Weekly News highlights

TECOM was approved by Cabinet on Monday as the preferred bidder for Government's 60 per cent stake in Maltacom, after it was awarded a "significantly higher score" overall than the competing company, Ararco of Saudi Arabia, by the adjudication committee appointed by Government.

Negotiations with Tecom for the sale of Government's shares in Maltacom are to start shortly Tecom Investments is the Dubai-based company behind the Lm110 million SmartCity@Malta project planned at Ricasoli.

Investments Minister Austin Gatt said in Parliament on Monday that Government hoped to conclude the negotiations by the end of this month. When the process is complete, the documentation will be submitted to the Parliament's Public Accounts Committee.

Tecom's €214 million bid was the higher financial offer of the two and was described by the government's financial advisers, Lehman Brothers Europe, as "consistent with the current market valuation for Telecom incumbents".

Inquiry on MEPA concluded

Government was handed the inquiry report into the way the Malta Environment and Planning Authority (MEPA) handled the illegal excavations in Xemxija, where a landslide last January left a house dangling in mid-air.

Headed by MEPA's auditor Joe Falzon, the inquiry team was tasked with establishing whether MEPA had taken all the measures at its disposal and whether enforcement procedures were adequate, among other things.

The inquiry was ordered by Environment Minister George Pullicino on Monday.

Accused claims breach of fundamental rights

Brian Vella, 35, who was charged with double murder and whose trial has been dissolved on two occasions, on Monday filed an application claiming that trying him a third time would be in breach of his fundamental rights as his presumption of innocence could no longer be guaranteed.

Vella filed his application in the First Hall of the Civil Court, requesting the court to order that his trial - which was scheduled for this year - was not to take place.

He is to stand trial for the murder of Gerald and Josephine Grima, who were found bound and gagged in their apartment in Sta Lucija on February 17, 2000.

In the application Vella explained that his trial by jury had been dissolved on two occasions: on February 4, 2004 and again on January 10 this year.

Fined over Lm2,200 for tax evasion

A 33-YEAR-OLD Chinese man, Zhang Haiji, on Tuesday was fined Lm2,216 for evading Lm709 in tax and duty on 50 cartons of cigarettes.

Haiji admitted to importing the cigarette cartons - containing a total of 100,000 cigarettes - on Sunday.

500 caught littering

Just under 500 people were caught littering or dumping this year up to March 21, Justice and Home Affairs Minister Tonio Borg told Labour MP Carmelo Abela in reply to a parliamentary question.

He said the police caught 10 people violating the Littering Act, while wardens booked 460 in the same period.

Travel tax nets Lm500,000 till February

The travel tax landed Government Lm579,654 in the first two months of this year, Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi told Parliament on Tuesday.

Answering questions by Labour MP Carmelo Abela, he said that nobody had been exempted from the tax.

Italian low-cost airline chooses Malta

Meridiana, Italy's main low-fare airline, will start operating to Malta on June 1 at fares starting from €29 for a one-way flight, excluding taxes.

Meridiana will run two direct flights a week from and to Bologna using a 165-seater MD 82 aircraft.

MIA said the new service is the direct result of its marketing efforts to attract new airlines to the island.

Flights will depart Bologna airport on Thursdays and Sundays at 1.15 p.m. and arrive here at 3 p.m. The return flight leaves at 3.40 p.m., arriving in Bologna at 5.30 p.m.

No foul play in Mgarr woman's death

On Tuesday, Mary Agius, 56, was found dead in her home in the outskirts of Mgarr.

Ms Agius, who lived on her own, had not been seen for some days and her corpse was found by a relative who passed by to see her.

Police sources later confirmed that investigators had ruled out foul play as it became evident that the woman had died of natural causes.

Dual pricing from January 2007

Retailers and the service industry must display prices in both euro and Maltese lira from January 1, 2007, Parliamentary Secretary Tonio Fenech told The Times last week. Government was considering introducing compulsory dual pricing in the middle of next year, but the Cabinet took the decision earlier last week to speed up the process.

Mr Fenech said the euro is due to be introduced on January 1, 2008 and that dual pricing will be in place for a minimum of six months after that date to make it more difficult for sellers to increase prices.

Mr Fenech insisted that conversions would have to be carried out at the central parity rate established by the Central Bank, which is Lm0.4293 for every euro.

A spokesman for the National Euro Changeover Committee (NECC) stressed that vendors would not be required to change their cash registers and talks were being held with cash register importers to ensure assistance was on hand.

President addresses European Parliament

President Eddie Fenech Adami on Wednesday proposed three scenarios on the way forward for the EU constitutional treaty when he addressed a special sitting of the European Parliament in Strasbourg.

The President, whose speech was met with resounding applause and a standing ovation, also spoke on how the EU and its institutions could regain public confidence.

He outlined three scenarios on the way forward.

The first was to carry on with the ratification process if the treaty was endorsed by four-fifths of the member states while at the same time attempting to find a solution within the European Council.

A second scenario could include the formulation of a "European Charter" from the first two parts of the constitutional treaty. This would give European citizens a clear and concise document with which they could identify more easily.

As a third option, there could be a strengthening of the protocol on the role of national parliaments particularly in furthering their consultative role with regard to the European project.

Changing network and retaining number now possible

Consumers can now switch their mobile phone network without changing any part of their number, the Malta Communications Authority (MCA) said on Wednesday.

Full number portability forms part of a European Union directive.

From now on, consumers will no longer need to contact their telephone provider but go directly to a new network. It will be up to the recipient company to make the necessary arrangements, MCA market operations analyst Claude Azzopardi said at a press conference.

Customers are now able to determine the network provider through a freephone number - 180 - or by sending a text message to the same number.

Maltacom has also made the necessary ground work to provide the service for fixed lines should a competitor enter the market.

Millions due in tax refunds

The amount due by the Inland Revenue Department in income tax refunds is Lm16.7 million, Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi told Noel Farrugia (MLP) in reply to a parliamentary question on Wednesday.

He said Lm3 million were expected to be refunded this year along with the refunds due under the self-assessment system.

Dr Gonzi said that as of March 26 the VAT Department had to pay back Lm16.2 million in excessive credit. That amount included refunds for persons and companies that were exempt with credit, such as the Freeport.

There were also pending requests from manufacturers, producers and other operators totalling Lm9.3 million. These requests were still being checked.

Malta gets three warnings on climate change obligations

The European Commission on Thursday officially informed Malta of the start of three infringement procedures over its nonconformity with EU climate change rules.

Legal action has been started against Malta over its failure to link its national emissions trading register with the EU-wide registry system, for not submitting information on policies and measures on its emission projections and for not giving information on greenhouse gas emissions for 2004.

Five member states including Malta have still not linked up to the EU-wide electronic registries system for emissions trading despite a December 2004 deadline to do so. According to the Commission, in order to link up to the registries system, each member must establish a national registry in the form of a standardised electronic database as well as a communication link.

Malta will be taken to court if it continues to ignore these obligations.

Seven bids for Crowne Plaza

Seven companies have submitted tenders to purchase Tigné Development Company Ltd, a subsidiary of Air Malta which operates the Crowne Plaza Hotel on the site of Fort Cambridge in Sliema. The call for tenders closed on Thursday.

In a joint statement, the Ministries for Home Affairs and Investments said the tenders were received by the Government Property Division from Imperial Point Company Ltd (Lm23.3 million); Fort Cambridge Company Ltd (Lm23 million); NYSIR Malta Ltd (Lm22.1 million); Hili Property Development Ltd (Lm13 million); Schembri & Sonds Ltd (Lm12.8 million); Cambridge Construction Ltd (Lm11.5 million); and Cambridge Pace Ltd (Lm11.1 million).

All bidders said they would retain the employees of the hotel, as required in the call for tenders. The division will now submit its recommendations to the government.

The highest bidder has offered to guarantee all the current employees' jobs up till the age of 65, according to sources.

The youngest member of the hotel's 116-strong staff is 24, which means the guarantee last for 41 years.

The development of the site has to be carried out according to the Fort Cambridge Development Brief published in January.

Wardens to test vehicle exhaust

Local wardens will soon be able to carry out emissions tests on vehicles using portable testing equipment, the Malta Transport Authority said on Friday.

On-the-spot fines will be issued when excessive exhaust fumes are being emitted.

Around 360 cars have failed the vehicle emissions test carried out at the authority's garage since its Emissions Alert campaign kicked off last August.

The authority said 18 per cent of the 2,000 vehicles checked for emissions failed the test.

The 1,000 vehicles whose owners have not yet taken them in for the test will not be issued with a road licence until they do, the authority said. Last month alone, more than 4,700 text message reports were received.