Organiser to hold 'thank you party' after bomb hoax ruins Gozo event

D. Pulis

Dec 9th 2009, 15:27

To John (JJoy)
Why even bother with Julian Desira's comment when he cannot seem to grasp the whole point of the article.

J Oatmon

Dec 9th 2009, 11:14

@ C Falzon - I understand what you say, but surely the police ask for the callers details, and record the calls. Voice recognition software would flag repeat offenders by tagging their voice not the phone.
However, I suspect that in Malta this voice recognition evidence is not permitted in court ( the legal system in Malta is dysfunctional), but the police would know it was a timewaster at least, and could act accordingly.

P Zarb

Dec 8th 2009, 21:18

So we have a house in brussels bigger than other nations ! and we don't have a bomb disposal unit in gozo ....they have to come from Malta ....u jekk ikun veru ..u tiehu ....LOL

Alan Farrugia

Dec 7th 2009, 21:14

Well done J Joy bomba is u and your wicked music...Looking forward to your next partyand will be more massive...

JM.Buttiegieg

Dec 7th 2009, 19:53

Are we Gozitans ALL invited. i hope you can accomodate us all. thank you thankyou.

George Vella

Dec 7th 2009, 19:36

@ Mr/Ms. F. Borg. The answer to your question as to " Why Gozo does not have a Bomb Disposal Unit? " is actually quite simple. It is because we Gozitans are SECOND CLASS CITIZENS !! Always have been and always will be. Hope this answers your question. PS Election times are not included, though

John Refalo

Dec 7th 2009, 19:25

Dear Mr.Desira If you read properly the article said I followed Police orders and evacuted the venue and patrons were asked to wait in the car park in front of the event venue. Both myself and club owner knew this was a hoax but still followed orders however it took 1 hr 45 minutes for the disposal unit to turn up and if there was a real bomb it would have exploded by that time and people could have been injured seruiously as patrons were asked to wait in front of the club, Moreover the whole point of the article is that Gozo need to have its own disposal unit so these situations can be dealt immediately.

Chris Park

Dec 7th 2009, 19:16

@ A Cumbo et al: with force 8 winds not enabling a fast SAR-launch to reach Gozo, it would have very simply done the same with a helicopter by grounding it firm on the ground inside a hangar! What is curious is that EOD in Malta remains handled very proficiently and most professionally by the Maltese armed forces. Whereas overseas, EOD is handled also by artificers of police, fire-fighting or civil-protection entities. Recent law court sittings in Gozo, also frustratingly put off by bomb hoaxes, had already stirred up controversy on EOD disposal on the sister island. But calls are so negligible, they do not justify stationing AFM personnel there. Same arguments were raised for a patrol boat in Mgarr. What D. Barry's report missed saying was that the EOD technician who cleared the venue was a Gozitan resident, purposely mobilised as his chums were weather shackled in a Maltese port. Prevention is better than cure, and there's no room for complacency in this age of global war on terrorism. The Malta Police & CPD could help themselves by having explosive sniffer dogs in Gozo too. Economy of effort not duplication of resources are required!

Andrew Cumbo

Dec 7th 2009, 18:34

I don’t blame to the organizer, it was his frustration that he commented this way. Still it was a right decision to safeguard all the people, but I think some individuals don’t know what it is involved to organise such event, especially when you bring a D.J. from abroad. The expenses to hire a place, get permits, have securities, insurance costs and everything to be compliant with the law when organising a party. The shame is how two hours passed and the bomb disposal unit didn’t arrive. And how they mentioned a patrol boat instead of a Helicopter? If they were truly worried of the situation, a Helicopter is the most efficient way to travel and reach its destination in few minutes.

A. Said

Dec 7th 2009, 18:29

@ mr. desira. I think you should distinguish between the promoter and the owner. before commenting on such issue, you should have checked the facts. So the thing was that the Gozitan owner (if it makes such a difference to you) wanted to evacuate and the Maltese promoter didn't want to. Just to clear some facts for you mr. desira. thanks

Charles DeMicoli

Dec 7th 2009, 18:13

How did "international artiste" Greg C. know that it was a false alarm, from the beginning, as he's quoted to have said, and that there was no bomb in the building???

C Falzon

Dec 7th 2009, 17:25

@ J Oatmon it is not as daft as you think. Although, as you correctly say, the police have the technical means to know what phone number is calling them that does not really solve the issue. If the hoaxer was stupid enough to call from his home telephone or a registered mobile then yes, the number might lead the police directly to him. However I think that whoever perpetrates such crimes is probably clever enough to use a prepaid phone, perhaps even a stolen one. And if he is just a little bit more clever would use it just for that one call and then dispose of it. That leaves the police with just a meaningless number which cannot lead to anyone specific. Hopefully the perpetrator made some mistake that will lead the police to him but unfortunately it is quite unlikley. It is more likley to catch the perpetrator by non technical means, that is good old investigative skills. I think the perpetrator would merit a significant jail term in addition to making good for the costs.

J Meilak

Dec 7th 2009, 17:06

@ Mr. Desira Why did you have to write 'Gozitan' to prove your point? Especially in this case, where the organiser happens to be Maltese! Should it matter if the person is Gozitan or Maltese?

F Borg

Dec 7th 2009, 15:08

How come Gozo does not have a bomb disposal unit???

J Oatmon

Dec 7th 2009, 14:44

This is just plain daft - If I get to know who calls my cellphone before I answer it, why the mystery with identifying these false alarm callers? It's not rocket science to know who the caller is!

It is not difficult to route all calls through a single exchange, for the police and the AFM, emergency services, and then set the exchange up to automatically record the details of all incoming calls, including the sender's phone number and all the address details, previous emergency calls true, and false, if the number is a mobile they then call back the number to confirm the emergency, etc.

The police can then visit the perpetrators, and they can then be fined the equivalent of three times the cost of the emergency services call out, and that would stop this abuse and save lives, block their phones from all the service providers or whatever.

Julian Desira

Dec 7th 2009, 14:39

Dear Gozitan organiser, what if the bomb threat was real? Are you ready to ignore such threat just to get your money? Shame Shame and Shame on you.