‘Country paths turned into highways’

Concerns have been raised that country paths in Wied l-Isqof and Wied is-Sewda are being turned into ‘highways’. Concrete also spilled off the side of the road into a water gulley on the side of the country lane (inset). An Infrastructure Malta spokesman said the agency is currently implementing several projects to reconstruct over 40 kilometres of rural roads which had been left in a state of disrepair for many years.

What made the headlines

Bank hackers ‘planned back door option’: Hackers who broke into Bank of Valletta’s IT systems last month and took €13 million could have tried to keep a ‘back door’ to try and regain access, but this was noticed and blocked, the Times of Malta revealed. Sources close to the investigation into the cyberattack said that in the days after the breach, files were found hidden in the bank’s systems, possibly intended to allow the hackers to regain access at a later stage. Sources said that BOV recovered more than €3 million of the funds stolen; the bulk of the rest being frozen in foreign jurisdictions.

€23m underpass on hold after award blunder: A €23-million underpass project at the Santa Luċija-Tarxien roundabout was frozen after a legal wrangle erupted over a blunder during the evaluation process, the Times of Malta learnt. Sources said the tender was put on hold following the direct intervention by the Director of Contracts, Anthony Cachia, a week after it was awarded to RM Construction Ltd. Industry sources said a committee appointed to evaluate the contract “appeared” to have overlooked the fact that the successful bid was not up to the required standards requested in the call. Sources said a lower grade of concrete was being proposed and a crucial central wall was missing in the proposal made.

Government nominates George Vella as next President: Prime Minister Joseph Muscat announced he was nominating George Vella, 76, as Malta’s next President. Dr Vella is expected to take over the steering committee on constitutional reform, even though President Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca had signalled her intention to continue chairing the committee after she leaves office on April 4. The Nationalist Party said it would vote in favour of Dr Vella’s nomination even though Dr Muscat had missed an opportunity to look beyond partisan interests and pick a President favoured by at least two-thirds of the House of Representatives. A medical doctor, Dr Vella served as Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister in the 1996 – 1998 Labour government and Foreign Minister in the 2013 – 2017 Labour administration.

Mobile data rates in Malta among most expensive: Maltese mobile phone users pay among the most expensive rates for data in any country in the world, according to a new global ranking. With an average price of €16.61 for one gigabyte of data, Malta was placed in 209th place out of 230 countries in an analysis of more than 6,313 mobile data plans worldwide carried out by British comparison service Cable.co.uk. In Europe only Switzerland, Cyprus and Greece were found to have more expensive data than Malta, while prices in Finland, the cheapest European country for data and the 14th cheapest globally, were 16 times cheaper than those in Malta.

Warning over ‘imminent’ arrival of lethal drug: A lethal drug 100 times stronger than morphine and 50 times more powerful than heroin will be reaching our shores imminently, the authorities warned. Assistant Police Commissioner Dennis Theuma said fentanyl was already wreaking havoc in many countries. It only takes two to three milligrams of fentanyl – equivalent to about one grain of salt – to slow down a person’s breathing. Its derivative – carfentanyl – was about 5,000 times more powerful than heroin. Fentanyl can enter the body by inhalation, ingestion or muscle injection.

PA approves Manoel Island project: The Planning Authority approved new plans for the mega-development on Manoel Island, amid continued concerns from NGOs and Gżira residents. The plans feature an extensive residential and commercial complex including 600 apartments, a hotel at the historic Lazaretto, retail outlets, a yacht marina, streets and plazas, as well as the restoration of several heritage buildings and 80,000 square metres of new parks.

Simon Busuttil in new Panama Papers battle: Former PN leader Simon Busuttil argued in court that the “institutional paralysis” over the Panama Papers scandal breached EU laws. In a 77-page application calling for a magisterial inquiry into allegations emerging from the leaked documents, Dr Busuttil argued that the failure by various institutions to act against the Prime Minister’s chief of staff, Keith Schembri, and Tourism Minister Konrad Mizzi breached the EU’s anti-money laundering directive and treaties as well as Maltese laws.

What trended

‘The MCA should protect the consumer’

An international study this week confirmed what any Maltese who has lived overseas has long known: local mobile data rates are eye-wateringly high.

Just 20 countries out of the 230 surveyed offer cheaper rates per gigabyte, the survey found. Finns, for instance, pay tariffs 16 times lower than ours for that blessed 4G.

The news drew a variety of reactions from our readers.

Ċikku was quick to demand explanations from the competition watchdog.

“I hope the MCA who should be protecting the consumer does not come out defending the mobile phone operators as it usually does,” he typed.

Marcus predicted a boilerplate reply to complaints.

“We’re too small is what they’ll tell you,” he wrote, before adding in his own assessment. “The reality is that they will not allow another company to come here and set up shop because strong competition would wipe out the companies there are now.”

George felt the survey did not tell the whole story, and noted that many of the countries included in the study had far lower living standards.

“What costs €1 in India in fact is much more expensive than what costs €10 in Europe,” he argued, adding that in many countries mobile operators only offered decent service in metropolitan areas.

Stefan had a solution for all the people who felt ripped off.

“Go and buy plans abroad to use in Malta,” he suggested. “Maybe then the prices would decrease here”.

The next President

George Vella will be Malta’s 10th President, with the Prime Minister announcing his pick this week.

Many readers’ first reactions concerned Dr Vella’s anti-abortion views.

“I hope that President George Vella would not betray his conscience and remain against abortion if a Bill is presented to him,” Steve wrote.

Joseph felt that argument was flawed and said presidents who refused to sign Bills presented to them had only one option.

“Resign. End of matter. Malta is a parliamentary democracy, not a dictatorship,” he argued.

Ch. J. was disappointed by the decision to pick a politician from Labour ranks, instead of an unaffiliated one.

“All smacks of a lingering Mintoff ‘culture’,” he wrote – prompting a sharp retort from Vince who noted that Mintoff was “the only Prime Minister that nominated a non-political individual to the position of President”.

What they said

“I have no problem with Mr Hillman.”

Prime Minister Joseph Muscat defending his decision to appoint Adrian Hillman, the disgraced former managing director of Allied Newspapers who is being investigated for money laundering, as the government’s representative at the American University of Malta.

“Unfortunately, I have to say that there was very limited improvement, so we keep encouraging [the Maltese authorities]. We are ready to engage in open discussion on what to do because it is so important for this country, for its citizens and for the rest of Europe.”

Jyrki Katainen, European Commissioner for Jobs, Growth, Investment and Competitiveness, and a former prime minister of Finland, speaking about the little progress made by Malta after rule of law shortcomings were flagged by the European Commission, on the fringes of a conference organised by Nationalist MEP Roberta Metsola.

“Malta is in desperate need of decency at the moment – I entreat the Midi Group to be the beacon that lights the way.”

Astrid Vella, co-founder of the environmental NGO Flimkien għal Ambjent Aħjar, writing in the Times of Malta where she urged the Midi consortium to turn Manoel Island into a heritage and nature park with Fort Manoel as its jewel in the crown, instead of the planned mega project consisting of 600 units.

“I think we should let the government communicate its decision on this.”

President Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca, asked to comment about the fact that George Vella is expected to chair the steering committee on constitutional reform when he succeeds her as head of State, despite her having previously signalled her intention to continue in that role after she leaves office on April 4.