Good morning,
Sunday’s Newspapers Reviews follows.
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<<Four injured, two men and woman hospitalised in Naxxar fireworks factory explosion>> is the main story on the MaltaToday frontpage reporting on Saturday’s explosion. The newspaper reports that the three aged 25 to 36 were severely injured and taken to hospital. The factory is operated by the pyrotechnics committee Santa Marija ta’ Lourdes of San Ġwann which manufactures fireworks for feasts including Naxxar and Mosta. Committee president Frans Xuereb said that another four persons working in the factory at the time suffered slight injuries. The explosion happened as the workers were preparing to transport the fireworks away from the factory. Xuereb said that all workers are fully licensed, and the factory has full permits to operate.
MaltaToday reports in a second story that current CEO of the Energy and Water Agency Daniel Azzopardi is set to appointed permanent representative in Brussels in summer when Marlene Bonnici’s term expires. <<Cyrus Engerer pipped for top Brussels post>> says that the Prime Ministers special Envoy Cyrus Engerer was also in the running for the job, but Mr Azzopardi is European Affairs Minister Helenda Dalli’s preferred choice. The newspaper said that disagreements arose lately between the Minister and the Special Envoy. Questioned on whether the decision to step down announced this week was linked to the fact he was not being considered for the job, Mr Engerer said he took it for family reasons.
A third frontpage story <<Pilatus owner out on bail>> reports that Ali Sadr Hasheminejad was granted bail by a New York court. MaltaToday says that it was unable to determine the conditions of the bail but reports that lawyers to the bank owner offered a $34 million package, including $14 from bonds from family, friends, and colleagues. The newspaper said the Iran-born businessman would accept to travel restrictions to certain states within the US while surrendering his passport and allowing electronic monitoring.
The Malta Independent on Sunday says that it has seen “indisputable and official documentation” that shows that PN leader Adrian Delia has paid his tax dues from disposal of shares and selling of property. <<PN leader provides hard evidence that tax dispute is settled once and for all>> reports that the newspaper sat down with Dr Delia to go through all the tax payments and says that paperwork shows that outstanding tax was now paid. It quotes an official Inland Revenue Departmen,t statement that Adrian Delia has no due to date. The newspaper was also able to verify that the €86,783 unpaid balance, interest, and charges were coverd after the Nationalist leader disposed of shares in Aequitas Legal, Aequitas Trust and Fiduciary, and Evolve Consultancy, as well as from the sale of a property in Siġġiewi.
In a second frontpage story, The Malta Independent on Sunday spoke to former academics employed by the American University of Malta who said that they are now taking their sacking before the Maltese courts. <<’People uprooted their lives, sold their homes and travelled halfway across the world for this job’>> quotes disillusioned lecturing staff who were given “written and verbal assurances that their employment would be long term.” One of the sources the newspaper spoke to said that it now seems obvious to him that Sadeen Group never intended to keep the staff beyond the probationary stage.
The Sunday Times reports that the Gozo General Hospital risks closing down due to a shortage of consultants. <<Gozo hospital on the life support due to lack of consultants>> says that a situation has developed over the years in which consultants from Mater Dei are taking turns to perform duties at the hospital in Gozo on a day-by-day basis. Sources told the newspapers that employees are forgoing the working time directive which restricts them 48-hour weeks and are working for as much as 24 at a stretch. The Health Ministry is in the process of issuing calls to address the shortages.
In a second story, The Sunday Times quotes the owners of the de Paule band club who says that the proposed Band Club Bill effectively requisitions the premises “without providing adequate compensation.” <<Band Club Bill makes mockery of rule of law>> reports the owners of the band in Paola won back possession of the premises after a 20-year legal battle, only for the Justice and Culture Minister to say a week later that the government would intervene to save the club from losing the premises. The Bill, which is in its second reading in Parliament, allows band clubs to hold on to the premises even after court-ordered evictions, provided that they pay rent 10 times higher up to one percent of the value of the property. Owner of the club Maurice Zarb Adami said the proposed law is “unfair”, “unconstitutional”, and “discriminatory”.
<<New European Parliament working group to monitor Malta>> is a second story carried on The Sunday Times frontpage reporting that the EP has tasked a working group within the Libe committee to assess the general corruption and rule of law in the EU states with special attention to specific cases, Malta being one of them. The working group is expected conduct hearings at the EP and missions to Malta.
The main story in Illum also reports on the mission of the special EP working committee and says that it has information MEPs Ana Gomes and Sven Giegold are returning to Malta this week to follow up on the work of the delegation towards the end of 2017. <<Gomes u Giegold jinsistu li reġgħu ġejjin din il-ġimgħa>> reports that the MEPs from the Socialists and Greens groupings shall be joined by EPP MEP David Casa to show that the mandate given by the European Parliament to report on corruption and the rule of law before the first visit in November still holds. The newspaper says that this time, however, the visit is not backed by a vote in the EP.
<<Bidla bla preċendent>> is the main story on the Kulħadd frontpage as it quotes University of Wisconsin professor John Baldacchino that the 10 years of Joseph Muscat’s leadership of the Labour Party brought unprecedented transformation. The US-based professor says that Muscat’s was an intentional change to open the PL while closing the MLP chapter without rejecting the party’s history.
Kulħadd carries another story titled <<L-isptar flok lura d-dar>> reporting on the fireworks factory explosion in the limits of Naxxar on Saturday. The newspaper says that the accident happened as the seven workers at the time of the explosion were getting ready to go home. Three of the workers suffered major injuries and were hospitalised. A Magisterial Inquiry led by Magistrate Marse-Ann Farrugia is investigating the case. A third article on the newspaper frontpage <<Warrant mistħoqq!>> says that criticism for the awarding of warrants to law graduates Yanika Barbara and Thomas Sant is a case of two weights and two measures after a third student in the same course year but with a “more serious case”, has been offered the warrant without controversy. The newspaper says it has information that this student has pending charges for attacking a public official but said it is not revealing his identity since the appointed board deemed him fit to receive the warrant.
The main story on It-Torċa <<Prospetti tajbin għall-addozzjonijiet>> reports on the efforts by the government to reopen agreements with states that had blocked Maltese citizens from adopting children from their country. The newspaper reports that persons close to adoption agencies see this as a step forward as couples are currently experiencing long waiting times for the adoption process. Another story reports on a trip to Rome by Provincial of the Dominican Order, Fr Frans Micallef on Friday. The article <<Il-Provinċjal Dumnikan jitla’ Ruma…>> says it understands the Provincial may meet the Master of the Order Fr. Bruno Cadore and that it does not exclude the possibility of them discussing the possible defrocking of Fr Mark Montebello if he does not abide by “the censuring order.”
In another story It-Torċa reports on the NAO report into Mater Dei Hospital published this week. <<Falliment istituzzjonali u negliġenza serja f’fondi pubbliċi>> quotes the Office of the Auditor General found serious shortcomings in the documentation of the hospital project. The paper says that the “maladministration” meant that the NAO investigation could not be carried as extensively as it should. <<Tal-XClean Ltd jibqgħu jinjoraw l-obbligi tagħhom>> reports on an ongoing dispute between management and employees of XClean Ltd. and says that workers are going on with their duties in the face of obstacles on the part of the company’s managers.
Il-Mument claims that 80% of a 100-strong sample of consumption bills showed customers were paying more than they should. <<In-nies qed iħallsu aktar għall-kontijiet tad-dawl u l-ilma>> reports that not only are households being billed more frequently but, in some cases, they are paying “up to €600 more.” The calculations were made by the Nationalist Party after leader Adrian Delia invited people to take their bills for checking. The newspaper said that PN deputy leader David Agius said in a press conference yesterday that lower power and water prices was the main pledge of the Labour Party in the 2013 election campaign.
BACKPAGES
The Sunday Times carries a story of two men with a drug problem who found support in the HR pledge that they could go back to their jobs if they completed a rehabilitation programme. The men, whose identities are not revealed, both worked at the Malta Freeport when they were offered the chance to take up their jobs again if they took the programme successfully. <<The promise of work was a lifeline – former drug addicts>> reports in the impact of the commitment by HR Manager Duncan Borg Myatt for the two men to take right attitude towards the programme.
MaltaToday reports on a case of mistaken identity on the backpage as a 20-year-old’s Facebook profile was flooded with disparaging comments since the Luqa hit-and-run incident last week. Liam Debono from Fgura, shares the same name as the 17-year-old from Tarxien who run over PC Simon Schembri. The Fgura man, an MCAST student, was also called by the college principal who thought he was involved in the tragedy. In the article <<Facebook warriors turn guns on wrong man>> Debono said he was overwhelmed by the unwanted attention and said he felt frustrated and out of control as he was trying to strike the comments off the page.
<<Bajla tal-konkos tisplodi fil-Gżira>> is the main story on the back-page of Il-Mument as it reports on the explosion of a concrete bail on a construction site in a residential area in Gżria on Thursday. The story says the incident caused damages to properties around it and residents raised serious concerns. The article says that there are several complaints filed from residents in the Gżira, Msida and Sliema area related to construction works but says the situation is not expected to get better as the Planning Authority in inundated with pending applications.
Il-Mument carries a second back-page story <<Tislima lill-Ambaxxatur Joe Cassar>>. Penned by President Emeritus Ugo Mifsud Bonnici, the article says that the late diplomat was “a class of his own”. The former president lauded Cassar as cultures, of exceptional intelligence, and an affable character.
