Weekly News highlights

Malta Freeport has outstanding debts of Lm118.8 million, as of December last year, incurred mainly in the development of the freeport and the purchase of machinery.

This debt is being discounted from the annual capital and recurrent expenditure votes. The total amount paid in interest since 1990 has totalled Lm43.4 million.

Public Investments Minister Austin Gatt said in Parliament on Monday that a fund is to be set up for the repayment of $250 million from the freeport's privatisation revenue. The rest of the debt would be paid in annual amounts according to agreements.

Mater Dei Hospital meeting inconclusive

A four-hour meeting between the Prime Minister and Skanska president Stuart Graham at the Auberge de Castille on Tuesday over the contentious Mater Dei Hospital proved inconclusive, though Dr Gonzi told reporters there was still a "glimmer of hope". He explained that although the two parties edged closer towards each other, an agreement was not reached.

The issue revolves mainly around the final cost of the hospital and the date of completion. A make or break meeting between the two sides was scheduled for Saturday.

Call for tenders to inspect Regional Road bridge

An international call for tenders was issued for the appointment of an engineer to carry out detailed inspections and determine the work which needs to be carried out on Manwel Dimech Bridge, along Regional Road.

The Malta Transport Authority has made the call for bids, which must be submitted by December 14, for the supply of professional and technical services for the upgrading of the bridge.

A total of Lm170,210 is allocated for the engagement of the engineer and the money is being provided by the European Regional Development Fund.

A total of €5 million is allocated for the works on the bridge and this too will be funded by the ERDF.

New Mellieha home for the elderly

The application for the full development of a new home for the elderly in Mellieha was approved by the Malta Environment and Planning Authority on Thursday. The extension of the Kempinski San Lawrenz Resort and Spa in Gozo and the demolition of warehouses to construct flats on the Ta' Xbiex seafront were also approved.

The planned government-owned home for the elderly is a four-storey building, with 96 single and 12 double bedrooms. It will also have a chapel, a day centre and a health centre, a physiotherapy and fitness centre, specifically designed for the elderly and those with special needs, space for a high-dependency ward, landscaped areas and a public garden.

Police officer jailed for women trafficking

A police officer who was originally given a suspended jail term for trafficking in Russian women was jailed for three years on Thursday, following an appeal filed by the Attorney General.

The officer had been given a two-year jail term suspended for four years and fined Lm200 after he filed a guilty plea in the Magistrates' Courts. He was also interdicted for five years.

He admitted to conspiring to commit a crime between January and June, trafficking in women between May and June, complicity in running a brothel and living off the earnings of prostitution. He also admitted to accepting bribes and committing an offence he was in duty bound to prevent.

Hold-up jail term reduced

One of two men who were originally jailed for four years for stealing around Lm18,000 in a hold-up at a steel import company had his jail term reduced to three years and three months on appeal on Thursday.

Aaron Cassar, 24, whose jail sentence was reduced, and Noel Frendo, 28, both of St Paul's Bay, had been jailed for four years each for stealing cash and other items from Vibro Blocks Ltd in Zebbug on February 8, 2002.

Frendo had filed a guilty plea while Cassar had pleaded not guilty. Eventually, both were convicted of holding Vibro Blocks owner Raymond Vassallo against his will, using violence to compel him to do their bidding and carrying a firearm at the time of the commission of a crime.

Over 182,000 private cars in Malta

The maltese own a total of 182,720 private cars, with 134,398 individuals - 33 per cent of the population - owning at least one car.

Need of national strategy on migrants

The Jesuit Refugee Service has urged the government to map out a national strategy for irregular immigrants to replace a "flawed" system of detention, which the organisation believes is fuelling racism and xenophobia.

At a news conference on Thursday to launch a new document published by JRS-Europe on the rights of detainees, JRS director Pierre Grech Marguerat said that detention was doing nothing more than criminalising asylum-seekers, normalising exclusion and posing a financial burden.

However, although JRS was aware that there was no clear-cut solution to illegal migration it believed that non-custodial centres could provide ample reprieve for those seeking asylum.

It was high time for authorities to try and keep check of the exploitation of illegal immigrants, which sometimes led to cheap labour. Government should instead seek ways and means of integrating asylum seekers into the workforce through legal channels.

Malta signs EU Constitution

Prime minister Lawrence Gonzi, together with Foreign Minister Michael Frendo, joined European Union leaders in Rome on Friday to sign the EU's first Constitution.

Dr Gonzi was the 16th head of government called to sign, following Hungary and preceding the Netherlands, which currently holds the EU presidency.

Following Friday's signing, the next important phase begins, namely the ratifiction process and, Dr Gonzi said: "Malta should have no problem in being one of the first EU countries to ratify the new Constitution".

Mintoff's water supply cut off

Former Prime Minister Don Mintoff's water supply was cut off on Thursday after not paying an outstanding bill of Lm873.73. Neighbours have been supplying 88-year-old Mr Mintoff with water after he failed to find a drop when he opened his taps at his Tarxien home.

Water Services Corporation staff called twice at Mr Mintoff's home to cut off the water supply after serving him with a notice a few days earlier.

Mr Mintoff refuses to pay the bill because he feels he is owed money by the government for the long-standing compensation case over his second home, L-Gharix, in Delimara, and for repairs he was forced to carry out to the drainage system at his Tarxien home after it was damaged by public service workers.

Mother given final chance

A mother charged with abandoning and neglecting her six-year-old daughter had a Lm500 personal guarantee added to her bail conditions on Friday after she failed to sign at the Birkirkara police station daily.

Magistrate Consuelo Scerri Herrera made it clear that she was giving the woman one last chance to abide by the bail conditions and if she failed once more she would be placed in preventive custody.

Heroin addict jailed for involuntary homicide

Claire Farrugia, 25, of Marsascala, was jailed for four years and fined Lm2,500 on Friday for the involuntary homicide of a man who died of a drug overdose on the way to St Luke's Hospital after he was left near the Paola health centre on December 29, 2002.

Farrugia was found guilty of the manslaughter of 19-year-old Leonard Magro, the possession of heroin and dealing in the drug on and before December 2, 2002, and the possession of cannabis resin.

Immigrants attempt to escape

About 120 illegal immigrants attempted to escape and proceeded to hold an impromptu protest on Friday at Safi Barracks. The situation was resolved only after five hours of negotiations between the immigrants, the police, the Refugees' Commissioner and the Emigrants' Commission.

The unrest started brewing on Thursday when some of the detainees began demanding freedom and protesting about the quality of food and toilet facilities. Realising that the situation might spiral out of control, the AFM cordoned off the area during the night. Their fears were proved correct when about 120 immigrants broke through a gate and charged out holding a banner reading "We Want Freedom".

After being rounded up by AFM personnel, the detainees, mainly from war-torn Congo, decided to stage a sit-in strike and demanded to speak to Refugees Commissioner Charles Buttigieg and Emigrants Commission director, Mgr Philip Calleja. One woman was given treatment in an ambulance close by.

On Monday, about 20 illegal immigrants were injured, three of them seriously, in a short fight that broke out between Somalis and Eritreans at Safi Barracks.