COLA might exceed €8, experts warn / Malta News Briefing – Monday 30 May 2022

1745- Latest News update

Times of Malta says St Philip’s hospital owner Frank Portelli has blamed vandals and the police for the thousands of patients’ medical records that were left accessible to the public inside the closed building.

MaltaToday says Home Affairs Minister Byron Camilleri confirms that an internal police investigation is underway to determine why gaming consultant Iosif Galea was not arrested in Malta despite Germany having issued a European Arrest Warrant for him. 

Newsbook says firefighters were called to control a grass fire that spread in Wied Għomor on Monday afternoon.

TVM says European leaders, including the PM Robert Abela, will be meeting in Brussels later today for a two day conference on the Ukrainian situation

Updated 1300

COLA might exceed €8, experts warn: Spiraling inflationary levels are expected to create additional headaches for businesses come next winter as the cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) awarded annually in the national budget is likely to reach €8 per week, hitting the country’s competitiveness because it will increase costs for businesses. COLA is worked out on a pre-determined formula that takes into consideration the minimum wage and the past year’s inflation, which has exceeded 5% this year, primarily driven by increases in food and beverage. (Times of Malta)

MUMN on warpath in sectoral discussions: The Nurses’ Union has warned of a hard, rough and dirty road as talks with government on sectoral agreements hit a rough patch. The Union announced that it was declaring a dispute, objecting to the presence of an advisor roped in by the health ministry’s permanent secretary for collective agreement talks. It is refusing to attend any meeting on the sectoral agreement that include political advisors. Media reports have identified the advisor as Jeremy Camilleri, a former trade unionist with the GWU. MUMN also said that key issues it wanted to discuss, related to pensions and tax incentives on overtime were being ignored with the health ministry.

Covid-19 Update: Active coronavirus cases remained virtually unchanged at 1,420 after health authorities reported 64 new cases of coronavirus on Monday, while 63 recovered.

PN laments free movement of wanted person

The PN said that despite all the rhetoric about law enforcement mechanisms, these were not functioning properly. In a statement, Home Affairs spokesman Joe Giglio said that the news that a person in respect of whom an European arrest warrant had been issued had managed to leave the island twice without anyone batting an eyelid, was a source of anger and concern. (TVM)

Man jailed on child porn

A man has been jailed for 18 months after he was found to be in possession of child pornography on his phone. Ahmid Rabu was charged in court with being in possession of indecent material which featured a minor. Rabu had come to Malta three or four months prior to his arrest from Italy. Prosecuting inspector Paul Camilleri told the court that the man was initially arrested after he was found to be living illegally in Malta. (Newsbook)

Covid-19 Update
66 new Covid-19 cases reported on Sunday, while two people have died while positive for Covid-19. 97 people meanwhile have recovered from the virus, meaning that the number of active cases currently stands at 1,419.