10 years ago - The Times
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Close down illegal gaming arcades
Gaming arcades violating the conditions of their licence should be considered illegal and closed down until the government finalises the legislation to regulate them, Parliament’s Social Affairs Committeehas recommended.
Such arcades have been exploiting the absence of a legal framework and opening in every village and town under the guise of amusement machine outlets, sometimes just metres away from youth centres.
The committee heard heart-rending accounts of people who fell prey to these addictive outlets, from a woman who discovered the family had nothing left because the husband had gambled everything away, including the family home, to another instance where a 15-year-old had to drag her mother, who lives on social benefits, out of an arcade.
According to the committee such shops are abusing their trading licence, which does not give them the right to provide gambling activities.
Finance Minister Tonio Fenech said last month that the present situation was further exacerbated because the arcades’ lack of legal standing made it hard for the police to enforce the law.
25 years ago - The Times
Saturday, March 12, 1994
Order to safeguard Żejtun building
A second emergency conservation order has been issued by the Planning Authority, this time to safeguard a building in Żejtun which it believes is in danger of being “demolished, damaged or destroyed”.
The Authority issued its first ever order, last month, to protect a menhir in Kirkop, and created an uproar when the local council there threatened to resign for not being consulted. This problem will not be arising in the case of Żejtun, as the village does not yet have a council.
In a notice in yesterday’s Government Gazette, the authority said it believed houses number 17 and 18 in Taltas Street, could be of architectural and historical value, such as it should be listed as scheduled property.
Marsascala, St Paul’s Bay considered for yacht marina
Consultants appointed by the Maritime Authority have considered areas at Marsascala and St Paul’s Bay as possible sites for a new yacht marina, but no decision has been taken yet, Transport Minister Francis Zammit Dimech said. He was replying to a parliamentary question by Notary Joe Cilia (MLP).
Half a century ago - Times of Malta
Wednesday, March 12, 1969
Gżira woman in missing cheques case
Mr Justice J. Flores, sitting in H.M. Criminal Court, yesterday released Jacqueline Ellul, 27, of Gżira, on condition she would not commit another crime within the next three years. Patricia Jane Galea, 26, of Guardamangia, who stood trial with Ellul, was acquitted of the charges brought against her.
Ellul was found guilty by the jury of having knowingly received, purchased or obtained travellers cheques to the among of £35, which had been stolen from Muftah Ali Fasoni when he was asleep in his flat in St George’s Street, Gżira and of having bought by means of the stolen travellers cheques woman’s apparel to the value of £31.5s from Pearls Gowns Kingsway, Valletta, on October 17, 1966. Galea was acquitted of this charge.
New factory to go into production soon
Mr Charles C. Cooper, chairman, Bromford Iron and Steel Company (Malta) Ltd is in Malta to watch the last stages in the preparation of the company’s factory that is to go into operation in the near future.