Pharmacy gutted in blaze

A fierce fire, believed to have been started by an electrical fault, gutted the Remedies Pharmacy in Rudolph Street, Sliema, on Monday morning. The pharmacy is located right in front of the Sliema police station.

What made the headlines

Malta will likely face court action if trapping season opens: Malta will likely be taken again to the European Court of Justice if it goes ahead and opens a trapping season in October, sources in Brussels told the Times of Malta. The newspaper reported how the government’s consultative Ornis Committee had recommended an autumn trapping season for two unprotected birds – song thrush and golden plover. The decision came just one month after the Luxembourg court ruled that Malta was violating EU rules by allowing the trapping of protected finches. The government later confirmed that it will indeed be opening the trapping season in October.

Delia backs down on Busuttil suspension: Nationalist Party leader Adrian Delia backed down from his demand for his predecessor Simon Busuttil to suspend himself from the PN’s parliamentary group. His request, which led to an open revolt within the party, came in the wake of the release of Magistrate Aaron Bugeja’s Egrant inquiry conclusions which found no evidence linking the Prime Minister’s wife to the Panama company. Dr Busuttil had made the claim, first highlighted by the late Daphne Caruana Galizia in her blog, central to PN’s electoral strategy last year.

Reduced height in Townsquare project: The developers behind the Townsquare high-rise project in Sliema submitted new plans reducing the height of the proposed tower by 37 metres, or around 11 storeys. This came after an earlier permit for a 38-storey tower, issued by the Planning Authority in 2016, was annulled by an appeals tribunal in May, sending the project back to the drawing board. The developers said in a statement that the project, set over a 12,000 square metre site, would still retain the same amount of open space as originally proposed, around 7,500 square metres.

BOV shareholders feel the pinch of potential litigation costs: Bank of Valletta shareholders started to feel the pinch of three separate litigation cases which could cost the bank millions, as for the first time in years they will not be getting any dividends despite registering higher profits. News that the bank had put €75 million aside for any potential losses it might incur created shockwaves on the Malta Stock Exchange. Following Tuesday’s trading, BOV shares suffered a nine per cent drop in a single day from €1.70 to €1.54 – the lowest share price in five years. In the first half of this year BOV made a profit of €88.5 million, 30 per cent more over the first six months of 2017. However, the setting aside of €75 million as a litigation provision reduced the pre-tax profit to €13.5 million.

Jabbing children urged after measles alert: Victor Grech, an experienced consultant paediatrician, urged parents to waste no time and have their children vaccinated as the health authorities alerted doctors to a possible measles outbreak. Dr Grech told the Times of Malta the problem was a “very serious” one and parents should rush to take their children to clinics to be vaccinated.

Standard & Poor’s downgrades banking sector: Credit ratings agency Standard & Poor’s highlighted increased reputational and operational risks for Malta’s banking sector, moving its risk score up two notches on its 10-point scale. In a statement it noted allegations of money laundering against Pilatus Bank and its “perception of poor transparency at some banks” on the island. Malta, which previously scored a four on the S&P Global Ratings banking industry risk score, has now been given a six-out-of-ten rating. A score of one on the index is the lowest risk, with 10 being the highest. Malta’s enhanced risk, as perceived by S&P Global, means the credit rating agency’s anchor for banks operating primarily in Malta now sits at BBB-, rather than BBB. The credit ratings agency also focused on BOV, lowering the bank’s long-term credit rating to BBB from BBB+ while affirming its A-2 short-term rating. It maintained its negative outlook of the bank.

Pilatus goes to court over MFSA directives: Pilatus Bank went to court in an effort to force the MFSA to withdraw its directives against the bank. In a statement Pilatus Holdings accused the financial regulator of being negligent and gullible, and said that it would be holding it responsible for the “very significant” damages it could end up suffering. The MFSA froze Pilatus Bank’s assets in March.

What trended

Sea slime again

Sea slime made its annual return to Maltese beaches this week, with the government’s soft-touch approach to the fish farming sector having seemingly failed to prevent a reoccurrence of last year’s debacle.

Readers clamoured for an iron fist.

“Till the government (red, blue or pink) starts issuing substantial penalties for pollution on land or sea we’ll keep listening to the same old broken record,” one wrote. “Companies that pollute need to be fined in the hundreds of thousands if not millions of euros.”

“If the pens are not removed it’s never going to stop,” wrote another. “Even if they’re fined thousands, that’s peanuts for them compared to the great amounts of money they make in one year.”

The irony of sea slime reappearing in the same week that the Prime Minister was busy touting Malta’s fish-farmed tuna to Japan was not lost on some readers.

“Take the fish farms to Japan,” one wrote. “If the Japanese enjoy eating tuna they should pollute their water not ours.”

With the cat out of the bag, the Environment Ministry quickly pointed the finger at fish farm operators – despite their attempted PR blitz – and ordered them to stop feeding their penned tuna until they worked out a solution.

Some readers were aghast by the decision. One gentleman asked “what fault do the tuna have? Why should they be starved? The way to hit operators would be a heavy fine, revoke their licence, confiscate their cages... and release the tuna back into the wild.”

Others felt authorities were just making empty promises.

“Shut them down. This is not the first time that such abuses are taking place and no action taken,” one reader fumed.

Everyone’s an expert

When it comes to traffic, everyone’s an expert. Or so one would think if they were out to gauge opinions online. An article this week revealing government plans to widen Tal-Balal road was a case in point.

“Finally, what a great initiative!” exclaimed one reader. “What a waste of money!” screamed another just a few lines below.

“Build a flyover,” suggested one man, as another went one further and urged authorities to build two. “Sort out parking, it’s a mess,” the minister was told. “Why are we allowing bigger and heavier trucks onto our roads?” another wanted to know, as one reader decided rental cars were to blame. “Ban self-drive cars for tourists staying less than two weeks,” he suggested.

It’s enough to make a policymaker’s head hurt.

What they said

“There is a need for a united Opposition for the good of the country.”

Prime Minister Joseph Muscat commenting on the state of the Nationalist Party.

“I believe the Opposition must be united against its only political adversary, which is this current government.”

Former Nationalist Party leader Simon Busuttil welcoming Adrian Delia’s decision to back down from his demand that the former should suspend himself from the PN’s parliamentary group in the aftermath of the publication of the Egrant inquiry conclusions.

“Adrian Delia has shown great humility and maturity to reach a decision in the party’s and national interest. My message to the party faithful is to focus on the challenges ahead as a united force.”

PN MEP Francis Zammit Dimech, commenting after an agreement was reached between Adrian Delia and Simon Busuttil.

“I am very confident we have a very strong case if the European Commission decides to take Malta to court.”

Clint Camilleri, Parliamentary Secretary for Agriculture, Fisheries and Animal Rights, speaking about the likelihood of Malta being taken to the European Court of Justice, once again, when the government opens the trapping season for song thrushes and golden plovers in October.

“Naturally, there are other inquiries on other aspects that are still ongoing and, therefore, one should be cautious as we were with Egrant and wait for the outcome…. Since a judicial process is still ongoing, one should wait for the outcome of that process.”

Deputy Prime Minister and Health Minister Chris Fearne, replying to a question by the Times of Malta about whether he agreed with Konrad Mizzi’s claim that the Egrant inquiry conclusions has “cleared” him and Keith Schembri of any wrongdoing.