A Saviour is born

Archbishop Charles Scicluna places Baby Jesus in the cradle at the crib built in Pjazza Tritoni during the Milied Flimkien activity. Photo: Curia

What made the headlines

Army to boost troops by part-time soldiers: The Armed Forces of Malta will be strengthening its ranks through the recruitment of retired army personnel who will be able to work on a part-time basis, the Times of Malta reported. Emulating what the police have done, the AFM will give the opportunity to those who choose to retire after 25 years of service and soldiers who quit less than three years ago to rejoin on a part-time basis and perform duties for a maximum of 19 hours a week. Army sources told the Times of Malta the exercise was primarily in response to poor numbers when it comes to recruitment.

Government disagrees with “some” of Venice Commission proposals: Justice Minister Owen Bonnici said the government was not on board with “some” of the Venice Commission’s rule of law recommendations but would not say which these were. Dr Bonnici said the government agreed with most of the recommended changes to Malta’s democratic structures. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said the government “welcomed the full report positively”. It would now be handed over to the steering committee in charge of coordinating an update to Malta’s Constitution, he said. The full opinion, published on Monday, recommended strategic shuffles to Malta’s Constitution intended to buttress the system of checks and balances, which it said were currently missing from Malta’s democratic system.

Court orders changes to Gozo fast ferry call: The Court of Appeal ordered the government to modify a public call it made earlier this year to launch a fast ferry service between Malta and Gozo. It agreed with Virtu Ferries, which had unsuccessfully made a bid for the contract, that the company awarded the job should be given adequate time – a year – before launching the service. The three-month period mentioned in the original tender could give the incumbent, Gozo Channel, an advantage over prospective competitors, the court, presided over by Chief Justice Joseph Azzopardi, ruled. The court also set the closing date at March 6, 2019, giving time to all interested bidders to make appropriate detailed submissions. Virtu Ferries instituted a series of legal actions after Gozo Channel selected an “inexperienced company” to act as its partner in the running of a fast ferry service between the two islands.

Corinthia to get major deal based on ITS model: The Corinthia Group will be given a concession to build 100,000 square metres of commercial and residential real estate and offices, including towers, on the same controversial model granted to the db Group for the ITS site. The deal involves public land acquired specifically for tourism purposes, and was presented to a parliamentary committee last week, a day before the House rose for the Christmas holidays. Tourism Minister Konrad Mizzi sought approval of the deal less than 24 hours after voluminous documents were submitted Parliament. The documents include a draft contract granting the St George’s Bay peninsula to the developers for the next 99 years. After Nationalist MPs on the National Audit Office Accounts Committee, particularly Beppe Fenech Adami and Mario de Marco, posed a string of questions on the venture, the government agreed to postpone the vote to get “more clarity on the questions raised by the Opposition”. Speaking to the Times of Malta, real estate agents slammed the deal saying the land transferred to Corinthia was “grossly undervalued” and could trigger a building industry collapse. “The prevalent market prices for such a site, 60,000 square metres, would fetch a minimum €700 million. By no stretch of the imagination can we understand how Deloitte valued the land at €121 million and the government agreed to hand over a whole peninsula to Corinthia for the quoted price of €52 million,” one leading estate agent said.

Neville Gafà doing ‘voluntary work at Castille: Neville Gafà has been working from the Office of the Prime Minister on a “voluntary” basis since his government contract was terminated by Deputy Prime Minister Chris Fearne, the Times of Malta revealed. According to other sources, Mr Gafà is expected to be engaged with a government entity in the coming weeks. His previous job as senior manager with the Foundation for Medical Services on a position of trust basis was terminated by Mr Fearne shortly after the Times of Malta reported he had met with a Libyan militia leader during a trip to Tripoli last month. Mr Gafà had said he had “bumped into [the militia leader] on the street”. He also insisted he had met with Libyan government ministers in a personal capacity and not as a “special envoy of the Prime Minister” as reported by the Tripoli government.

What trended

No green spaces

The decision by the Planning Authority to approve plans for a nine-storey residential complex on the site of the former Halland hotel in Swieqi generated much criticism online.

“Imagine that photo [photomontage of the proposed complex] with that building removed and the land reinstated to a green area. That’s what any other civilised country would do in such a crowded area lacking proper green spaces,” C. said.

According to Joe, hotel owners are taking advantage of the preferential treatment the government has adopted to boost the tourism industry by approving hotel development in the best spots of the country.

“Now hotel owners are pulling down these hotels to build residential units. The Planning Authority should have factored in this issue and should have insisted that hotel sites should remain so,” he pointed out.

J. took an even more pessimistic view,  saying the real owners of this country are the “big wealthy corrupt businesses and crooks” that control things and make all the important decisions.

“Forget the politicians, he said, “they are put there to give you the idea that you have freedom of choice. But you don’t. You have no choice, they own all the important land and control the large institutions. They spend millions lobbying politicians to get what they want.”

Another PN – PL contest?

There was a mixed reaction to the Democratic Party’s proposal that any changes to the Constitution should only be made after a referendum.

John adopted a sceptical position. “Sure that will work. Just like the hunting referendum which again became a contest between PN and PL Unfortunately first you need re-education then you can have democracy.”

A.M. concurred: “I agree with what you’ve said because the probability is that there will be a great majority of voters who will be voting according to their party lines. We need to leave partisan politics out of the discussion and consider only what is good for all the citizens of this country.”

A. added: “We know how things work whenever the electorate is asked to express itself, the herd follows its master.”

D.M., on the other hand, said the suggestion was worth taking up. “Once again the PD is making a sensible proposal, one which the PN should have been perfectly capable of making themselves. I can’t believe there is no one in the PN with similar ideas. I suspect, however, that the clique currently running the PN have a hidden agenda.”

Victor was in agreement: “Brilliant idea. Once again thank you PD for speaking on our behalf once no one else does.”

What they said

“Let the choice of a new President be the first sign of reform, with the elected person not being partisan, hailing from one camp. We can then start constitutional reform, strengthening the institutions.”

Nationalist Party leader Adrian Delia, speaking on Net FM, where he urged the government not to appoint somebody from the Labour camp as the next President.

“The way things have been boiling up in the past months, the cards were on the table and the divorce was only being delayed.”

Manchester United Supporters Club president Joseph Tedesco commenting on the sacking of manager José Mourinho.

“We risk raising a generation where no one is expected to shoulder responsibility for his or her wrongdoing, where accountability does not mean anything.”

Nationalist MEP Francis Zammit Dimech writing in the Times of Malta about the cost of corruption.

“I’m a firm believer in dialogue and any problems or challenges should be resolved through talks, not other means.”

Foreign Minister Carmelo Abela replying to a question by the Times of Malta about whether he foresaw any change in Malta’s relations with Saudi Arabia following the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

“The only person I am accountable to is my boss, the Police Commissioner.”

Police Economic Crimes Unit head Ian Abdilla, who is investigating the 17 Black case, telling the Times of Malta that he was not accountable to the public when asked about the apparent lack of progress in the probe.