Hundreds evacuated in MIA fire

A small fire at the airport on Tuesday led to the evacuation of hundreds of travellers and the disruption of 16 flights. Malta International Airport said the fire had broken out at about 1.15pm in a pump room beneath an aquarium. The airport terminals were reopened at about 4pm, with slight delays stretching into the early evening.

What made the headlines

Electric heater likely cause of fire that killed ‘hero’: The blaze that killed 35-year-old Gordon Spiteri was probably caused by an electric heater, the Times of Malta reported. The man died after inhaling too much smoke while trying to rescue people in a Marsascala block of flats. The electric heater that sparked the fire was in one of the bedrooms in the fourth-floor apartment two young women lived in. Sources said that the victim, who lived in apartment five, tried to offer assistance when the fierce fire broke out in his neighbours’ apartment in the block at Triq l-Aħmar.

Occupy Justice place banners outside Castille: After the authorities removed billboards put up by activists Occupy Justice, 100 people laid banners carrying the same messages in front of Castille. The billboards had reit­era­ted calls for justice in the aftermath of Daphne Caruana Galizia’s assassination. An Occupy Justice spokeswoman insisted the billboards were legal, as it had rented the space from a private company. They questioned the Planning Authority’s timing in removing them, noting Malta was riddled with illegal billboards.

VGH had no money to pay salaries last month: Vitals Global Healthcare (VGH) had run out of cash by the start of this year and could not pay the salaries of its 85 staff last month, senior VGH officials told the Times of Malta. They said staff salaries could only be issued after the new company acquiring the VGH concession, Steward Health Care, stepped in with the funds. Meanwhile, Steward finalised the takeover of the management of three Maltese public hospitals – St Luke’s and Karin Grech in Malta and the Gozo General Hospital.

PN goes to court to rescind hospital contracts: Nationalist Party leader Adrian Delia filed a court application calling for the hospital contracts signed between the government and VGH to be rescinded. Dr Delia said the scandalous agreement had been designed to fail and questioned the identity of the true VGH beneficiaries. The application called for the Karin Grech, St Luke’s and Gozo hospitals to be returned to the public. Nationalist MEP David Casa, meanwhile, testified before Magistrate Aaron Bugeja on an FIAU report which, he insisted, showed clear links between Tourism Minister Konrad Mizzi and corruption.

Police ‘planned further action’ after analysing FIAU reports: The police had planned “further action” after “analysing” anti-money-laundering agency reports before they were leaked, Assistant Police Commissioner Ian Abdilla told the Times of Malta on the fringes of an anti-money-laundering conference. He said it did not make sense to investigate when magistrates were doing so.

Climate change may push Malta beyond breaking point: Valletta will be one of the European cities worst hit by drought and heatwaves due to climate change, potentially pushing the country “beyond breaking point”, according to a new landmark study by Newcastle University that analysed changes in flooding, droughts and heatwaves for 571 European cities between 2050 and 2100. Even given the most optimistic outcome, Malta will experience 38 per cent more heatwave days a year and maximum temperatures around four degrees Celsius higher.

Archbishop undergoes surgery in Chile: Archbishop Charles Scicluna is recovering well after he had his gall bladder removed at a hospital in Santiago, Chile. The surgery was carried out by San Carlos de Apoquindo Hospital’s Department of Digestive Surgery. Mgr Scicluna is in Chile as the Pope’s envoy to hear evidence on clerical child abuse.

Malta faces hefty cut in EU funds: Malta risks losing hundreds of millions of euros in EU funds after 2020 if fresh proposals by Brussels for the upcoming seven-year Budget materialise, the Times of Malta reported. EU diplomats said as Malta’s economy has continued to prosper the country cannot really continue to argue it needs more cohesion funds to catch up with the other Member States.

BOV fund investors win €3.4m in damages: Around 400 investors in a Bank of Valletta property fund were awarded €3.4 million plus interest by the financial arbiter after a six-year legal battle for compensation. The fund – launched by BOV in 2005 – performed poorly and raised suspicions among financial practitioners. It was suspended in August 2008, and judicial protests and regulatory enquiries started in 2010, with the fund eventually being wound up in 2012. The investors referred the matter to the arbiter, who ruled that investment restrictions had not been adhered to.

What trended

Scepticism galore

Loud music blaring from enter-tainment hotspots is the bane of residential neighbours the world over, and Malta is no different.

So when a lobbyist argued last week there was nothing wrong with a bit of music if operators respected neighbours and worked within the parameters of the law, readers were unimpressed.

“That’s two big ifs,” snorted one. “I would rather put my faith in the tooth fairy.”

“Maybe 50 years ago, people were willing to sacrifice their sacrosanct rights – like a peaceful sleep – so that their neighbour could support his family,” wrote another reader. “However, the economy has moved on quite a bit since then. The only reason citizens’ rights are now being sacrificed is to fatten the pockets of a few barons.”

Another took issue with the outcome of the case in question, wherein a bar owner was ordered to pay a hotel owner €25,000 in damages for excessive noise dating back almost eight years, which cost the latter business.

“The sum awarded in damages is insulting,” the reader fumed. “The hotel had to close down, and I along with my colleagues were made redundant.”

Three wise monkeys

The Health Ministry is looking into claims that funeral home directors are being given private information about bereaved fam-ilies illegally, part of their attempt to make a quick buck.

But judging from the over-whelming anecdotal evidence offered by Times of Malta readers, authorities have been turning a blind eye to this dodgy practice for years and years.

“Happened to me in 1997 when my late wife died. Got home from the hospital and found a visiting card in the letterbox waiting for me,” recalled one gentleman.

“We had only just heard the news that my mother passed away when we were inundated with funeral directors phoning or approaching us,” wrote another.

Another recalled his father’s death in 2002. “I walked out of the ward to the staircase area and received condolences from some-one I did not know. He offered me a business card, saying he could offer funeral services.” 

“Lots of fuss about data pro-tection [and regulations], and then nothing is done when there are such evident breaches,” sighed another reader.

Could authorities finally be fed up of playing the part of the three wise monkeys?

What they said

“We need to fight until our last breath to claim back what is ours.”

Nationalist Party leader Adrian Delia speaking at the PN club in Żejtun, where he spoke about the party’s efforts to reclaim the Karin Grech, St Luke’s and Gozo hospitals for the public.

“The last thing a criminal would do is deposit the proceeds of crime in an HSBC account.”

Former FIAU director Manfred Galdes telling an anti-money-laundering conference that in Malta asset tracing merely in­volved sending a notification to all “subject persons” (banks and other financial institutions) asking for a list of a client’s assets.

“It sends a message to trace those who ordered journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia’s assassination.”

Nationalist MEP Francis Zammit Dimech commenting after a European Parliament committee approved a report calling for legislation and law enforcement practices guaranteeing protection, assistance and support for journalists.

“It was like hell. It was raining bombs. It was just like Aleppo, where I was before the ceasefire there.”

Sister Annie Demerjian, a Syrian nun in Damascus, describing one of the deadliest days in the Syrian capital when she spoke to the international charity Aid to the Church in Need, which is organising her visit to Malta next month.

“My primary duty is to be fair and just with the people I serve. To do that, my primary loyalty is to be true to my values, which are honesty, loyalty, transparency and accountabi­lity. In this context, I no longer feel that I can be part of the Nationalist Party.”

Marsascala local councillor Charlot Cassar announcing his re­signation from the PN.

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