
Qc7#
Last week’s solution
Sudoku rules are extremely easy: Fill all empty squares so that the
numbers 1 to 9 appear once in each row, column and 9x9 box.
Down
2. Avenge (7)
3. Racket (3)
4. Jerk rapidly (6)
5. Loft (5)
6. Speedometer (6)
7. Comment (6)
9. Person who fishes (6)
11. From a distance (4)
14. Punctuation mark (5)
16. Covered vehicle (3)
17. Full of reeds (5)
19. Portable bed (3)
20. Slum area inhabited by a minority group
(6)
21. Animosity (6)
23. Increases (4)
24. Pertaining to the distant past (4,3)
25. Fruit ice (6)
26. Pertaining to Denmark (6)
28. Awake (5)
32. Miles per hour (3)
News
‘One way or another we will get
him – it will just take more money’
RAPHAEL VASSALLO
MALTESE tuna ranchers Fish & Fish
have no intention of dropping their
lawsuit against activist Paul Watson
of the conservation NGO Sea Shepherd: whose flagship Steve Irwin had
freed around 800 live blue-fin tuna
from a cage being transported to a
Malta-based tuna pen in june 2010.
Fish & Fish claim that the vessel
had rammed the cage, causing damage to its property and endangering
the lives of its employees: a claim Sea
Shepherd has consistently denied, arguing that it was in fact a Maltese tug
that had rammed Steve Irwin and
caused the collision.
The tuna ranching firm estimated
the value of the freed tuna at just over
€1 million: a rough indication of the
sort of prices the blue fin tuna, an endangered species, now fetches on the
Japanese market, to which they would
otherwise have been exported.
But Fish & Fish’s efforts to sue the
conservation society in the UK have
so far proved unsuccessful. Mr Justice Hamblin of the Admiralty Court
threw the case out of court earlier this month, and ordered Fish &
Fish to pay Watson’s legal expenses,
amounting to €250,000.
Dr John Refalo, legal counsel to the
tuna ranchers, admitted on Friday
that this was a setback, but added
that the case would not stop there.
Paul Watson, founder of Sea Shepherd
The Steve Irwin’s collision with a tuna pen in
2010, after being rammed by a Maltese tug
“This was a preliminary ruling, and
we are currently filing for permission
to appeal – something that is not
granted automatically in the British
system,” he told MaltaToday.
Refalo added that the case was
dismissed only on a technicality: a
previous attempt to sue Paul Watson
(a Canadian citizen) in the United
States had similarly been overturned
on the grounds that the Steve Irwin
was registered in the UK.
Following the latest developments,
Fish & Fish are likely to pursue the
case back in the United States.
“One way or another we will get
him,” Refalo added. “It will just take
more money…”
In comments to MaltaToday, Paul
Watson echoes Refalo’s view that the
case against Sea Shepherd would cost
Fish & Fish more money – but the
outcome, he adds, will not be what
the tuna ranchers expect.
“Fish and Fish misjudged us,” he
said when contacted this week. “They
had our ship seized in Scotland using
the Scottish legal system. They were
quite surprised when we raised the
bond of ₤532,000 within 10 days.
They were further surprised that we
secured the best admiralty law firm
in London to represent us. And they
were quite surprised that they lost.”
Watson insists that the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society is always prepared to fight for its cause:
not just on the water but also in the
courtroom.
“If they decide to appeal, we will
fight them on the appeal and a review
of the case indicates any attempt to
appeal will simply cost them more
money and they will not overturn the
verdict.”
Watson also defended the 2010 actions – part of an operation called
‘Blue Rage’ – and insisted that the
only illegalities had been committed
by the tuna ranchers themselves.
“Sea Shepherd has been active
since 1977. During that time we have
not caused a single injury to a single
person, we have not been convicted
of a single felony and we have never
been successfully sued,” Watson told
this newspaper. “The reason for this
is we are not a protest group. We intervene against illegal activities. In
2010 we inspected dozens of fishing
operations and did not intervene
because we did not see any evidence
to suggest they were acting illegally.
However with this situation in question, the incident took place after the
closure of the fishing season, they
had no ICCAT inspector on board,
they refused to show any papers, they
refused to identify who they were
working with and we found a good
percentage of juvenile fish in their
nets. We released the fish on these
grounds. We did not ram the cage.
Our intention was to put the bow
of our ship beside the cage to observe what was inside. The Rosario
rammed us in the stern and pushed
us into the cage. This was filmed
from our helicopter.”
Watson proudly asserts that the
success of Sea Shepherd in combating the illegal tuna trade has served as
an inspiration for others. “Last week
a team from the group Blackfish cut
the nets of tuna farms in Croatia and
freed 1000+ tuna. They were motivated by our success against Fish
&Fish.”

Issue #662 - Maltatoday

Transcription

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