Weekly News highlights

Philip Attard, 38, of Tarxien, was remanded in custody on Monday after being charged with making a false report that he had been beaten up by the police. He was further charged with defaming Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi and Home Affairs Minister Tonio Borg as well as Police Commissioner John Rizzo and other police officers.

Sea Malta to be privatised

The government announced on Monday it intended to start discussions with the General Workers Union and Sea Malta shareholders with a view to privatising the national shipping line.

The government is the majority shareholder of Sea Malta, with 31 per cent of the company belonging to private shareholders. It was therefore premature to say whether the government would hold a minority shareholding in the company in future, the Government Investments Ministry said in a statement.

The government has in the meantime signed a public service obligation contract through which Sea Malta committed itself to operate the Malta/Catania/Reggio/Malta route against a payment by Government of Lm150,000 a year.

Grievous injury charge

Angelo Abela, 45, of Zejtun, was charged on Monday with attacking and grievously injuring his daughter Diane and her boyfriend Josef Curmi by hitting them with an iron bar.

Nine cars damaged by runaway crane

A 44-year-old man from Birkirkara was seriously injured on a Gzira construction site on Tuesday when he tried to stop a runaway crane. The police said the crane driver and another man were unloading bricks from the back of the vehicle when it suddenly started moving in Gianni Bencini Street at about 10 a.m. The driver was injured when he tried to climb back up into the crane's cabin to stop it. The crane damaged nine parked cars and electricity cables.

Six workers injured

Six workers were injured on Tuesday when the roof on which they were working in Carmelo Coleiro Street, Qormi, collapsed. None of them were in critical condition.

New facility to start receiving waste by May 1

The temporary storage facility for domestic waste built next to the Maghtab dump should start operating on May 1, Environment Minister George Pullicino said on Thursday.

The decision to store waste at Ta' Zwejra, a site adjacent to Maghtab, was announced by the government earlier this month. It is being seen as an indication that the government may not proceed with a proposed temporary landfill near the Mnajdra temples, which would operate until a permanent site at Ta' l-Ghallis is ready to start taking waste in about two years' time.

One of the first actions taken by new Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi last month was to ask for a report on possible alternatives to the Mnajdra landfill option.

Interprint lays off 15

Fifteen employees are being laid off from Interprint, in an eleventh hour attempt to save the company from closure. The decision was explained to the board of directors on Thursday by the Minister for Government Investments, Austin Gatt. The government is the company's sole shareholder.

Interprint was set up in 1963 to print books for the international and local markets. However, for a number of years, it has operated at a loss. For the financial year ending September 2003, it registered a loss of Lm102,000, with expenses for its 51 employees running at Lm529,000. The workers had been offered early retirement schemes but the take-up was very poor and those interested in leaving were not the ones the company could afford to lose.

The GWU criticised the decision, saying it had reached an agreement with the management years ago on investment which had never been implemented.

Lm17 million spent on publications

The private sector spent over Lm17 million on books, newspapers and magazines last year, an increase of 34 per cent from Lm13 million in 1993, according to figures released by the National Statistics Office. By contrast the importation of printed material last year stood at 3.9 million items, a drop of 14 per cent over the previous year. At the turn of the century, these imports totalled 6.3 million items.

It is interesting to note that another NSO survey released in March 2002 revealed that 56 per cent of those sampled said they had not read a single book in one year and a staggering 44 per cent said they did not even bother to read a magazine. World Book Day was marked on Thursday.

Commitment to align maritime policies with EU

Malta's efforts to align its maritime policies with the European Union were rated as positive by an assessment mission from the DG Transport and Energy of the European Commission assisted by the European Maritime Safety Agency.

Most of the commitments of the maritime action plan prepared by the Malta Maritime Authority had been fulfilled, or would be fulfilled, by May 1.