10 years ago - The Times
Monday, July 21, 2008
Young widow speaks of husband’s premonition
Noel Carabott, 33, must have had a premonition of the tragedy that lay ahead for the ill-fated Simshar fishing vessel, and the words he told his wife before boarding will haunt her forever. “It was about 4am, and just before we approached the boat he told me: ‘The time has come. How horrible it is. I’m going to leave you... It will be a while before you see me again’,” Stephania Carabott said when interviewed. Holding her arms limply in her lap and her brown eyes staring blanking, the 28-year-old widow recounts the day she last saw her husband on July 7, before he joined the crew of five led by Simon Bugeja, the only survivor rescued from the sea on Friday.
Mr Carabott’s lifeless body was brought ashore during the early morning hours of Thursday. He is said to be the second man to succumb to the seas after an explosion rocked the Simshar a week earlier. “He was identified through his tattoos. He had my name imprinted near his groin. I wanted to see his face in the mortuary but they refused to uncover the sheet completely. Mrs Carabott recalls how on that day the alarm was set for 3.30am because her husband had to be at Mr Bugeja’s garage at 4am. He wanted to sleep in but he finally dragged himself out of bed by the time Mr Bugeja called at 4.10am urging him to get down there because they were soon leaving.
25 years ago - The Times
Wednesday, July 21, 1993
Future trend in spread of AIDS in Malta ‘bleak’
An explosive spread of AIDS among intravenous drug users in Malta is probable, a newsletter issued under the auspices of the Health Education Unit says. Hands Across, by voluntary community support group Hands, says a great deal needs to be done in the local situation if the virus is not to be allowed to be transmitted easily “with potentially disastrous results”.
Writing about the future prospects of AIDS here, National AIDS Committee member Dr Andrew Amato-Gauci describes Malta as a pattern 3 country at the start of the epidemic.
“We are probably the only country in Europe which has not yet documented the local spread of the disease in their IVDU (intravenous drug users) population, in spite of known needle sharing practices. The potential for explosive spread in this particular risk group exists and is probable in view of the experiences of other countries.
A similar situation exists with the sexual behaviour of Maltese young people, “in particular regarding contacts with tourists”. Local attitudes to condoms, their limited availability, and the “moral objections to openly discussing responsible sexual behaviour among youths all lead to the conclusion that all in all the future is bleak”.
Half a century ago - Sunday Times of Malta
Sunday, July 21, 1968
From Malta to Sicily and back in a 10-foot dinghi
Last July 9, an unusual occasion presented itself to 21-year-old Daniel Leniker of Sliema, a Drydocks apprentice, and Mario Cutajar, 22, of Birkirkara. “I had just returned from work, Daniel said, “and as we had nowhere in particular to go we decided to do something unusual. We equipped the 10-foot dinghi with a compass, hand-pump, harpoon, life jacket, one gallon of water, and 15 gallons of petrol and some spare parts for the 10hp outboard motor.”
These were the basic preparations Mario and Daniel made before leaving for Sicily. “At 4pm we left Buġibba,” Daniel said. “At 5.30 we lost sight of Gozo and for the next hour we were relying solely on the compass reading because Sicily only started to rise slowly on the horizon at about 6.30. We arrived at Pozzallo at 8pm and slept in the dinghi for the night, waking up at 3am Wednesday. We left for Syracuse at 6.30.” They arrived three hours later, bought some food and petrol, sent a telegram to their parents and left on the last lap to Capo Passero.
By the time they arrived the direction of the wind changed and the sea became rough. At 8.20pm Mario and Daniel started the non-stop return trip in very rough sea which only became calmer halfway through, and arrived at Buġibba at 4am on Thursday, July 11.