Mid-Day Briefing
Covid-19 Update
43 new cases were reported on Monday, while 80 patients recovered. Active cases now stand at 609. 2,822 swab tests were taken on Sunday, a public holiday. An 86-year-old woman became the 431st fatality of the pandemic in Malta.
No justice yet afte 200 weeks from Caruana Galizia murder- NGOs
No public officials have been charged with corruption and obstruction of justice, 200 weeks since Daphne Caruana Galizia was murdered, civil society groups have said. In a joint statement marking the occasion, Repubblika, Occupy Justice and Manuel Delia said that so far no one has been charged in court with corruption that led to the assassination. The groups called on the authorities, especially the Police Commissioner and the Attorney General, not to drag their feet and end the impunity that created the climate that led to the Caruana Galizia’s murder. “
This impunity continues to exist today.”
Young Maltese adults among last to leave parents’ home
Figures revealed by Eurostat on information in 2020 shows that, on average in Malta, men leave home at 31 and women at the age of 29. That is four years, respectively, higher than the EU average. Croatians live at home the longest, men until 34 and women until 31 while the Swedish leave home at the youngest age, 18 for both young men and women.
Besides Croatia, Slovaks and Italians are the only ones where young adults stay at home with their parents longer.
Updated 0825 – Newspaper Review
The Times of Malta reports that half of army officers are still awaiting justice with a grievance process being stalled for the past three years.
The Independent quotes the Energy Ministry in saying that increase energy demands for electric cars is being taken in consideration, after a 2.5 million euro budget was allocated for government’s electric or hybrid vehicle purchasing scheme.
In-Nazzjon dedicates its front page to the Marasascala marina proposal, stating that the Nationalist Party is taking the side of the residents and that the PN local councillors have presented a motion calling for the expression of interest to be shelved and the project to be re-considered. In a separate article on the same issue it reveals that Labour MPs were not consulted on the marina, quoting Jean Claude Micallef’s protestations on social media.
L-Orizzont also gives frontpage coverage to the proposed Marsascala Marina, also featuring MP Jean Claude Micallef’s appeal not to turn swimming bays into Marinas.
The Times of Malta reports that a couple whose house collapsed two years ago finally made it back into their home, re-igniting memories of the moment they saw the place climbing down.
The Independent says that 51 new Covid-19 cases were reported on Sunday, while 100 recovered. Five persons are in ITU.
L-Orizzont talks to a Covid-19 patient who is now calling on people to take the vaccination, admitting he was in the wrong when refusing to take the job.
L-Orizzont reports the arrest of two men who are being accused of trafficking cocaine and who could form part of a wider drug-trafficking network.
Morning Briefing
Flights to Malta barely half full
Tourism continued to struggle even throughout the notoriously busy Santa Marija week, with just over half the sat capacity of planes flying into the country being taken. Airport CEO Alan Borg told The Times of Malta, that the seat load factor – the proportion of seats taken up on flights – stood at just 51.7 per cent in the first week of August. Borg explain that this figure translated into a drop of 36.3 per cent over the same week in 2019. “Additionally, seat capacity, which is driven by demand, was down 28.5 per cent in the first week of August 2021, compared to the same week in 2019,” Borg said.
This significant drop has taken place notwithstanding the fact that as a result of the weaker demand for travel to Malta, a number of airlines are operating smaller aircraft to and from MIA, and others reducing frequency on routes to Malta.
TM says Mscala plans not final
Transport Malta said that the impression being given by ‘some’ that the plans had been finalised was totally mistaken. The Times reports that the Pre-Qualification Questionnaire (PQQ) it had published was nothing other than a call for expressions of interest by anyone wishing to develop a marina. But as the PPQ itself stated, this process was still in an early stage, it said. Once a shortlist of interested developers was drawn up, further processes and studies would follow, including a broad consultation process with the local community so that the project could mature and plans drawn up. Times of Malta
“Furthermore, the decision that there would be a yacht marine in Marsascala was taken and established in the local plan of 2006 through policy SMMS 04,” the authority said.
Covid-19 Update
51 new COVID-19 cases were reported on Sunday. According to the latest health bulletin issued by Malta’s Department of Health, there were 100 who recovered. So far over 404,679 were fully vaccinated after the administration of 784,626 jabs.
CDE News
