http://www.di-ve.com/Default.aspx?ID=72&Action=1&NewsId=68885&newscategory=36
KNZ urged the respect towards the fundamental human right of freedom of expression outlined in the European Convention of Human Rights, but with duties and responsibilities, and shall not be used frivolously without sense of accountability of one’s actions.
If the current legislation does not reflect today’s society, such as internet or art in the form of literature, such legislation should be updated with immediate effect, it said.
KNZ welcomed the government’s and opposition’s will to review such legislation through the setting up of a respective committee. It augured the discussion to be healthy revolving around the society’s needs and one which does not end as a political table-tennis match.
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
http://www.independent.com.mt/news.asp?newsitemid=100718
A Parliamentary delegation led by Carmelo Abela, Deputy Speaker, and composed of Beppe Fenech Adami, Francis Agius, Owen Bonnici, Leo Brincat, Michael Falzon and Ninu Zammit, will be participating in the 3rd European Friends of Israel Mission to Auschwitz, on the occasion of the 65th Anniversary of the Liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau.
The commemoration, which includes a symposium, will be held today and tomorrow in Krakow, Poland.
Mr Abela will be addressing the symposium on the theme ‘Remembering the holocaust and fighting anti-semitism’. He will also be chairing one of the sittings.
A Parliamentary delegation led by Carmelo Abela, Deputy Speaker, and composed of Beppe Fenech Adami, Francis Agius, Owen Bonnici, Leo Brincat, Michael Falzon and Ninu Zammit, will be participating in the 3rd European Friends of Israel Mission to Auschwitz, on the occasion of the 65th Anniversary of the Liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau.
The commemoration, which includes a symposium, will be held today and tomorrow in Krakow, Poland.
Mr Abela will be addressing the symposium on the theme ‘Remembering the holocaust and fighting anti-semitism’. He will also be chairing one of the sittings.
Maltese families ‘cannot cope’
http://www.independent.com.mt/news.asp?newsitemid=100698
The General Workers’ Union, commenting on a remark by Social Policy Minister John Dalli, said the government should no longer burden the people to hide the inefficiencies and financial mismanagement of public entities.
Mr Dalli said in a television programme that one of the challenges the Maltese family was facing is to keep up with the cost of living. This, the GWU said, confirmed what it had long been saying, that families were burdened with costs which they cannot cope with.
It was for this, it added, that it had not agreed with the utility tariffs increase imposed as from last 1 January. While a prominent minister was recognising that the cost of living is a challenge for families, the government forged ahead and raised the electricity and water rates without considering the social impact these would have.
So long as the government went on like this, the GWU added, it would not only be causing social damage but would be harming also the economy.
The General Workers’ Union, commenting on a remark by Social Policy Minister John Dalli, said the government should no longer burden the people to hide the inefficiencies and financial mismanagement of public entities.
Mr Dalli said in a television programme that one of the challenges the Maltese family was facing is to keep up with the cost of living. This, the GWU said, confirmed what it had long been saying, that families were burdened with costs which they cannot cope with.
It was for this, it added, that it had not agreed with the utility tariffs increase imposed as from last 1 January. While a prominent minister was recognising that the cost of living is a challenge for families, the government forged ahead and raised the electricity and water rates without considering the social impact these would have.
So long as the government went on like this, the GWU added, it would not only be causing social damage but would be harming also the economy.
Dragging our feet on renewable energy
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20100126/opinion/editorial
Malta has yet to submit its report to the European Commission forecasting its 2020 renewable energy targets and giving reliable predictions of the share of renewables in its future energy mix. The fact that 12 other European Union member states are also late in their submissions is scant consolation and no excuse.
The document was scheduled to have been submitted a month ago and should then have been followed up by a more detailed plan, called the National Renewable Energy Action Plan, outlining the concrete measures being taken to meet the national target of the provision of 10 per cent of energy needs from renewable sources by 2020. The deadline for this plan is the end of June this year.
Malta is the only EU member state that is totally dependent on fossil fuels for its energy requirements. Before joining the EU, the island had committed itself to producing five per cent of all its electricity needs and 1.25 per cent of all fuel used in transport from renewable sources by 2010. That is, this year!
Malta is still at its starting blocks despite plans - still on the drawing board - for the development of three wind farms, one offshore and two land-based, and an interconnection cable linking Malta to the European grid in Sicily. Admittedly no mean feat but we have long known that we had to take action, serious and meaningful action.
Indeed, we have been talking about this matter for well over six years, yet action on the ground seems to elude us. It bears repeating that the issue is difficult and challenging. The human skills and expertise needed and the investment costs are formidable. The time-lag between decision and implementation is inevitably long. But these are issues being faced by all other EU countries too. It begs the question, therefore, why Malta should be such a laggard. It is, presumably, because decisiveness, priority, drive and commitment at the political level have been absent or, at best, half-hearted.
The achievement of energy security is one of the most important issues confronting Malta. Its water security is another grossly neglected area of government policy. The country's future economic, social and environmental sustainability depend on both these crucial challenges being successfully overcome.
There is an urgent need to replace Malta's fossil fuel-burning plants with less polluting and more reliable energy sources. Action is belatedly in hand. But there is an equally urgent need to back this up with alternative and renewable sources of energy.
It is not simply a matter of meeting, or not meeting, the commitments to the EU Commission. Of course, the country should deliver what it has promised. But this issue is more fundamental than any broken promises - or delays - to date. It is about Malta's long-term survival as an advanced economy in a world where fossil fuels are contributing to global warming, are increasingly more costly to produce and, over the long term, in ever dwindling supply. It is also about quality of life, where reducing the dependence on fossil fuel will help to mitigate the poisonous effects of air pollution.
The essential need to make real and tangible advances in the introduction of at least 10 per cent of energy requirements from renewable energy should be viewed against the government's own declared objectives of achieving greater energy efficiency, stabilising energy supplies and the pressing requirement to cut emissions and pollution. Action is now long overdue. There have been enough declarations.
Malta has yet to submit its report to the European Commission forecasting its 2020 renewable energy targets and giving reliable predictions of the share of renewables in its future energy mix. The fact that 12 other European Union member states are also late in their submissions is scant consolation and no excuse.
The document was scheduled to have been submitted a month ago and should then have been followed up by a more detailed plan, called the National Renewable Energy Action Plan, outlining the concrete measures being taken to meet the national target of the provision of 10 per cent of energy needs from renewable sources by 2020. The deadline for this plan is the end of June this year.
Malta is the only EU member state that is totally dependent on fossil fuels for its energy requirements. Before joining the EU, the island had committed itself to producing five per cent of all its electricity needs and 1.25 per cent of all fuel used in transport from renewable sources by 2010. That is, this year!
Malta is still at its starting blocks despite plans - still on the drawing board - for the development of three wind farms, one offshore and two land-based, and an interconnection cable linking Malta to the European grid in Sicily. Admittedly no mean feat but we have long known that we had to take action, serious and meaningful action.
Indeed, we have been talking about this matter for well over six years, yet action on the ground seems to elude us. It bears repeating that the issue is difficult and challenging. The human skills and expertise needed and the investment costs are formidable. The time-lag between decision and implementation is inevitably long. But these are issues being faced by all other EU countries too. It begs the question, therefore, why Malta should be such a laggard. It is, presumably, because decisiveness, priority, drive and commitment at the political level have been absent or, at best, half-hearted.
The achievement of energy security is one of the most important issues confronting Malta. Its water security is another grossly neglected area of government policy. The country's future economic, social and environmental sustainability depend on both these crucial challenges being successfully overcome.
There is an urgent need to replace Malta's fossil fuel-burning plants with less polluting and more reliable energy sources. Action is belatedly in hand. But there is an equally urgent need to back this up with alternative and renewable sources of energy.
It is not simply a matter of meeting, or not meeting, the commitments to the EU Commission. Of course, the country should deliver what it has promised. But this issue is more fundamental than any broken promises - or delays - to date. It is about Malta's long-term survival as an advanced economy in a world where fossil fuels are contributing to global warming, are increasingly more costly to produce and, over the long term, in ever dwindling supply. It is also about quality of life, where reducing the dependence on fossil fuel will help to mitigate the poisonous effects of air pollution.
The essential need to make real and tangible advances in the introduction of at least 10 per cent of energy requirements from renewable energy should be viewed against the government's own declared objectives of achieving greater energy efficiency, stabilising energy supplies and the pressing requirement to cut emissions and pollution. Action is now long overdue. There have been enough declarations.
Cross-border. Initiative to be revived
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20100126/local/initiative-to-be-revived
The European Commission has set its eyes on re-launching its controversial initiative to enact a directive on cross-border divorce. However, several member states, including Malta, have already signalled their opposition to the idea of having a two-speed Europe on this sensitive issue.
Spanish Justice Minister Francisco Caamano, whose country holds the EU's rotating Presidency, has backed the Commission's intention to propose an initiative on enhanced cooperation to settle legal matters relating to cross-border divorce in Europe.
His comments, made during an informal meeting of home affairs ministers in Toledo, follow a promise by Justice Commissioner-designate Viviane Reding that she would put forward a request for heightened cooperation in this area within three months of her appointment. Ms Reding's promise constitutes a shift in the Commission's stance, since outgoing Justice Commissioner Jacques Barrot opposed the idea proposed by 10 member states to have enhanced cooperation.
Sources close to the Council, representing member states, told The Times that several EU member states oppose the latest approach being adopted by Ms Reding.
"This is a shift in the EU's position due to the change of responsibilities of the justice dossier," a Council official said. "Many member states have already said they wouldn't like the EU to have 'enhanced cooperation' on family law and many think Ms Reading's proposal will not fly."
Malta is among those that are lukewarm to the idea of having this directive re-launched following the failure to reach consensus some years ago.
"We don't think there should be a two-speed approach on such a sensitive issue once all 27 member states did not agree on the proposed directive," Justice Minister Carmelo Mifsud Bonnici said when contacted yesterday.
From the discussions held during the informal Council meeting, many member states were against the new approach being suggested, he said.
Even the European Parliament was against enhanced cooperation in this area, Dr Mifsud Bonnici added.
Back in 2005 the Commission had made a formal proposal dealing with which law should be applicable in the case of cross-border divorces. The proposal, technically known as Rome III, intended to provide a clear and comprehensive legal framework covering both countries' jurisdictions, as well as applicable law rules in matrimonial matters.
It would have allowed the parties a certain degree of autonomy in choosing the competent court and applicable law in case of divorce.
Following disagreement among member states, with Nordic members preferring their own "liberal" approach to divorce, the Commission had to scrap its proposal as no consensus could be reached.
However, a group of 10 member states later suggested the Commission should launch an "enhanced cooperation" initiative that would allow a group of countries to move ahead in one particular area, even though others opposed it.
As this mechanism, provided by the treaties, is still in its infancy and has never been tested, Mr Barrot opposed the idea. According to EU rules, even in the case of enhanced cooperation, the EU council required the consensus of all member states to approve an initiative.
"It is clear that, apart from Malta, there are other countries, like the UK, Sweden and Finland that do not like this approach of 'pick and choose' especially where it comes to family law issues," a Council official said.
So even in the case that the Commission took up the suggestion of France, Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary, Austria, Spain, Italy, Slovenia, Luxembourg and Greece to re-launch the divorce initiative in an "enhanced cooperation" form, there was clearly no green light, he added.
Malta is at present the only member state that does not allow divorce. In the event of a re-launch, the new proposal will not change Malta's current legislation in any way and divorce would remain illegal.
The European Commission has set its eyes on re-launching its controversial initiative to enact a directive on cross-border divorce. However, several member states, including Malta, have already signalled their opposition to the idea of having a two-speed Europe on this sensitive issue.
Spanish Justice Minister Francisco Caamano, whose country holds the EU's rotating Presidency, has backed the Commission's intention to propose an initiative on enhanced cooperation to settle legal matters relating to cross-border divorce in Europe.
His comments, made during an informal meeting of home affairs ministers in Toledo, follow a promise by Justice Commissioner-designate Viviane Reding that she would put forward a request for heightened cooperation in this area within three months of her appointment. Ms Reding's promise constitutes a shift in the Commission's stance, since outgoing Justice Commissioner Jacques Barrot opposed the idea proposed by 10 member states to have enhanced cooperation.
Sources close to the Council, representing member states, told The Times that several EU member states oppose the latest approach being adopted by Ms Reding.
"This is a shift in the EU's position due to the change of responsibilities of the justice dossier," a Council official said. "Many member states have already said they wouldn't like the EU to have 'enhanced cooperation' on family law and many think Ms Reading's proposal will not fly."
Malta is among those that are lukewarm to the idea of having this directive re-launched following the failure to reach consensus some years ago.
"We don't think there should be a two-speed approach on such a sensitive issue once all 27 member states did not agree on the proposed directive," Justice Minister Carmelo Mifsud Bonnici said when contacted yesterday.
From the discussions held during the informal Council meeting, many member states were against the new approach being suggested, he said.
Even the European Parliament was against enhanced cooperation in this area, Dr Mifsud Bonnici added.
Back in 2005 the Commission had made a formal proposal dealing with which law should be applicable in the case of cross-border divorces. The proposal, technically known as Rome III, intended to provide a clear and comprehensive legal framework covering both countries' jurisdictions, as well as applicable law rules in matrimonial matters.
It would have allowed the parties a certain degree of autonomy in choosing the competent court and applicable law in case of divorce.
Following disagreement among member states, with Nordic members preferring their own "liberal" approach to divorce, the Commission had to scrap its proposal as no consensus could be reached.
However, a group of 10 member states later suggested the Commission should launch an "enhanced cooperation" initiative that would allow a group of countries to move ahead in one particular area, even though others opposed it.
As this mechanism, provided by the treaties, is still in its infancy and has never been tested, Mr Barrot opposed the idea. According to EU rules, even in the case of enhanced cooperation, the EU council required the consensus of all member states to approve an initiative.
"It is clear that, apart from Malta, there are other countries, like the UK, Sweden and Finland that do not like this approach of 'pick and choose' especially where it comes to family law issues," a Council official said.
So even in the case that the Commission took up the suggestion of France, Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary, Austria, Spain, Italy, Slovenia, Luxembourg and Greece to re-launch the divorce initiative in an "enhanced cooperation" form, there was clearly no green light, he added.
Malta is at present the only member state that does not allow divorce. In the event of a re-launch, the new proposal will not change Malta's current legislation in any way and divorce would remain illegal.
Police investigating sexual abuse by parents on children
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20100126/local/police-investigating-sexual-abuse-by-parents-on-children
The police last year had four reports of alleged sexual abuse by parents against their own children, Home Affairs Minister Carm Mifsud Bonnici said in Parliament.
All such cases are investgated by the police, the minister said.
The police last year had four reports of alleged sexual abuse by parents against their own children, Home Affairs Minister Carm Mifsud Bonnici said in Parliament.
All such cases are investgated by the police, the minister said.
Saturday, January 23, 2010
Yes to classification, no to censorship – FZL
http://www.di-ve.com/Default.aspx?ID=72&Action=1&NewsId=68802
In a modern and democratic society, freedom of expression should not be threatened through censorship Forum Żgħażagħ Laburisti (FZL) said.
FZL, expressed solidarity with Mark Camilleri, a university student and editor of Ir-Realtà journal, who is facing court procedures, and might even be jailed for an article described as obscene.
It is shocking that in modern times the university uses its power to censor a publication, where in other European countries the university institutions are the entities which not only ensure freedom of expression but also incentivise free thinking, it argued.
In a modern and democratic society, freedom of expression should not be threatened through censorship Forum Żgħażagħ Laburisti (FZL) said.
FZL, expressed solidarity with Mark Camilleri, a university student and editor of Ir-Realtà journal, who is facing court procedures, and might even be jailed for an article described as obscene.
It is shocking that in modern times the university uses its power to censor a publication, where in other European countries the university institutions are the entities which not only ensure freedom of expression but also incentivise free thinking, it argued.
Gozo bishop celebrates fourth episcopal ordination anniversary
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20100123/local/gozo-bishop-celebrates-fourth-anniversary-of-episcopal-ordination
A bishop’s mission was to help people grow in their likeness to God for them to reflect his beauty, Gozo bishop Mario Grech said yesterday.
In an homily during Mass celebrating his fourth Episcopal ordination, Mgr Grech said a bishop carried out his work assisted by priests, religious and other lay operators.
As the shepherd, the bishop looked at people with the eyes of God, helping them retain the essence and identity of their humanity, so that they would not lose their ability to acquire truth and love.
According to St Peter, the bishop was the guard of the soul but the word soul no longer formed part of popular language.
There was a fear that if one spoke about the soul, man would be divided between the spiritual and the physical.
This was a serious shortcoming and matters of the soul were not safeguarded, the spiritual aspect of man would not be enlightened by God.
It was not true that one spoke about the soul to the detriment of social life. Because social illnesses were the result of spiritual ones.
If a remedy had to be sought to so many existing social problems, man’s spiritual dimension had to be addressed, he said.
A bishop’s mission was to help people grow in their likeness to God for them to reflect his beauty, Gozo bishop Mario Grech said yesterday.
In an homily during Mass celebrating his fourth Episcopal ordination, Mgr Grech said a bishop carried out his work assisted by priests, religious and other lay operators.
As the shepherd, the bishop looked at people with the eyes of God, helping them retain the essence and identity of their humanity, so that they would not lose their ability to acquire truth and love.
According to St Peter, the bishop was the guard of the soul but the word soul no longer formed part of popular language.
There was a fear that if one spoke about the soul, man would be divided between the spiritual and the physical.
This was a serious shortcoming and matters of the soul were not safeguarded, the spiritual aspect of man would not be enlightened by God.
It was not true that one spoke about the soul to the detriment of social life. Because social illnesses were the result of spiritual ones.
If a remedy had to be sought to so many existing social problems, man’s spiritual dimension had to be addressed, he said.
Clear definition of what is meant by family and marriage needed - President
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20100123/local/clear-definition-of-what-is-meant-by-family-and-marriage-needed-president
The Family Law should be updated and the national family policy published for there to be a clear definition of what is meant by family and marriage, President George Abela said this morning.
Speaking during the National Conference on the Family, organised by the Social Policy Ministry, President Abela said the concept of family was permanent and transcended the changes in society. Marriage was a commitment between a man and a woman which sometimes resulted in the procreation of new individuals.
Marriage, he said, needed to be supported to remain strong. Everyone had the right to a family life to develop their social emotional and cultural abilities to live in society.
Although one’s decision to get married was private one, its impact was on all society. A marriage was not a simple contract between two people but also included the concept of a family which was reflected in the law.
Times had changed and the authority within the family was no longer limited to the man but there was a greater reflection of equality, the President said.
The family existed before the state because it was something natural and the state could only regulate several aspects and offer protection. A family was independent from the state when it came to the transmissions of values and it was up to individual families to see which values were passed on to children. The state did not have a right to interfere in this, he said.
Although other countries allowed different types of unions between people of the same sex, could these unions be called a family, the President asked.
He added that this did not mean that the law could not provide for these people but could such a union be called of marriage?
On the adoption of children by gay couples, he asked if this would be a natural family model for the children.
He spoke about problems modern couples went through because of financial demands and women’s independence, including financial. Families postponed the decision to have children, the number of single parent households and couples cohabiting increased and the taboo against these no longer existed.
The President said that the concept of long term commitment towards the family was slowly being eroded and action had to be taken for this to be stopped.
Even though families were still strong and flexible because they managed to adapt to how times were changing, more support was needed because of the severe repercussions that were caused by each breakdown.
University lecturer Angela Abela said that times were changing fast and many concepts, such as divorce, abortion and cohabitation, that were not so accepted before were becoming more popular.
Because of this, there was a need to start working more on existing problems. Marriage, she said, was a very important institution but according to the 2005 census 5.65 per cent of people said they were separated.
However, the Maltese as a population still believed in long lasting relationships, a concept that was being lost in other countries.
In the census, she said, around 5,000 people said they were in a stable relationship but could not get married. Divorce would give these couples the chance to marry again. The subject, Dr Abela said, should not be discussed in a polarised way but as a way of giving these people the right to marry again.
Dr Abela said that it would be wrong to focus on divorce as a way out of marriage. But if separations continued to increase, one had to see what kind of commitment people in such a situation could be offered. The children of separated parents, for example would be able to have another parental figure in their life.
She said that it was no longer a taboo for women not to get married and become spinsters but 95 per cent of young women wanted to get married. 57 per cent were in favour of divorce and were afraid of marriage because they did not want to get caught in it.
Dr Abela said that in the past five years, one of every four babies was born outside marriage with 24 per cent of these babies born to teenage mothers. She asked whether action could have been taken to pre-empt this and said that certain action, such as the publication and implementation of the sexual health policy, could be taken right away.
The Family Law should be updated and the national family policy published for there to be a clear definition of what is meant by family and marriage, President George Abela said this morning.
Speaking during the National Conference on the Family, organised by the Social Policy Ministry, President Abela said the concept of family was permanent and transcended the changes in society. Marriage was a commitment between a man and a woman which sometimes resulted in the procreation of new individuals.
Marriage, he said, needed to be supported to remain strong. Everyone had the right to a family life to develop their social emotional and cultural abilities to live in society.
Although one’s decision to get married was private one, its impact was on all society. A marriage was not a simple contract between two people but also included the concept of a family which was reflected in the law.
Times had changed and the authority within the family was no longer limited to the man but there was a greater reflection of equality, the President said.
The family existed before the state because it was something natural and the state could only regulate several aspects and offer protection. A family was independent from the state when it came to the transmissions of values and it was up to individual families to see which values were passed on to children. The state did not have a right to interfere in this, he said.
Although other countries allowed different types of unions between people of the same sex, could these unions be called a family, the President asked.
He added that this did not mean that the law could not provide for these people but could such a union be called of marriage?
On the adoption of children by gay couples, he asked if this would be a natural family model for the children.
He spoke about problems modern couples went through because of financial demands and women’s independence, including financial. Families postponed the decision to have children, the number of single parent households and couples cohabiting increased and the taboo against these no longer existed.
The President said that the concept of long term commitment towards the family was slowly being eroded and action had to be taken for this to be stopped.
Even though families were still strong and flexible because they managed to adapt to how times were changing, more support was needed because of the severe repercussions that were caused by each breakdown.
University lecturer Angela Abela said that times were changing fast and many concepts, such as divorce, abortion and cohabitation, that were not so accepted before were becoming more popular.
Because of this, there was a need to start working more on existing problems. Marriage, she said, was a very important institution but according to the 2005 census 5.65 per cent of people said they were separated.
However, the Maltese as a population still believed in long lasting relationships, a concept that was being lost in other countries.
In the census, she said, around 5,000 people said they were in a stable relationship but could not get married. Divorce would give these couples the chance to marry again. The subject, Dr Abela said, should not be discussed in a polarised way but as a way of giving these people the right to marry again.
Dr Abela said that it would be wrong to focus on divorce as a way out of marriage. But if separations continued to increase, one had to see what kind of commitment people in such a situation could be offered. The children of separated parents, for example would be able to have another parental figure in their life.
She said that it was no longer a taboo for women not to get married and become spinsters but 95 per cent of young women wanted to get married. 57 per cent were in favour of divorce and were afraid of marriage because they did not want to get caught in it.
Dr Abela said that in the past five years, one of every four babies was born outside marriage with 24 per cent of these babies born to teenage mothers. She asked whether action could have been taken to pre-empt this and said that certain action, such as the publication and implementation of the sexual health policy, could be taken right away.
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Embassy of Malta in Cairo highlights benefits of Schengen area
http://www.independent.com.mt/news.asp?newsitemid=100469
Two years have passed since Malta adopted the euro currency and joined the Schengen area. According to an analysis conducted by the Embassy of Malta in Cairo, joining the Schengen area was beneficial because it has diminished illegal immigration from Egypt and attracted genuine tourists to Malta.
During the period 2008-2009, the Embassy issued 2,019 visas compared to a total of 856 in 2006 and 2007, which means that traffic to Malta from Egypt increased by 236 per cent. Among the persons travelling to Malta were dignitaries, tourists, students, business people, workers, conference participants, and sports people.
Prior to joining the EU, Egyptian citizens did not require a visa to enter Malta. After Malta’s accession into the EU in May 2004 and the Schengen area at the beginning of 2008, nationals of Egypt had to submit a number of documents and sit for an interview at the embassy to obtain a visa. Thanks to these interviews and the professional vetting by this embassy’s officials and the Malta police, illegal immigration from Egypt has waned as the persons who fall under the illegal immigration risk category were not issued with a visa.
The Maltese Embassy in Cairo has built a reputation for being efficient in its visa procedure, and for its friendly staff. Furthermore, the numerous public relations exercises that this embassy has embarked upon has led a number of high calibre Egyptian tourists to apply at this embassy. The Maltese Embassy’s approach attracted Egyptians who never thought of going to Malta. More people are enjoying Malta’s attractions and recommending the Maltese Archipelago to their friends.
It is also important to note that Maltese citizens who wanted to co-operate with Egyptians in various fields of interest were provided with full assistance by the embassy. A case in point is the number of visas issued to Egyptian fishermen who are invited by Maltese fishing companies to boost their fishing fleets.
The Embassy of Malta in Egypt is optimistic that real tourism and trade to Malta will continue to increase in the coming months, especially in summer. For further information please visit the embassy’s website on http://www.mfa. gov.mt/egypt.
Two years have passed since Malta adopted the euro currency and joined the Schengen area. According to an analysis conducted by the Embassy of Malta in Cairo, joining the Schengen area was beneficial because it has diminished illegal immigration from Egypt and attracted genuine tourists to Malta.
During the period 2008-2009, the Embassy issued 2,019 visas compared to a total of 856 in 2006 and 2007, which means that traffic to Malta from Egypt increased by 236 per cent. Among the persons travelling to Malta were dignitaries, tourists, students, business people, workers, conference participants, and sports people.
Prior to joining the EU, Egyptian citizens did not require a visa to enter Malta. After Malta’s accession into the EU in May 2004 and the Schengen area at the beginning of 2008, nationals of Egypt had to submit a number of documents and sit for an interview at the embassy to obtain a visa. Thanks to these interviews and the professional vetting by this embassy’s officials and the Malta police, illegal immigration from Egypt has waned as the persons who fall under the illegal immigration risk category were not issued with a visa.
The Maltese Embassy in Cairo has built a reputation for being efficient in its visa procedure, and for its friendly staff. Furthermore, the numerous public relations exercises that this embassy has embarked upon has led a number of high calibre Egyptian tourists to apply at this embassy. The Maltese Embassy’s approach attracted Egyptians who never thought of going to Malta. More people are enjoying Malta’s attractions and recommending the Maltese Archipelago to their friends.
It is also important to note that Maltese citizens who wanted to co-operate with Egyptians in various fields of interest were provided with full assistance by the embassy. A case in point is the number of visas issued to Egyptian fishermen who are invited by Maltese fishing companies to boost their fishing fleets.
The Embassy of Malta in Egypt is optimistic that real tourism and trade to Malta will continue to increase in the coming months, especially in summer. For further information please visit the embassy’s website on http://www.mfa. gov.mt/egypt.
GWU Youths declared that it joined the Anti-Censorship Front.
http://www.independent.com.mt/news.asp?newsitemid=100467
It said that it believes in freedom of expression as it deems the Maltese capable enough to choose what should reach them and what should not. GWU Youths stated that its inclusion within the Front means that it is in favour of freedom of thought that does not foment racial, ethnic or religious hatred.
GWU Youths said that “those who hold top positions, the civil and also ecclesiastic authorities should not ride on anachronistic laws in order to hinder artistic expressions which they dislike. These authorities, though obliged to transmit values which keep our society sane, do not have the right to bar expressed thoughts.”
The GWU Youths believe that “as an EU member state we need to follow practices which make us freer to express ourselves. Certain anachronistic laws need to be changed in order to reflect our times.”
It said that it believes in freedom of expression as it deems the Maltese capable enough to choose what should reach them and what should not. GWU Youths stated that its inclusion within the Front means that it is in favour of freedom of thought that does not foment racial, ethnic or religious hatred.
GWU Youths said that “those who hold top positions, the civil and also ecclesiastic authorities should not ride on anachronistic laws in order to hinder artistic expressions which they dislike. These authorities, though obliged to transmit values which keep our society sane, do not have the right to bar expressed thoughts.”
The GWU Youths believe that “as an EU member state we need to follow practices which make us freer to express ourselves. Certain anachronistic laws need to be changed in order to reflect our times.”
http://www.independent.com.mt/news.asp?newsitemid=100465
A group of 25 environmental health officers from the Department for Environmental Health today donated blood, as a noble gesture. This initiative was proposed by the Malta Association of Environmental Health Officers, and it was fully supported by the Department for Environmental Health.
Parliamentary Secretary Joe Cassar was present at this event and praised the group of donors for this humanitarian contribution. Dr Cassar also encouraged other governmental departments and entities to follow the example of EHOs, and take the initiative of organising similar group activities.
A group of 25 environmental health officers from the Department for Environmental Health today donated blood, as a noble gesture. This initiative was proposed by the Malta Association of Environmental Health Officers, and it was fully supported by the Department for Environmental Health.
Parliamentary Secretary Joe Cassar was present at this event and praised the group of donors for this humanitarian contribution. Dr Cassar also encouraged other governmental departments and entities to follow the example of EHOs, and take the initiative of organising similar group activities.
Louis Grech raises black dust problem in EP
http://www.independent.com.mt/news.asp?newsitemid=100452
The years-long black dust problem which for years has been seriously annoying householders in the south, and which has raised health issues, has been brought to the attention of the European Parliament by Labour MEP Louis Grech, who tabled a question about the subject.
Mr Grech drew the attention of the European Commission to the fact that people living in many towns and villages in the south-east of Malta had been complaining about black dust particles since 2000, in spite of which the Maltese government had failed to address the problem, so much so that it is still claiming that it does not know the source of the dust. Mr Grech highlighted the fact that the areas around the Grand Harbour were disproportionately affected by industrial emissions that badly affected health and the environment.
The Labour MEP asked the commission whether it was not of the view that the fact that the Environmental Regulator in Malta was only now collecting samples from the air quality stations merely confirmed that the Maltese government had failed to effect serious monitoring of air quality.
He further asked whether the commission could investigate whether Malta was complying with EU regulations about emissions and the environment.
Mr Grech said the commission should insist with the Maltese authorities that they should take all the appropriate steps to draw up a plan so that the problem could be solved once and for all. He said that action was urgently needed because the Maltese government had had enough time to do so.
The years-long black dust problem which for years has been seriously annoying householders in the south, and which has raised health issues, has been brought to the attention of the European Parliament by Labour MEP Louis Grech, who tabled a question about the subject.
Mr Grech drew the attention of the European Commission to the fact that people living in many towns and villages in the south-east of Malta had been complaining about black dust particles since 2000, in spite of which the Maltese government had failed to address the problem, so much so that it is still claiming that it does not know the source of the dust. Mr Grech highlighted the fact that the areas around the Grand Harbour were disproportionately affected by industrial emissions that badly affected health and the environment.
The Labour MEP asked the commission whether it was not of the view that the fact that the Environmental Regulator in Malta was only now collecting samples from the air quality stations merely confirmed that the Maltese government had failed to effect serious monitoring of air quality.
He further asked whether the commission could investigate whether Malta was complying with EU regulations about emissions and the environment.
Mr Grech said the commission should insist with the Maltese authorities that they should take all the appropriate steps to draw up a plan so that the problem could be solved once and for all. He said that action was urgently needed because the Maltese government had had enough time to do so.
Suggestion for disposal of spent bulbs
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20100121/letters/suggestion-for-disposal-of-spent-bulbs
WasteServ is doing its utmost to clear Malta's roads, countryside, etc. of all possible recyclable waste material.
For this reason, the company has installed bring-in sites in all localities in which one can dispose of unwanted paper, plastic, tin and glass. It has also introduced a weekly collection of waste paper, plastic and tin from every household if such unwanted stuff is put in a grey plastic bag and left on the doorstep on collection day.
There is also an ongoing campaign by Wasteserv to urge everyone, including schoolchildren, to dispose of used batteries in a correct manner.
As regards spent bulbs and neon lights, the story is different. These are not to be put with the normal domestic refuse, nor in the bring-in site which takes glass, and neither in the grey bag. We are urged to take the spent bulbs and the like to some specific collection place.
I am very much in favour of recycling and have been doing this since the first set of bring-in sites was installed near St Michael's School in Pembroke. But, to keep spent bulbs at home until being disposed of as recommended, is inconvenient and poses a danger especially where there are small children. A more convenient and appropriate place has to be found to cater for this stuff.
What about a bin at the local council premises? What about entering into an agreement with outlets which sell bulbs and other electrical items to take the spent ones when buying new ones?
If Wasteserv wants people to cooperate, which I am sure it does, a more convenient way of disposing of such waste has to be found.
WasteServ is doing its utmost to clear Malta's roads, countryside, etc. of all possible recyclable waste material.
For this reason, the company has installed bring-in sites in all localities in which one can dispose of unwanted paper, plastic, tin and glass. It has also introduced a weekly collection of waste paper, plastic and tin from every household if such unwanted stuff is put in a grey plastic bag and left on the doorstep on collection day.
There is also an ongoing campaign by Wasteserv to urge everyone, including schoolchildren, to dispose of used batteries in a correct manner.
As regards spent bulbs and neon lights, the story is different. These are not to be put with the normal domestic refuse, nor in the bring-in site which takes glass, and neither in the grey bag. We are urged to take the spent bulbs and the like to some specific collection place.
I am very much in favour of recycling and have been doing this since the first set of bring-in sites was installed near St Michael's School in Pembroke. But, to keep spent bulbs at home until being disposed of as recommended, is inconvenient and poses a danger especially where there are small children. A more convenient and appropriate place has to be found to cater for this stuff.
What about a bin at the local council premises? What about entering into an agreement with outlets which sell bulbs and other electrical items to take the spent ones when buying new ones?
If Wasteserv wants people to cooperate, which I am sure it does, a more convenient way of disposing of such waste has to be found.
Action plan to reduce hospital waiting lists ready
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20100121/local/action-plan-to-reduce-hospital-waiting-lists-ready
The government was planning to build a cancer centre at Mater Dei Hospital while undergoing extensive refurbishment at Boffa Hospital.
A review of the hospital waiting lists had shown that there were duplications which, in certain cases, led to 40 per cent of the cases being struck off.
Speaking on the Budgetary Measures Amendments Bill, Social Policy Minister John Dalli acknowledged that the problem was still there and said that an action plan had been drawn up to tackle the problem.
Notwithstanding, one had to establish the reasonable amount of waiting time which had to be calculated in months and not in years. The Budget included measures in this regard and use of facilities and staff was being identified to take the necessary action.
He said that he had had enough with the hospital shift system. There was a waste of time and lack of organisation due to different break times for staff.
Although Malta was suffering the economic crunch, resources had been found to sustain the health and social sectors and to provide funds to make these services even better. The Budget was strengthening the social safety net to which all previous governments had contributed.
Earlier, Minister Dalli referred to fostering and said that the Budget provided that the allowances for those fostering children increased from €40 to €70 per week. The government wanted to attract more families to foster children to move away from the system of institutionalisation.
The Budget also allocated funds for the provision of more homes for the elderly and funds for staff to run these homes.
Francis Zammit Dimech (PN) told Parliament that the government's main trust in this year's Budget was the creation of employment.
Malta Enterprise had been allotted €5.6 million for economic development. Last year's schemes to provide integrated services to economic operators were extended through an added allocation of €37 million. Of these, €7 million were to provide for international competitiveness, innovation, research and development and e-Business.
The vote for Malta Enterprise had increased from €6.6 million to €9 million while another €2.5 million were available in a reserve fund.
Another sum of €10 million was earmarked to assist some 1,500 SMEs to have liquidity to counter the economic crisis.
The government did not introduce any new taxation in this year's Budget. It proposed an €80 million incentive package for industry and tourism and this would increase wealth. It was also investing €280 million in the infrastructure and €1.3 billion in the education and social welfare sectors.
Turning to tourism, Dr Zammit Dimech said the government had allocated €31 million to MTA to address the international crisis. He was confident 2010 would produce better results than the sector experienced in 2009.
The government also increased its support from €2 million to £5 million to low-cost airlines, to help them operate new routes to and from Malta, and to the national airline to strengthen its existent routes.
He said that many hoteliers were passing through difficult times. There was criticism from hoteliers against the introduction of the 50c per tourist night tariff although notice that it would be introduced this year had been given in 2008.
Concluding, he called for a no-condition discussion between all concerned so that such difficulties could be levelled out. The hotel sector needed every support that the government could give.
Joe Falzon (PN) said that the government had a long term vision in education creating a knowledge-based economy because that was where Malta had a competitive edge. The poor could be helped through the creation of wealth.
The government had changed challenges into opportunities to save businesses and hence jobs. A platform was set up helping everyone and generating wealth. The government had embarked on fiscal reforms and had made substantial economic investment.
He paid tribute to Social Policy Minister John Dalli for his contribution to the nation and congratulated him for his forthcoming EU post as Malta's commissioner.
The measures taken in the Budget would be fruitful in line with what past decisions.
Frederick Azzopardi (PN) said the Budget was drafted after consultations with all stakeholders. This was a time of opportunity for the creation of job as the government had aimed at creating the ideal environment in which the economy could expand.
Contrary to what the opposition had claimed, the Budget was giving a real picture of the Maltese economy. The opposition's proposed 10-point plan was not realistic: it ignored the international recession.
Thanks to the past economic measures, Malta managed to cushion the effects of the international recession. The government was nurturing those sectors which would ensure the ideal climate for local and foreign investment, not least the training of workers.
Mr Azzopardi listed the measures that a number of EU member-states - notably France, the Netherlands, and Spain - had taken to brace themselves to shield themselves from the adverse effect of the recession. Malta was spared such measures thanks to government foresight.
Admittedly, unemployment in Malta had increased but this was at a slower pace than that registered in other EU states.
Particular attention was given to education through the building of new schools and amenities. Funds to church schools would be increased well as a 15.2 per cent refund on expenditure to those introducing primary schools.
The Budget also acknowledged the environment's role and people were encouraged to invest in photo-voltaic cells through financial assistance. More jobs are being attracted to Malta and drainage would be treated before being discharged into the sea.
Importance was given to Gozo through a record allotment of funds.
Stephen Spiteri (PN) said that government strategy aimed at providing sustainable services. The government embarked on a number of reforms including rent laws, Mepa and primary health care.
The Budget seriously addressed the health sector, including the waiting lists problem which the government was to tackle over a three-year period with an investment of €4 million. It was introducing the positron emission tomography (PET) scan - an imaging test that uses a radioactive substance to look for disease in the body - and other innovations in cardiac imaging.
Another €300 million were being invested to introduce new medicines in the formulary drugs list. It also voted €11million to decrease the number of creditors and another €61million to ensure that credit days decrease to 120 days.
Medicines would continue to be provided for free and the pharmacy-of-your-choice scheme would be extended to another 50,000 patients. The government was also planning building a new blood transfusion centre and was targeting to build a cancer centre at Mater Dei Hospital while undergoing extensive refurbishment at the Boffa Hospital.
Turning to the Primary Health Care reform, Dr Spiteri said patients would have the right of the doctor of their own choice.
This would decrease pressure on services offered at the hospital, and increase efficiency through direct access by the family doctor to various hospital departments.
He said 30,000 women between 50 and 59 years of age would benefit from the breast screening programme launched last October with an investment of €1.6million. A disability training unit was being set up to help patients with mental health problems to live in the community.
The government was planning to build a cancer centre at Mater Dei Hospital while undergoing extensive refurbishment at Boffa Hospital.
A review of the hospital waiting lists had shown that there were duplications which, in certain cases, led to 40 per cent of the cases being struck off.
Speaking on the Budgetary Measures Amendments Bill, Social Policy Minister John Dalli acknowledged that the problem was still there and said that an action plan had been drawn up to tackle the problem.
Notwithstanding, one had to establish the reasonable amount of waiting time which had to be calculated in months and not in years. The Budget included measures in this regard and use of facilities and staff was being identified to take the necessary action.
He said that he had had enough with the hospital shift system. There was a waste of time and lack of organisation due to different break times for staff.
Although Malta was suffering the economic crunch, resources had been found to sustain the health and social sectors and to provide funds to make these services even better. The Budget was strengthening the social safety net to which all previous governments had contributed.
Earlier, Minister Dalli referred to fostering and said that the Budget provided that the allowances for those fostering children increased from €40 to €70 per week. The government wanted to attract more families to foster children to move away from the system of institutionalisation.
The Budget also allocated funds for the provision of more homes for the elderly and funds for staff to run these homes.
Francis Zammit Dimech (PN) told Parliament that the government's main trust in this year's Budget was the creation of employment.
Malta Enterprise had been allotted €5.6 million for economic development. Last year's schemes to provide integrated services to economic operators were extended through an added allocation of €37 million. Of these, €7 million were to provide for international competitiveness, innovation, research and development and e-Business.
The vote for Malta Enterprise had increased from €6.6 million to €9 million while another €2.5 million were available in a reserve fund.
Another sum of €10 million was earmarked to assist some 1,500 SMEs to have liquidity to counter the economic crisis.
The government did not introduce any new taxation in this year's Budget. It proposed an €80 million incentive package for industry and tourism and this would increase wealth. It was also investing €280 million in the infrastructure and €1.3 billion in the education and social welfare sectors.
Turning to tourism, Dr Zammit Dimech said the government had allocated €31 million to MTA to address the international crisis. He was confident 2010 would produce better results than the sector experienced in 2009.
The government also increased its support from €2 million to £5 million to low-cost airlines, to help them operate new routes to and from Malta, and to the national airline to strengthen its existent routes.
He said that many hoteliers were passing through difficult times. There was criticism from hoteliers against the introduction of the 50c per tourist night tariff although notice that it would be introduced this year had been given in 2008.
Concluding, he called for a no-condition discussion between all concerned so that such difficulties could be levelled out. The hotel sector needed every support that the government could give.
Joe Falzon (PN) said that the government had a long term vision in education creating a knowledge-based economy because that was where Malta had a competitive edge. The poor could be helped through the creation of wealth.
The government had changed challenges into opportunities to save businesses and hence jobs. A platform was set up helping everyone and generating wealth. The government had embarked on fiscal reforms and had made substantial economic investment.
He paid tribute to Social Policy Minister John Dalli for his contribution to the nation and congratulated him for his forthcoming EU post as Malta's commissioner.
The measures taken in the Budget would be fruitful in line with what past decisions.
Frederick Azzopardi (PN) said the Budget was drafted after consultations with all stakeholders. This was a time of opportunity for the creation of job as the government had aimed at creating the ideal environment in which the economy could expand.
Contrary to what the opposition had claimed, the Budget was giving a real picture of the Maltese economy. The opposition's proposed 10-point plan was not realistic: it ignored the international recession.
Thanks to the past economic measures, Malta managed to cushion the effects of the international recession. The government was nurturing those sectors which would ensure the ideal climate for local and foreign investment, not least the training of workers.
Mr Azzopardi listed the measures that a number of EU member-states - notably France, the Netherlands, and Spain - had taken to brace themselves to shield themselves from the adverse effect of the recession. Malta was spared such measures thanks to government foresight.
Admittedly, unemployment in Malta had increased but this was at a slower pace than that registered in other EU states.
Particular attention was given to education through the building of new schools and amenities. Funds to church schools would be increased well as a 15.2 per cent refund on expenditure to those introducing primary schools.
The Budget also acknowledged the environment's role and people were encouraged to invest in photo-voltaic cells through financial assistance. More jobs are being attracted to Malta and drainage would be treated before being discharged into the sea.
Importance was given to Gozo through a record allotment of funds.
Stephen Spiteri (PN) said that government strategy aimed at providing sustainable services. The government embarked on a number of reforms including rent laws, Mepa and primary health care.
The Budget seriously addressed the health sector, including the waiting lists problem which the government was to tackle over a three-year period with an investment of €4 million. It was introducing the positron emission tomography (PET) scan - an imaging test that uses a radioactive substance to look for disease in the body - and other innovations in cardiac imaging.
Another €300 million were being invested to introduce new medicines in the formulary drugs list. It also voted €11million to decrease the number of creditors and another €61million to ensure that credit days decrease to 120 days.
Medicines would continue to be provided for free and the pharmacy-of-your-choice scheme would be extended to another 50,000 patients. The government was also planning building a new blood transfusion centre and was targeting to build a cancer centre at Mater Dei Hospital while undergoing extensive refurbishment at the Boffa Hospital.
Turning to the Primary Health Care reform, Dr Spiteri said patients would have the right of the doctor of their own choice.
This would decrease pressure on services offered at the hospital, and increase efficiency through direct access by the family doctor to various hospital departments.
He said 30,000 women between 50 and 59 years of age would benefit from the breast screening programme launched last October with an investment of €1.6million. A disability training unit was being set up to help patients with mental health problems to live in the community.
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
3 times more domestic violence on women
http://www.di-ve.com/Default.aspx?ID=72&Action=1&NewsId=68681&newscategory=36
3 times as many women are the victims of domestic violence as men, according to statistics issued on Tuesday.
There were 602 incidences of domestic violence in 2009, according to Justice Minister Carmelo Mifsud Bonnici, of which 430 were on adult women and 37 on female children, 113 on adult males and 22 on male children.
In replies to separate Parliamentary Questions posed by MP Noel Farrugia, Dr Mifsud Bonnici also said that there had been 185 reports of violence aimed at people aged over 60, and 108 cases of animal cruelty.
20 people were arraigned in Court on charges of cruelty to animals. The same information was not asked for in the case of domestic violence or violence on elderly people.
3 times as many women are the victims of domestic violence as men, according to statistics issued on Tuesday.
There were 602 incidences of domestic violence in 2009, according to Justice Minister Carmelo Mifsud Bonnici, of which 430 were on adult women and 37 on female children, 113 on adult males and 22 on male children.
In replies to separate Parliamentary Questions posed by MP Noel Farrugia, Dr Mifsud Bonnici also said that there had been 185 reports of violence aimed at people aged over 60, and 108 cases of animal cruelty.
20 people were arraigned in Court on charges of cruelty to animals. The same information was not asked for in the case of domestic violence or violence on elderly people.
Standing up to bullying behaviour in school
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20100120/opinion/editorialullying
Bullying is a fact of life in schools. But a recent, unusually serious incident in a Gozo secondary school, over which two girls are being charged with defiling a fellow student, put an uncomfortable spotlight on the phenomenon. The case was being probed by the education authorities and the victim has received counselling.
Bullying may have major effects on its victims, from a devastating lack of self-confidence that can last a lifetime to, in extreme cases, even suicide. Meanwhile, the worst perpetrators may go on to develop criminal tendencies.
A study involving thousands of students carried out about 15 years ago in state schools found that up to one in three children had experienced bullying, on the receiving end or as the aggressors. That statistic and its implications meant the issue needed to be taken seriously.
As indeed it was. Not too long after that study was published, the Ministry of Education issued a national policy and plan of action, outlining a set of procedures and measures that were to be followed by the Education Division and by schools. One of the fruits of that document was the setting up of a unit providing anti-bullying services, which has, hopefully, managed to bring down what can be considered as quite a high incidence.
One can't be sure of that, however. Not unless follow-up research using similar methodology to the 15-year-old study is undertaken. Given the number of young lives bullying can damage or ruin, it warrants no less. It would indicate whether the phenomenon is still as widespread, if the measures taken have been successful and if more resources need to be dedicated to the problem. Another question such a study should explore, given the technological advances of the last decade, is whether cyber-bullying - verbal and other forms of harassment via mobile phones or the internet - has become significant enough to require specific action. No doubt, its effects can be just as insidious as traditional forms of bullying.
Certainly, an important focus of any anti-bullying efforts should be the early years. Any work in primary classrooms and playgrounds probably goes much further than a similar amount expended in secondary schools because of the elements of prevention and "nipping it in the bud". One young child with bullying tendencies picked out and helped to change his/her ways early on would save misery for countless potential victims in the future. More effective by far than trying to deal with big bullies already set in their ways. One little picked-upon pupil taught to stand up to his tormentor by reporting him to a teacher is a small victory in the bid to instil a culture of no tolerance towards the phenomenon. For this is the only approach to take towards this abhorrent behaviour.
Parents have a vital role to play if they are educated to spot signs that their child is being subjected to constant humiliation in the school grounds. Parents of bullies are perhaps more difficult to bring aboard as denial, indifference or even, perversely, pride may prevent them from seeing what their child is doing as a problem and dealing with it.
And that's the nub. Bullying by other names is almost taken for granted in society, whether it's at the wheel of a car, inside the home, in sports, at the workplace or places of entertainment. Tackling it in school is a way to eventually reduce it among grown-ups.
Bullying is a fact of life in schools. But a recent, unusually serious incident in a Gozo secondary school, over which two girls are being charged with defiling a fellow student, put an uncomfortable spotlight on the phenomenon. The case was being probed by the education authorities and the victim has received counselling.
Bullying may have major effects on its victims, from a devastating lack of self-confidence that can last a lifetime to, in extreme cases, even suicide. Meanwhile, the worst perpetrators may go on to develop criminal tendencies.
A study involving thousands of students carried out about 15 years ago in state schools found that up to one in three children had experienced bullying, on the receiving end or as the aggressors. That statistic and its implications meant the issue needed to be taken seriously.
As indeed it was. Not too long after that study was published, the Ministry of Education issued a national policy and plan of action, outlining a set of procedures and measures that were to be followed by the Education Division and by schools. One of the fruits of that document was the setting up of a unit providing anti-bullying services, which has, hopefully, managed to bring down what can be considered as quite a high incidence.
One can't be sure of that, however. Not unless follow-up research using similar methodology to the 15-year-old study is undertaken. Given the number of young lives bullying can damage or ruin, it warrants no less. It would indicate whether the phenomenon is still as widespread, if the measures taken have been successful and if more resources need to be dedicated to the problem. Another question such a study should explore, given the technological advances of the last decade, is whether cyber-bullying - verbal and other forms of harassment via mobile phones or the internet - has become significant enough to require specific action. No doubt, its effects can be just as insidious as traditional forms of bullying.
Certainly, an important focus of any anti-bullying efforts should be the early years. Any work in primary classrooms and playgrounds probably goes much further than a similar amount expended in secondary schools because of the elements of prevention and "nipping it in the bud". One young child with bullying tendencies picked out and helped to change his/her ways early on would save misery for countless potential victims in the future. More effective by far than trying to deal with big bullies already set in their ways. One little picked-upon pupil taught to stand up to his tormentor by reporting him to a teacher is a small victory in the bid to instil a culture of no tolerance towards the phenomenon. For this is the only approach to take towards this abhorrent behaviour.
Parents have a vital role to play if they are educated to spot signs that their child is being subjected to constant humiliation in the school grounds. Parents of bullies are perhaps more difficult to bring aboard as denial, indifference or even, perversely, pride may prevent them from seeing what their child is doing as a problem and dealing with it.
And that's the nub. Bullying by other names is almost taken for granted in society, whether it's at the wheel of a car, inside the home, in sports, at the workplace or places of entertainment. Tackling it in school is a way to eventually reduce it among grown-ups.
Domestic violence reports up 25 per cent
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20100120/local/domestic-violence-reports-up-25-per-cent
Reports of domestic violence increased by 25 per cent last year, reaching 602 cases compared to 477 in 2008.
This did not necessarily mean an increase in domestic violence but greater awareness by the public that such cases should be reported, a Home Affairs Ministry spokesman said.
The spokesman explained that 576 of the cases last year allegedly took place in Malta and the rest were reported in Gozo. The majority of the victims, 467, were women and 59 cases involved children.
In 2007, the Domestic Violence Services of Appoġġ Agency received 524 referrals and 479 cases were opened.
The incidence of domestic violence cases remains a cause of great concern for various organisations.
Last year, women's organisations joined forces to call for preventative action to stop domestic violence by offering help to victims and addressing the behaviour of perpetrators before it was too late.
The Social Policy Ministry's Commission on Domestic Violence also called on the public's help to expose abuse that went on behind closed doors. In its recent 2009 annual report, commission chairman Marceline Naudi announced that a fund to pay for private police protection was set up between Appoġġ and the commission.
The fund was aimed at offering protection to battered women and social workers accompanying them to court.
Violence against women is a universal phenomenon that persists and the perpetrators are often well known to their victims, according to the World Health Organisation.
The issue was highlighted last month when actor Charlie Sheen spent the better part of Christmas Day in a jail cell after being arrested over domestic violence claims.
Victims who feel at risk or in danger must tell someone - a trusted member of the family or a close friend - and seek immediate help and file a police report. They can ask for someone from Appoġġ's Domestic Violence Service.
Perpetrators, who want to seek help, can start by talking to their doctor or going to see a psychologist or psychiatrist who may refer them to the Perpetrators' Services of Appoġġ.
Appoġġ can be contacted on 2295 9000 or by dialling the freephone 179.
Police reports can be filed by the people involved or by third parties.
Reports of domestic violence increased by 25 per cent last year, reaching 602 cases compared to 477 in 2008.
This did not necessarily mean an increase in domestic violence but greater awareness by the public that such cases should be reported, a Home Affairs Ministry spokesman said.
The spokesman explained that 576 of the cases last year allegedly took place in Malta and the rest were reported in Gozo. The majority of the victims, 467, were women and 59 cases involved children.
In 2007, the Domestic Violence Services of Appoġġ Agency received 524 referrals and 479 cases were opened.
The incidence of domestic violence cases remains a cause of great concern for various organisations.
Last year, women's organisations joined forces to call for preventative action to stop domestic violence by offering help to victims and addressing the behaviour of perpetrators before it was too late.
The Social Policy Ministry's Commission on Domestic Violence also called on the public's help to expose abuse that went on behind closed doors. In its recent 2009 annual report, commission chairman Marceline Naudi announced that a fund to pay for private police protection was set up between Appoġġ and the commission.
The fund was aimed at offering protection to battered women and social workers accompanying them to court.
Violence against women is a universal phenomenon that persists and the perpetrators are often well known to their victims, according to the World Health Organisation.
The issue was highlighted last month when actor Charlie Sheen spent the better part of Christmas Day in a jail cell after being arrested over domestic violence claims.
Victims who feel at risk or in danger must tell someone - a trusted member of the family or a close friend - and seek immediate help and file a police report. They can ask for someone from Appoġġ's Domestic Violence Service.
Perpetrators, who want to seek help, can start by talking to their doctor or going to see a psychologist or psychiatrist who may refer them to the Perpetrators' Services of Appoġġ.
Appoġġ can be contacted on 2295 9000 or by dialling the freephone 179.
Police reports can be filed by the people involved or by third parties.
Further job losses forecast
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20100120/local/further-job-losses-forecast
The number of people without a job has risen dramatically over the past year and could grow further this year before stabilising in 2011, according to a report released in Brussels yesterday.
Still, Malta's unemployment rate of seven per cent remains one of the lowest in the EU.
According to the EU Employment Situation And Social Outlook, there were 7,588 registered unemployed last November. Of them, 6,801 were in Malta - a year-on-year increase of 15.9 per cent - and 787 in Gozo, an increase of 7.7 per cent over November 2008. This is a rise of 988 unemployed in one year.
"Like other EU countries, Malta is being hit by the global recession and one of the sectors where this is being mostly felt is the employment area," a European Commission official said.
"However, despite this increase, Malta is still faring well when compared to the other member states. The island still enjoys the sixth lowest unemployment rate in the EU, 2.5 percentage points lower than the EU average," he said.
Worryingly, however, the economic recession is expected to continue putting more workers on the dole this year.
According to the Commission's autumn economic forecasts, "Malta's unemployment rate could rise further in 2010, to 7.4 per cent, before stabilising in 2011 at 7.3 per cent".
During the 12 months to November 2009, the unemployment rate in Malta rose by 0.8 percentage points to seven per cent. However, the youth unemployment rate was almost double at 13.8 per cent in the same month, up 1.6 per cent on November 2008.
According to the Commission's report, the picture with regard to older workers is bleaker and Malta has the lowest employment rate for those aged 50 and over in the EU. In the second quarter of 2009, just 24.2 per cent in this age group were working.
"Even so, this age category seems to have been less affected by the crisis than the overall population as the rise in unemployment was only 0.5 per cent on the same period in 2008," the report said.
The employment gender gap was unaffected by the recession.
The number of people without a job has risen dramatically over the past year and could grow further this year before stabilising in 2011, according to a report released in Brussels yesterday.
Still, Malta's unemployment rate of seven per cent remains one of the lowest in the EU.
According to the EU Employment Situation And Social Outlook, there were 7,588 registered unemployed last November. Of them, 6,801 were in Malta - a year-on-year increase of 15.9 per cent - and 787 in Gozo, an increase of 7.7 per cent over November 2008. This is a rise of 988 unemployed in one year.
"Like other EU countries, Malta is being hit by the global recession and one of the sectors where this is being mostly felt is the employment area," a European Commission official said.
"However, despite this increase, Malta is still faring well when compared to the other member states. The island still enjoys the sixth lowest unemployment rate in the EU, 2.5 percentage points lower than the EU average," he said.
Worryingly, however, the economic recession is expected to continue putting more workers on the dole this year.
According to the Commission's autumn economic forecasts, "Malta's unemployment rate could rise further in 2010, to 7.4 per cent, before stabilising in 2011 at 7.3 per cent".
During the 12 months to November 2009, the unemployment rate in Malta rose by 0.8 percentage points to seven per cent. However, the youth unemployment rate was almost double at 13.8 per cent in the same month, up 1.6 per cent on November 2008.
According to the Commission's report, the picture with regard to older workers is bleaker and Malta has the lowest employment rate for those aged 50 and over in the EU. In the second quarter of 2009, just 24.2 per cent in this age group were working.
"Even so, this age category seems to have been less affected by the crisis than the overall population as the rise in unemployment was only 0.5 per cent on the same period in 2008," the report said.
The employment gender gap was unaffected by the recession.
61 persons repeatedly arraigned on prostitution charges
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20100120/local/61-persons-repeatedly-arraigned-on-prostitution-charges
61 persons were arraigned for a total of 335 times last year on charges of loitering for purposes of prostitution. The cases took place in Ta' Xbiex Gzira and Marsa, Home Affairs Minister Carm Mifsud Bonnici said in Parliament.
61 persons were arraigned for a total of 335 times last year on charges of loitering for purposes of prostitution. The cases took place in Ta' Xbiex Gzira and Marsa, Home Affairs Minister Carm Mifsud Bonnici said in Parliament.
Pushing Power courses for mothers and babies
http://www.independent.com.mt/news.asp?newsitemid=100422
Two hours of moderate physical activity or an hour of vigorous physical activity every week will reduce the risk of coronary heart disease by about 30 per cent.
With this in mind, Health Parliamentary Secretary Joe Cassar in collaboration with Cynergi Gym, yesterday launched ‘Pushing Power’ – exercise courses provided free of charge and intended for mothers and babies. The campaign underlines the importance of exercising after pregnancy.
It is also an opportunity for mothers to participate in activities with their babies and bond with them.
The Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Department is highlighting the importance of physical activity to decrease life threatening conditions including cancer. Exercise also improves mental health.
Physical activity, at any age, can increase the life span, regardless of any adverse inherited factors. It protects against a multitude of chronic health problems, including all forms of cardiovascular disease; helps regulate weight and improve the body’s use of insulin. Being active is beneficial for various risk factors including blood pressure, blood lipid levels, blood glucose levels and blood clotting factors.
The World Health Organisation recommends 30 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity five days per week, 20 minutes of vigorous-intensity physical activity three times a week, or an equivalent combination of moderate and vigorous intensity physical activity, for people in the 18- to 65-age group. This must take place in combination with eight to 10 muscular strengthening exercises at least twice-a-week.
Dr Cassar pointed out that exercise does not necessarily take place at fitness centres. Simple exercises help as well.
It is important for people to start exercising at a very young age and continue until old age even if they have mobility problems as this still improves their general well-being.
Charmaine Gauci, Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Department director said the more active you are; the more one can reduce health risk.
She explained that the department was working with a number of private entities to create exercise and fitness courses for the benefit of society at large.
Although not everyone would be able to attend fitness classes away from home, participants may empower others to exercise.
Dr Gauci also spoke on the importance of having qualified trainers.
A limited number of places are available for Pushing Power and those interested may contact the Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Department on 23 26-6000 23 26-6000 .
Two hours of moderate physical activity or an hour of vigorous physical activity every week will reduce the risk of coronary heart disease by about 30 per cent.
With this in mind, Health Parliamentary Secretary Joe Cassar in collaboration with Cynergi Gym, yesterday launched ‘Pushing Power’ – exercise courses provided free of charge and intended for mothers and babies. The campaign underlines the importance of exercising after pregnancy.
It is also an opportunity for mothers to participate in activities with their babies and bond with them.
The Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Department is highlighting the importance of physical activity to decrease life threatening conditions including cancer. Exercise also improves mental health.
Physical activity, at any age, can increase the life span, regardless of any adverse inherited factors. It protects against a multitude of chronic health problems, including all forms of cardiovascular disease; helps regulate weight and improve the body’s use of insulin. Being active is beneficial for various risk factors including blood pressure, blood lipid levels, blood glucose levels and blood clotting factors.
The World Health Organisation recommends 30 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity five days per week, 20 minutes of vigorous-intensity physical activity three times a week, or an equivalent combination of moderate and vigorous intensity physical activity, for people in the 18- to 65-age group. This must take place in combination with eight to 10 muscular strengthening exercises at least twice-a-week.
Dr Cassar pointed out that exercise does not necessarily take place at fitness centres. Simple exercises help as well.
It is important for people to start exercising at a very young age and continue until old age even if they have mobility problems as this still improves their general well-being.
Charmaine Gauci, Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Department director said the more active you are; the more one can reduce health risk.
She explained that the department was working with a number of private entities to create exercise and fitness courses for the benefit of society at large.
Although not everyone would be able to attend fitness classes away from home, participants may empower others to exercise.
Dr Gauci also spoke on the importance of having qualified trainers.
A limited number of places are available for Pushing Power and those interested may contact the Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Department on 23 26-6000 23 26-6000 .
100th anniversary of Dun Mikiel’s birth
http://www.independent.com.mt/news.asp?newsitemid=100419
“Dun Mikiel, il-habib ta’ kulhadd” (Dun Mikiel, friend to all) is the theme chosen by the Dar tal-Providenza for the programme of events marking the 100th anniversary of the birth of the late Mgr Mikiel Azzopardi, founder of the Siggiewi residential homes for the handicapped.
Mgr Azzopardi was born in Valletta on 10 February, 1910. He founded the Dar tal-Providenza in 1965, fulfilling his dream to offer a home with a warm and family-like environment for persons with disability, who for some reason or other could no longer live with their own natural family.
The present homes director, Fr Martin Micallef, said that Mgr Azzopardi, together with other Maltese pioneers in this field, worked hard to dismantle the barriers that existed within Maltese society to enable persons with disability to enjoy equal opportunities. Notwithstanding the progress made, persons with disability are still experiencing obstacles that impede them from having total access to and full participation at all levels of society as well as in the Church.
Fr Martin expressed the wish that the sense of values, respect and dignity towards all persons whatever their abilities and disabilities, so much championed by Mgr Azzopardi in his time, would continue to inspire each and every one of us to create a more equal and inclusive society.
The programme of activities includes: The Inauguration and blessing of the Bitha Dun Mikiel (Dun Mikiel’s Courtyard) by Archbishop Mgr Pawl Cremona OP, at the Dar tal-Providenza on 26 January; the planting of 100 olive trees in the gardens of the Dar tal-Providenza by a group of volunteers from the Unita` Protezione Civile of Savona in Italy who will be in Malta for the occasion; a reception hosted by the Prime Minister marking Mgr Azzopardi’s contribution to Maltese society; an exhibition in the courtyard of the Ministry for Social Policy in Valletta, to be opened on Monday 8 February and later to be mounted also in Gozo; an edition of Bijografiji, to be broadcast on TVM on Tuesday, 9 February; the opening by Maltapost on 10 February of an office at the Dar tal-Providenza specifically to sell a commemorative card to mark the 100th anniversary of Mgr Azzopardi’s birth; a courtesy visit to the President of Malta at the Palace in Valletta, by residents, staff and volunteers of Dar tal-Providenza led by Fr Martin and the presentation of the ‘Dun Mikiel Award’.
The Independent
Wednesday, 20th January 2010
Pushing Power courses for mothers and babies
http://www.independent.com.mt/news.asp?newsitemid=100422
by Annaliza Borg
Two hours of moderate physical activity or an hour of vigorous physical activity every week will reduce the risk of coronary heart disease by about 30 per cent.
With this in mind, Health Parliamentary Secretary Joe Cassar in collaboration with Cynergi Gym, yesterday launched ‘Pushing Power’ – exercise courses provided free of charge and intended for mothers and babies. The campaign underlines the importance of exercising after pregnancy.
It is also an opportunity for mothers to participate in activities with their babies and bond with them.
The Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Department is highlighting the importance of physical activity to decrease life threatening conditions including cancer. Exercise also improves mental health.
Physical activity, at any age, can increase the life span, regardless of any adverse inherited factors. It protects against a multitude of chronic health problems, including all forms of cardiovascular disease; helps regulate weight and improve the body’s use of insulin. Being active is beneficial for various risk factors including blood pressure, blood lipid levels, blood glucose levels and blood clotting factors.
The World Health Organisation recommends 30 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity five days per week, 20 minutes of vigorous-intensity physical activity three times a week, or an equivalent combination of moderate and vigorous intensity physical activity, for people in the 18- to 65-age group. This must take place in combination with eight to 10 muscular strengthening exercises at least twice-a-week.
Dr Cassar pointed out that exercise does not necessarily take place at fitness centres. Simple exercises help as well.
It is important for people to start exercising at a very young age and continue until old age even if they have mobility problems as this still improves their general well-being.
Charmaine Gauci, Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Department director said the more active you are; the more one can reduce health risk.
She explained that the department was working with a number of private entities to create exercise and fitness courses for the benefit of society at large.
Although not everyone would be able to attend fitness classes away from home, participants may empower others to exercise.
Dr Gauci also spoke on the importance of having qualified trainers.
A limited number of places are available for Pushing Power and those interested may contact the Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Department on 23 26-6000 23 26-6000 .
Times of Malta
Wednesday, 20th January 2010
61 persons repeatedly arraigned on prostitution charges
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20100120/local/61-persons-repeatedly-arraigned-on-prostitution-charges
61 persons were arraigned for a total of 335 times last year on charges of loitering for purposes of prostitution. The cases took place in Ta' Xbiex Gzira and Marsa, Home Affairs Minister Carm Mifsud Bonnici said in Parliament.
Times of Malta
Wednesday, 20th January 2010
Further job losses forecast
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20100120/local/further-job-losses-forecast
Ivan Camilleri, Brussels
The number of people without a job has risen dramatically over the past year and could grow further this year before stabilising in 2011, according to a report released in Brussels yesterday.
Still, Malta's unemployment rate of seven per cent remains one of the lowest in the EU.
According to the EU Employment Situation And Social Outlook, there were 7,588 registered unemployed last November. Of them, 6,801 were in Malta - a year-on-year increase of 15.9 per cent - and 787 in Gozo, an increase of 7.7 per cent over November 2008. This is a rise of 988 unemployed in one year.
"Like other EU countries, Malta is being hit by the global recession and one of the sectors where this is being mostly felt is the employment area," a European Commission official said.
"However, despite this increase, Malta is still faring well when compared to the other member states. The island still enjoys the sixth lowest unemployment rate in the EU, 2.5 percentage points lower than the EU average," he said.
Worryingly, however, the economic recession is expected to continue putting more workers on the dole this year.
According to the Commission's autumn economic forecasts, "Malta's unemployment rate could rise further in 2010, to 7.4 per cent, before stabilising in 2011 at 7.3 per cent".
During the 12 months to November 2009, the unemployment rate in Malta rose by 0.8 percentage points to seven per cent. However, the youth unemployment rate was almost double at 13.8 per cent in the same month, up 1.6 per cent on November 2008.
According to the Commission's report, the picture with regard to older workers is bleaker and Malta has the lowest employment rate for those aged 50 and over in the EU. In the second quarter of 2009, just 24.2 per cent in this age group were working.
"Even so, this age category seems to have been less affected by the crisis than the overall population as the rise in unemployment was only 0.5 per cent on the same period in 2008," the report said.
The employment gender gap was unaffected by the recession.
Times of Malta
Wednesday, 20th January 2010
Domestic violence reports up 25 per cent
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20100120/local/domestic-violence-reports-up-25-per-cent
Reports of domestic violence increased by 25 per cent last year, reaching 602 cases compared to 477 in 2008.
This did not necessarily mean an increase in domestic violence but greater awareness by the public that such cases should be reported, a Home Affairs Ministry spokesman said.
The spokesman explained that 576 of the cases last year allegedly took place in Malta and the rest were reported in Gozo. The majority of the victims, 467, were women and 59 cases involved children.
In 2007, the Domestic Violence Services of Appoġġ Agency received 524 referrals and 479 cases were opened.
The incidence of domestic violence cases remains a cause of great concern for various organisations.
Last year, women's organisations joined forces to call for preventative action to stop domestic violence by offering help to victims and addressing the behaviour of perpetrators before it was too late.
The Social Policy Ministry's Commission on Domestic Violence also called on the public's help to expose abuse that went on behind closed doors. In its recent 2009 annual report, commission chairman Marceline Naudi announced that a fund to pay for private police protection was set up between Appoġġ and the commission.
The fund was aimed at offering protection to battered women and social workers accompanying them to court.
Violence against women is a universal phenomenon that persists and the perpetrators are often well known to their victims, according to the World Health Organisation.
The issue was highlighted last month when actor Charlie Sheen spent the better part of Christmas Day in a jail cell after being arrested over domestic violence claims.
Victims who feel at risk or in danger must tell someone - a trusted member of the family or a close friend - and seek immediate help and file a police report. They can ask for someone from Appoġġ's Domestic Violence Service.
Perpetrators, who want to seek help, can start by talking to their doctor or going to see a psychologist or psychiatrist who may refer them to the Perpetrators' Services of Appoġġ.
Appoġġ can be contacted on 2295 9000 or by dialling the freephone 179.
Police reports can be filed by the people involved or by third parties.
Times of Malta
Wednesday, 20th January 2010
Editorial
Standing up to bullying behaviour in school
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20100120/opinion/editorialullying
Bullying is a fact of life in schools. But a recent, unusually serious incident in a Gozo secondary school, over which two girls are being charged with defiling a fellow student, put an uncomfortable spotlight on the phenomenon. The case was being probed by the education authorities and the victim has received counselling.
Bullying may have major effects on its victims, from a devastating lack of self-confidence that can last a lifetime to, in extreme cases, even suicide. Meanwhile, the worst perpetrators may go on to develop criminal tendencies.
A study involving thousands of students carried out about 15 years ago in state schools found that up to one in three children had experienced bullying, on the receiving end or as the aggressors. That statistic and its implications meant the issue needed to be taken seriously.
As indeed it was. Not too long after that study was published, the Ministry of Education issued a national policy and plan of action, outlining a set of procedures and measures that were to be followed by the Education Division and by schools. One of the fruits of that document was the setting up of a unit providing anti-bullying services, which has, hopefully, managed to bring down what can be considered as quite a high incidence.
One can't be sure of that, however. Not unless follow-up research using similar methodology to the 15-year-old study is undertaken. Given the number of young lives bullying can damage or ruin, it warrants no less. It would indicate whether the phenomenon is still as widespread, if the measures taken have been successful and if more resources need to be dedicated to the problem. Another question such a study should explore, given the technological advances of the last decade, is whether cyber-bullying - verbal and other forms of harassment via mobile phones or the internet - has become significant enough to require specific action. No doubt, its effects can be just as insidious as traditional forms of bullying.
Certainly, an important focus of any anti-bullying efforts should be the early years. Any work in primary classrooms and playgrounds probably goes much further than a similar amount expended in secondary schools because of the elements of prevention and "nipping it in the bud". One young child with bullying tendencies picked out and helped to change his/her ways early on would save misery for countless potential victims in the future. More effective by far than trying to deal with big bullies already set in their ways. One little picked-upon pupil taught to stand up to his tormentor by reporting him to a teacher is a small victory in the bid to instil a culture of no tolerance towards the phenomenon. For this is the only approach to take towards this abhorrent behaviour.
Parents have a vital role to play if they are educated to spot signs that their child is being subjected to constant humiliation in the school grounds. Parents of bullies are perhaps more difficult to bring aboard as denial, indifference or even, perversely, pride may prevent them from seeing what their child is doing as a problem and dealing with it.
And that's the nub. Bullying by other names is almost taken for granted in society, whether it's at the wheel of a car, inside the home, in sports, at the workplace or places of entertainment. Tackling it in school is a way to eventually reduce it among grown-ups.
Di- Ve
Wednesday, 20th January 2010
Prostitution on the rise
http://www.di-ve.com/Default.aspx?ID=72&Action=1&NewsId=68682&newscategory=31
There are either more prostitutes - or more reports on prostitutes, with a fourfold since 2006, according to figures released in Parliament.
In 2006, there were only 16 reports, compared with 61 in 2009, according to Justice Minister Carmelo Mifsud Bonnici.
The same prostitutes get arraigned over and over again but even this trend seems to be changing. While a prostitute was arraigned an average of 15 times in 2004, the figure fell to 5 in 2009, possibly indicating that the Court is acting as more of a deterrent.
Di - Ve
Wednesday, 20th January 2010
3 times more domestic violence on women
http://www.di-ve.com/Default.aspx?ID=72&Action=1&NewsId=68681&newscategory=36
3 times as many women are the victims of domestic violence as men, according to statistics issued on Tuesday.
There were 602 incidences of domestic violence in 2009, according to Justice Minister Carmelo Mifsud Bonnici, of which 430 were on adult women and 37 on female children, 113 on adult males and 22 on male children.
In replies to separate Parliamentary Questions posed by MP Noel Farrugia, Dr Mifsud Bonnici also said that there had been 185 reports of violence aimed at people aged over 60, and 108 cases of animal cruelty.
20 people were arraigned in Court on charges of cruelty to animals. The same information was not asked for in the case of domestic violence or violence on elderly people.
“Dun Mikiel, il-habib ta’ kulhadd” (Dun Mikiel, friend to all) is the theme chosen by the Dar tal-Providenza for the programme of events marking the 100th anniversary of the birth of the late Mgr Mikiel Azzopardi, founder of the Siggiewi residential homes for the handicapped.
Mgr Azzopardi was born in Valletta on 10 February, 1910. He founded the Dar tal-Providenza in 1965, fulfilling his dream to offer a home with a warm and family-like environment for persons with disability, who for some reason or other could no longer live with their own natural family.
The present homes director, Fr Martin Micallef, said that Mgr Azzopardi, together with other Maltese pioneers in this field, worked hard to dismantle the barriers that existed within Maltese society to enable persons with disability to enjoy equal opportunities. Notwithstanding the progress made, persons with disability are still experiencing obstacles that impede them from having total access to and full participation at all levels of society as well as in the Church.
Fr Martin expressed the wish that the sense of values, respect and dignity towards all persons whatever their abilities and disabilities, so much championed by Mgr Azzopardi in his time, would continue to inspire each and every one of us to create a more equal and inclusive society.
The programme of activities includes: The Inauguration and blessing of the Bitha Dun Mikiel (Dun Mikiel’s Courtyard) by Archbishop Mgr Pawl Cremona OP, at the Dar tal-Providenza on 26 January; the planting of 100 olive trees in the gardens of the Dar tal-Providenza by a group of volunteers from the Unita` Protezione Civile of Savona in Italy who will be in Malta for the occasion; a reception hosted by the Prime Minister marking Mgr Azzopardi’s contribution to Maltese society; an exhibition in the courtyard of the Ministry for Social Policy in Valletta, to be opened on Monday 8 February and later to be mounted also in Gozo; an edition of Bijografiji, to be broadcast on TVM on Tuesday, 9 February; the opening by Maltapost on 10 February of an office at the Dar tal-Providenza specifically to sell a commemorative card to mark the 100th anniversary of Mgr Azzopardi’s birth; a courtesy visit to the President of Malta at the Palace in Valletta, by residents, staff and volunteers of Dar tal-Providenza led by Fr Martin and the presentation of the ‘Dun Mikiel Award’.
The Independent
Wednesday, 20th January 2010
Pushing Power courses for mothers and babies
http://www.independent.com.mt/news.asp?newsitemid=100422
by Annaliza Borg
Two hours of moderate physical activity or an hour of vigorous physical activity every week will reduce the risk of coronary heart disease by about 30 per cent.
With this in mind, Health Parliamentary Secretary Joe Cassar in collaboration with Cynergi Gym, yesterday launched ‘Pushing Power’ – exercise courses provided free of charge and intended for mothers and babies. The campaign underlines the importance of exercising after pregnancy.
It is also an opportunity for mothers to participate in activities with their babies and bond with them.
The Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Department is highlighting the importance of physical activity to decrease life threatening conditions including cancer. Exercise also improves mental health.
Physical activity, at any age, can increase the life span, regardless of any adverse inherited factors. It protects against a multitude of chronic health problems, including all forms of cardiovascular disease; helps regulate weight and improve the body’s use of insulin. Being active is beneficial for various risk factors including blood pressure, blood lipid levels, blood glucose levels and blood clotting factors.
The World Health Organisation recommends 30 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity five days per week, 20 minutes of vigorous-intensity physical activity three times a week, or an equivalent combination of moderate and vigorous intensity physical activity, for people in the 18- to 65-age group. This must take place in combination with eight to 10 muscular strengthening exercises at least twice-a-week.
Dr Cassar pointed out that exercise does not necessarily take place at fitness centres. Simple exercises help as well.
It is important for people to start exercising at a very young age and continue until old age even if they have mobility problems as this still improves their general well-being.
Charmaine Gauci, Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Department director said the more active you are; the more one can reduce health risk.
She explained that the department was working with a number of private entities to create exercise and fitness courses for the benefit of society at large.
Although not everyone would be able to attend fitness classes away from home, participants may empower others to exercise.
Dr Gauci also spoke on the importance of having qualified trainers.
A limited number of places are available for Pushing Power and those interested may contact the Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Department on 23 26-6000 23 26-6000 .
Times of Malta
Wednesday, 20th January 2010
61 persons repeatedly arraigned on prostitution charges
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20100120/local/61-persons-repeatedly-arraigned-on-prostitution-charges
61 persons were arraigned for a total of 335 times last year on charges of loitering for purposes of prostitution. The cases took place in Ta' Xbiex Gzira and Marsa, Home Affairs Minister Carm Mifsud Bonnici said in Parliament.
Times of Malta
Wednesday, 20th January 2010
Further job losses forecast
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20100120/local/further-job-losses-forecast
Ivan Camilleri, Brussels
The number of people without a job has risen dramatically over the past year and could grow further this year before stabilising in 2011, according to a report released in Brussels yesterday.
Still, Malta's unemployment rate of seven per cent remains one of the lowest in the EU.
According to the EU Employment Situation And Social Outlook, there were 7,588 registered unemployed last November. Of them, 6,801 were in Malta - a year-on-year increase of 15.9 per cent - and 787 in Gozo, an increase of 7.7 per cent over November 2008. This is a rise of 988 unemployed in one year.
"Like other EU countries, Malta is being hit by the global recession and one of the sectors where this is being mostly felt is the employment area," a European Commission official said.
"However, despite this increase, Malta is still faring well when compared to the other member states. The island still enjoys the sixth lowest unemployment rate in the EU, 2.5 percentage points lower than the EU average," he said.
Worryingly, however, the economic recession is expected to continue putting more workers on the dole this year.
According to the Commission's autumn economic forecasts, "Malta's unemployment rate could rise further in 2010, to 7.4 per cent, before stabilising in 2011 at 7.3 per cent".
During the 12 months to November 2009, the unemployment rate in Malta rose by 0.8 percentage points to seven per cent. However, the youth unemployment rate was almost double at 13.8 per cent in the same month, up 1.6 per cent on November 2008.
According to the Commission's report, the picture with regard to older workers is bleaker and Malta has the lowest employment rate for those aged 50 and over in the EU. In the second quarter of 2009, just 24.2 per cent in this age group were working.
"Even so, this age category seems to have been less affected by the crisis than the overall population as the rise in unemployment was only 0.5 per cent on the same period in 2008," the report said.
The employment gender gap was unaffected by the recession.
Times of Malta
Wednesday, 20th January 2010
Domestic violence reports up 25 per cent
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20100120/local/domestic-violence-reports-up-25-per-cent
Reports of domestic violence increased by 25 per cent last year, reaching 602 cases compared to 477 in 2008.
This did not necessarily mean an increase in domestic violence but greater awareness by the public that such cases should be reported, a Home Affairs Ministry spokesman said.
The spokesman explained that 576 of the cases last year allegedly took place in Malta and the rest were reported in Gozo. The majority of the victims, 467, were women and 59 cases involved children.
In 2007, the Domestic Violence Services of Appoġġ Agency received 524 referrals and 479 cases were opened.
The incidence of domestic violence cases remains a cause of great concern for various organisations.
Last year, women's organisations joined forces to call for preventative action to stop domestic violence by offering help to victims and addressing the behaviour of perpetrators before it was too late.
The Social Policy Ministry's Commission on Domestic Violence also called on the public's help to expose abuse that went on behind closed doors. In its recent 2009 annual report, commission chairman Marceline Naudi announced that a fund to pay for private police protection was set up between Appoġġ and the commission.
The fund was aimed at offering protection to battered women and social workers accompanying them to court.
Violence against women is a universal phenomenon that persists and the perpetrators are often well known to their victims, according to the World Health Organisation.
The issue was highlighted last month when actor Charlie Sheen spent the better part of Christmas Day in a jail cell after being arrested over domestic violence claims.
Victims who feel at risk or in danger must tell someone - a trusted member of the family or a close friend - and seek immediate help and file a police report. They can ask for someone from Appoġġ's Domestic Violence Service.
Perpetrators, who want to seek help, can start by talking to their doctor or going to see a psychologist or psychiatrist who may refer them to the Perpetrators' Services of Appoġġ.
Appoġġ can be contacted on 2295 9000 or by dialling the freephone 179.
Police reports can be filed by the people involved or by third parties.
Times of Malta
Wednesday, 20th January 2010
Editorial
Standing up to bullying behaviour in school
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20100120/opinion/editorialullying
Bullying is a fact of life in schools. But a recent, unusually serious incident in a Gozo secondary school, over which two girls are being charged with defiling a fellow student, put an uncomfortable spotlight on the phenomenon. The case was being probed by the education authorities and the victim has received counselling.
Bullying may have major effects on its victims, from a devastating lack of self-confidence that can last a lifetime to, in extreme cases, even suicide. Meanwhile, the worst perpetrators may go on to develop criminal tendencies.
A study involving thousands of students carried out about 15 years ago in state schools found that up to one in three children had experienced bullying, on the receiving end or as the aggressors. That statistic and its implications meant the issue needed to be taken seriously.
As indeed it was. Not too long after that study was published, the Ministry of Education issued a national policy and plan of action, outlining a set of procedures and measures that were to be followed by the Education Division and by schools. One of the fruits of that document was the setting up of a unit providing anti-bullying services, which has, hopefully, managed to bring down what can be considered as quite a high incidence.
One can't be sure of that, however. Not unless follow-up research using similar methodology to the 15-year-old study is undertaken. Given the number of young lives bullying can damage or ruin, it warrants no less. It would indicate whether the phenomenon is still as widespread, if the measures taken have been successful and if more resources need to be dedicated to the problem. Another question such a study should explore, given the technological advances of the last decade, is whether cyber-bullying - verbal and other forms of harassment via mobile phones or the internet - has become significant enough to require specific action. No doubt, its effects can be just as insidious as traditional forms of bullying.
Certainly, an important focus of any anti-bullying efforts should be the early years. Any work in primary classrooms and playgrounds probably goes much further than a similar amount expended in secondary schools because of the elements of prevention and "nipping it in the bud". One young child with bullying tendencies picked out and helped to change his/her ways early on would save misery for countless potential victims in the future. More effective by far than trying to deal with big bullies already set in their ways. One little picked-upon pupil taught to stand up to his tormentor by reporting him to a teacher is a small victory in the bid to instil a culture of no tolerance towards the phenomenon. For this is the only approach to take towards this abhorrent behaviour.
Parents have a vital role to play if they are educated to spot signs that their child is being subjected to constant humiliation in the school grounds. Parents of bullies are perhaps more difficult to bring aboard as denial, indifference or even, perversely, pride may prevent them from seeing what their child is doing as a problem and dealing with it.
And that's the nub. Bullying by other names is almost taken for granted in society, whether it's at the wheel of a car, inside the home, in sports, at the workplace or places of entertainment. Tackling it in school is a way to eventually reduce it among grown-ups.
Di- Ve
Wednesday, 20th January 2010
Prostitution on the rise
http://www.di-ve.com/Default.aspx?ID=72&Action=1&NewsId=68682&newscategory=31
There are either more prostitutes - or more reports on prostitutes, with a fourfold since 2006, according to figures released in Parliament.
In 2006, there were only 16 reports, compared with 61 in 2009, according to Justice Minister Carmelo Mifsud Bonnici.
The same prostitutes get arraigned over and over again but even this trend seems to be changing. While a prostitute was arraigned an average of 15 times in 2004, the figure fell to 5 in 2009, possibly indicating that the Court is acting as more of a deterrent.
Di - Ve
Wednesday, 20th January 2010
3 times more domestic violence on women
http://www.di-ve.com/Default.aspx?ID=72&Action=1&NewsId=68681&newscategory=36
3 times as many women are the victims of domestic violence as men, according to statistics issued on Tuesday.
There were 602 incidences of domestic violence in 2009, according to Justice Minister Carmelo Mifsud Bonnici, of which 430 were on adult women and 37 on female children, 113 on adult males and 22 on male children.
In replies to separate Parliamentary Questions posed by MP Noel Farrugia, Dr Mifsud Bonnici also said that there had been 185 reports of violence aimed at people aged over 60, and 108 cases of animal cruelty.
20 people were arraigned in Court on charges of cruelty to animals. The same information was not asked for in the case of domestic violence or violence on elderly people.
http://www.independent.com.mt/news.asp?newsitemid=100408
Maltese nurses on Monday received their first official warrant in a ceremony in the central auditorium at Mater Dei hospital.
EU Commissioner-designate and Social Policy minister John Dalli, and Health parliamentary secretary Joe Cassar presided the ceremony, which gave recognition to a number of nurses for their sterling work throughout the year.
Minster Dalli said it was with great satisfaction that he was presiding the awarding of the first ever warrant for nursing, before wryly remarking that setting foot in the auditorium, he thought he might need the services of a couple of the nurses present, since the structure of the auditorium partially resembled the scene at the European Parliament where for three hours on Thursday he was grilled about the responsibilities he is to assume in Brussels. It was a short comment which was heartily greeted by a round of applause by those present.
Mr Dalli added that it would not be only the nurses who would be the beneficiaries of the warrant, the patient would as well, for every nurse has the safety of the patient at heart. The warrant is not only prestigious in every sense, but gives an added responsibility to every one present to carry out their duties well and enhance the integrity of the nursing profession.
“Moreover, this warrant transmits a further sense of confidence and trust to the Maltese public, assuring them that they are in safe hands when needing the services of a nurse. I am sure that as well as you carried out your duties to date, you will continue doing so in the future,” concluded Mr Dalli.
Dr Kenneth Grech on behalf of the Malta Union of Midwives and Nurses (MUMN) said the issuing of the warrant marks a long process, with consultations for the issue starting as long ago as 2007.
“Apart from recognising the contribution of nurses throughout the year, this warrant also brings about a certain responsibility for nurses to maintain the nursing standards set by the founder of the nursing school, Dr Cachia Zammit, all those years ago,” said Dr Grech.
There are around 2,500 nurses working in Malta and Gozo.
Maltese nurses on Monday received their first official warrant in a ceremony in the central auditorium at Mater Dei hospital.
EU Commissioner-designate and Social Policy minister John Dalli, and Health parliamentary secretary Joe Cassar presided the ceremony, which gave recognition to a number of nurses for their sterling work throughout the year.
Minster Dalli said it was with great satisfaction that he was presiding the awarding of the first ever warrant for nursing, before wryly remarking that setting foot in the auditorium, he thought he might need the services of a couple of the nurses present, since the structure of the auditorium partially resembled the scene at the European Parliament where for three hours on Thursday he was grilled about the responsibilities he is to assume in Brussels. It was a short comment which was heartily greeted by a round of applause by those present.
Mr Dalli added that it would not be only the nurses who would be the beneficiaries of the warrant, the patient would as well, for every nurse has the safety of the patient at heart. The warrant is not only prestigious in every sense, but gives an added responsibility to every one present to carry out their duties well and enhance the integrity of the nursing profession.
“Moreover, this warrant transmits a further sense of confidence and trust to the Maltese public, assuring them that they are in safe hands when needing the services of a nurse. I am sure that as well as you carried out your duties to date, you will continue doing so in the future,” concluded Mr Dalli.
Dr Kenneth Grech on behalf of the Malta Union of Midwives and Nurses (MUMN) said the issuing of the warrant marks a long process, with consultations for the issue starting as long ago as 2007.
“Apart from recognising the contribution of nurses throughout the year, this warrant also brings about a certain responsibility for nurses to maintain the nursing standards set by the founder of the nursing school, Dr Cachia Zammit, all those years ago,” said Dr Grech.
There are around 2,500 nurses working in Malta and Gozo.
President visits former school
http://www.independent.com.mt/news.asp?newsitemid=100398
The St Gorg Preca Junior Lyceum Secondary School for boys was buzzing with activity yesterday, as the President of Malta paid a courtesy visit to his former school.
George Abela is not the first President to have attended the Hamrun Liceo – President Emeritus Ugo Mifsud Bonnici did so as well. Other distinguished personalities who passed their matriculation certificate from the same school include former Prime Minister Dom Mintoff, University Rector Peter Serracino Inglott and Archbishop Paul Cremona, OP.
Upon arrival, the President was greeted by members of the Lyceum scout group, and after exchanging pleasantries with a number of the school’s teachers, went on a tour of the three storey high school, occasionally popping his head inside some of the classrooms to mingle with the students and share a joke or two.
The school was first located in Valletta, but shifted to Hamrun after changing premises in 1955. Today it hosts 900 students. Because of the high number, students who pass their Junior Lyceum exams spend the first year of their five-year secondary education period in the school’s sister college in Sliema, before moving to Hamrun to continue their education from Form 2 to Form 5. The school’s chaplaincy is especially well-known by the Maltese public as it is the only one in Malta to have its Eucharistic sacrament permanently blessed inside the tabernacle.
Following the tour, school headmaster Tony Caruana Smith gave the President an explanation of what will happen in the school’s annual three-day fund-raising marathon which will start on 9 April at mid-day and end on 11 April late in the evening.
The marathon will include an arts, science and technology spectacle, with a number of distinguished singers expected to perform throughout the three days. A number of children activities are also planned, while a bar will especially be set up for all those who desire refreshments during the day.
The highlight of the marathon will be reached in the school’s grounds, where a bicycle marathon will also take place. All money generated by the marathon will go towards the Dar Tal-Providenza respite centre.
Dr Abela also visited the Paola primary school, which also forms part of St Gorg Preca College.
The St Gorg Preca Junior Lyceum Secondary School for boys was buzzing with activity yesterday, as the President of Malta paid a courtesy visit to his former school.
George Abela is not the first President to have attended the Hamrun Liceo – President Emeritus Ugo Mifsud Bonnici did so as well. Other distinguished personalities who passed their matriculation certificate from the same school include former Prime Minister Dom Mintoff, University Rector Peter Serracino Inglott and Archbishop Paul Cremona, OP.
Upon arrival, the President was greeted by members of the Lyceum scout group, and after exchanging pleasantries with a number of the school’s teachers, went on a tour of the three storey high school, occasionally popping his head inside some of the classrooms to mingle with the students and share a joke or two.
The school was first located in Valletta, but shifted to Hamrun after changing premises in 1955. Today it hosts 900 students. Because of the high number, students who pass their Junior Lyceum exams spend the first year of their five-year secondary education period in the school’s sister college in Sliema, before moving to Hamrun to continue their education from Form 2 to Form 5. The school’s chaplaincy is especially well-known by the Maltese public as it is the only one in Malta to have its Eucharistic sacrament permanently blessed inside the tabernacle.
Following the tour, school headmaster Tony Caruana Smith gave the President an explanation of what will happen in the school’s annual three-day fund-raising marathon which will start on 9 April at mid-day and end on 11 April late in the evening.
The marathon will include an arts, science and technology spectacle, with a number of distinguished singers expected to perform throughout the three days. A number of children activities are also planned, while a bar will especially be set up for all those who desire refreshments during the day.
The highlight of the marathon will be reached in the school’s grounds, where a bicycle marathon will also take place. All money generated by the marathon will go towards the Dar Tal-Providenza respite centre.
Dr Abela also visited the Paola primary school, which also forms part of St Gorg Preca College.
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Week of Prayer for Christian Unity
http://www.di-ve.com/Default.aspx?ID=71&Action=1&NewsId=68636
The annual Week of Prayer for Christian Unity is being celebrated throughout the week until Monday, January 25, 2010.
A national ecumenical service is being held on Thursday, January 21, at 1830h at St Andrew’s Scots Church, South Street, Valletta.
The service will be led by Paul Slater, a lay Methodist preacher.
Fr Rene’ Camilleri will deliver a reflection on this year’s theme, “You are witnesses of these things” (Lk 24:48).
The annual Week of Prayer for Christian Unity is being celebrated throughout the week until Monday, January 25, 2010.
A national ecumenical service is being held on Thursday, January 21, at 1830h at St Andrew’s Scots Church, South Street, Valletta.
The service will be led by Paul Slater, a lay Methodist preacher.
Fr Rene’ Camilleri will deliver a reflection on this year’s theme, “You are witnesses of these things” (Lk 24:48).
Maltese travel up 7%
http://www.di-ve.com/Default.aspx?ID=72&Action=1&NewsId=68657
Only 24 hours ago, Eurostat reported that 2 in every 3 Maltese cannot afford a 1-week holiday - but on Tuesday, the National Statistics Office said that over 23,000 went abroad in November, an increase of 7 per cent over a year before.
EU destinations remained most popular with an estimated 84 per cent of Maltese tourists preferring them. The UK and Italy emerged as the destinations with the highest preference, with both countries registering increases over the comparative month in 2008.
In the first 11 months of the year, 273,661 Maltese went abroad (not all of them on holiday, of course) more or less the same level as in the same period of 2008.
Only 24 hours ago, Eurostat reported that 2 in every 3 Maltese cannot afford a 1-week holiday - but on Tuesday, the National Statistics Office said that over 23,000 went abroad in November, an increase of 7 per cent over a year before.
EU destinations remained most popular with an estimated 84 per cent of Maltese tourists preferring them. The UK and Italy emerged as the destinations with the highest preference, with both countries registering increases over the comparative month in 2008.
In the first 11 months of the year, 273,661 Maltese went abroad (not all of them on holiday, of course) more or less the same level as in the same period of 2008.
Employment statistics show rise
http://www.independent.com.mt/news.asp?newsitemid=100355
During the third quarter, turnover and employment indices in the services sector fell by 4.9 and 4.0 per cent respectively when compared to the corresponding quarter of 2008, but increased by 6.7 and 0.2 per cent when compared to the previous quarter of 2009, the National Statistics Office reported yesterday.
Turnover
The period under review saw turnover decreasing by 4.9 per cent when compared to the corresponding quarter in 2008. These declines ranged from 2.5 per cent in Information and Communication services to 11.6 per cent in respect of Professional, Scientific and Technical activities.
On the other hand, the third quarter of 2009 registered a 6.7 per cent gain over the previous quarter. Gains in turnover were registered in Transportation and Storage (+16.8 per cent), Accommodation and Food Service Activities (+12.4 per cent) and Administrative and Support Service Activities (+12.0 per cent). Information and Communication Activities registered an increase of 2.0 per cent, whereas Professional, Scientific and Technical Activities declined by 8.7 per cent.
Employment
During the third quarter of 2009, employment in services dropped by 4.0 per cent when compared to the third quarter of 2008. This decline was mainly due to lower employment in Accommodation and Food Service Activities (-8.4 per cent), Professional, Scientific and Technical activities (-4.4 per cent), and Administrative and Support Service Activities (-9.3 per cent). On the other hand, an increase in employment was registered in Transportation and Storage and Information and Communication, by 1.5 and 7.1 per cent respectively.
When comparing successive quarters, the services employment index registered a 0.2 per cent rise over the previous quarter. This was mainly due to increases of 3.4 and 0.9 per cent in Accommodation and Food Service Activities and Information and Communication respectively.
These gains were partly offset by declines in employment in Professional, Scientific and Technical Activities and Administrative and Support Service Activities of 1.8 and 7.8 per cent respectively.
Wages and salaries and hours worked
Year on year, wages and salaries in the services sector rose by 2.2 per cent whereas hours worked declined by 2.3 per cent. When compared to the second quarter of 2009, wages and salaries rose marginally by 0.6 per cent, while the number of hours worked increased by 2.5 per cent.
During the third quarter, turnover and employment indices in the services sector fell by 4.9 and 4.0 per cent respectively when compared to the corresponding quarter of 2008, but increased by 6.7 and 0.2 per cent when compared to the previous quarter of 2009, the National Statistics Office reported yesterday.
Turnover
The period under review saw turnover decreasing by 4.9 per cent when compared to the corresponding quarter in 2008. These declines ranged from 2.5 per cent in Information and Communication services to 11.6 per cent in respect of Professional, Scientific and Technical activities.
On the other hand, the third quarter of 2009 registered a 6.7 per cent gain over the previous quarter. Gains in turnover were registered in Transportation and Storage (+16.8 per cent), Accommodation and Food Service Activities (+12.4 per cent) and Administrative and Support Service Activities (+12.0 per cent). Information and Communication Activities registered an increase of 2.0 per cent, whereas Professional, Scientific and Technical Activities declined by 8.7 per cent.
Employment
During the third quarter of 2009, employment in services dropped by 4.0 per cent when compared to the third quarter of 2008. This decline was mainly due to lower employment in Accommodation and Food Service Activities (-8.4 per cent), Professional, Scientific and Technical activities (-4.4 per cent), and Administrative and Support Service Activities (-9.3 per cent). On the other hand, an increase in employment was registered in Transportation and Storage and Information and Communication, by 1.5 and 7.1 per cent respectively.
When comparing successive quarters, the services employment index registered a 0.2 per cent rise over the previous quarter. This was mainly due to increases of 3.4 and 0.9 per cent in Accommodation and Food Service Activities and Information and Communication respectively.
These gains were partly offset by declines in employment in Professional, Scientific and Technical Activities and Administrative and Support Service Activities of 1.8 and 7.8 per cent respectively.
Wages and salaries and hours worked
Year on year, wages and salaries in the services sector rose by 2.2 per cent whereas hours worked declined by 2.3 per cent. When compared to the second quarter of 2009, wages and salaries rose marginally by 0.6 per cent, while the number of hours worked increased by 2.5 per cent.
Conference on the family this week
http://www.independent.com.mt/news.asp?newsitemid=100353
A conference being held by the Ministry of Social Policy this Friday and Saturday will discuss “The family... Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow”, in view of social changes and new challenges and opportunities in society which are creating a clear need for a national family policy.A conference being held by the Ministry of Social Policy this Friday and Saturday will discuss “The family... Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow”, in view of social changes and new challenges and opportunities in society which are creating a clear need for a national family policy.
The subject will be introduced by Angela Abela and will touch on the effect of families’ break up, the challenge of an upbringing outside the home, the balance between home and work, and the equal responsibility of the parents. It will be concluded by Frans Borg, ministry permanent secretary.
Attendance is free but registration on tel. 2590-3108/9 is necessary. No one will be allowed in without an invitation, the ministry said.
A conference being held by the Ministry of Social Policy this Friday and Saturday will discuss “The family... Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow”, in view of social changes and new challenges and opportunities in society which are creating a clear need for a national family policy.A conference being held by the Ministry of Social Policy this Friday and Saturday will discuss “The family... Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow”, in view of social changes and new challenges and opportunities in society which are creating a clear need for a national family policy.
The subject will be introduced by Angela Abela and will touch on the effect of families’ break up, the challenge of an upbringing outside the home, the balance between home and work, and the equal responsibility of the parents. It will be concluded by Frans Borg, ministry permanent secretary.
Attendance is free but registration on tel. 2590-3108/9 is necessary. No one will be allowed in without an invitation, the ministry said.
Car a must for most Maltese, but two-thirds can’t afford annual holiday
http://www.independent.com.mt/news.asp?newsitemid=100342
Only two per cent of the Maltese people can’t afford a personal car, but a startling 65 per cent can’t afford a week-long annual holiday, according to a Eurostat report published yesterday.
Of the 27 member states, only Cyprus is in a better position than Malta with regard to car ownership, with just one per cent unable to afford a personal car, whereas Romania has the highest percentage of the population which cannot afford it, as the figure stands at 49 per cent.
On the other hand Malta closely tails Romania and Hungary in terms of the percentage of the population which is unable to afford a week-long annual holiday, according to the report.
The country with the highest percentage unable to afford a week-long holiday is again Romania, with figures revealing that 76 per cent are unable to afford this, followed by 67 per cent of Hungarians. Denmark has the lowest percentage, which stands at just 10 per cent.
The report for 2008, by the EU statistical office Eurostat, focuses on at-risk-of-poverty rates, outlines which countries have the highest and the lowest rates, as well as which are hardest hit by material deprivation.
Material deprivation is defined as the inability to afford at least three of nine particular items, which include the ability to keep a home adequately warm, a meal including chicken, meat, fish or a vegetarian equivalent, as well as possession of a telephone and personal car, among others.
The estimate of the Maltese material deprivation rate is 13 per cent, which doesn’t put Malta at the higher end of material deprivation, although it is not at the lower end. The average for the 27 member states for 2008 was 17 per cent.
When it comes to keeping their homes warm, the Maltese people do not do too badly, with just nine per cent unable to keep a cosy home.
Portugal and Bulgaria have the biggest problem in this area, with 35 per cent of Portuguese and 34 per cent of Bulgarians unable to do so.
When it comes to a meal including chicken, meat, fish or a vegetarian equivalent once every two days, only 10 per cent of the Maltese are unable to afford this, which hovers somewhere around the EU average of nine per cent.
In terms of risk of poverty, Malta is on a par with Belgium and Germany, with 15 per cent of the population living at risk of poverty. This figure is also two per cent below the average EU rate of 17 per cent, according to the report.
The average for the 27 member states has remained pretty stable, varying between 16 and 17 per cent since 2005, according to the report.
The report reveals that Latvia is the member state with the highest at-risk-of-poverty rate, which stands at 26 per cent, closely followed by Romania, with 23 per cent of the population at risk.
The lowest at-risk-of-poverty rates, on the other hand, are found in the Czech Republic, with a mere nine per cent of the population at risk. The rates for the Netherlands and Slovakia both stand at 11 per cent.
It seems that children and elderly people have a higher risk-of-poverty, in most cases, and Malta is no exception. 20 per cent of Maltese children are at risk of poverty, and 22 per cent of those aged over 65, but on the other hand it is 15 per cent of the total population.
Employment makes a huge difference to the statistics, with only five per cent of those employed living at risk of poverty in Malta. On a European level, the figure stands at eight per cent, but it is still considerably lower.
This information coincides with the opening of the European Year for Combating Poverty and Social Exclusion, organised by the European Commission and the Spanish Presidency of the EU.
Only two per cent of the Maltese people can’t afford a personal car, but a startling 65 per cent can’t afford a week-long annual holiday, according to a Eurostat report published yesterday.
Of the 27 member states, only Cyprus is in a better position than Malta with regard to car ownership, with just one per cent unable to afford a personal car, whereas Romania has the highest percentage of the population which cannot afford it, as the figure stands at 49 per cent.
On the other hand Malta closely tails Romania and Hungary in terms of the percentage of the population which is unable to afford a week-long annual holiday, according to the report.
The country with the highest percentage unable to afford a week-long holiday is again Romania, with figures revealing that 76 per cent are unable to afford this, followed by 67 per cent of Hungarians. Denmark has the lowest percentage, which stands at just 10 per cent.
The report for 2008, by the EU statistical office Eurostat, focuses on at-risk-of-poverty rates, outlines which countries have the highest and the lowest rates, as well as which are hardest hit by material deprivation.
Material deprivation is defined as the inability to afford at least three of nine particular items, which include the ability to keep a home adequately warm, a meal including chicken, meat, fish or a vegetarian equivalent, as well as possession of a telephone and personal car, among others.
The estimate of the Maltese material deprivation rate is 13 per cent, which doesn’t put Malta at the higher end of material deprivation, although it is not at the lower end. The average for the 27 member states for 2008 was 17 per cent.
When it comes to keeping their homes warm, the Maltese people do not do too badly, with just nine per cent unable to keep a cosy home.
Portugal and Bulgaria have the biggest problem in this area, with 35 per cent of Portuguese and 34 per cent of Bulgarians unable to do so.
When it comes to a meal including chicken, meat, fish or a vegetarian equivalent once every two days, only 10 per cent of the Maltese are unable to afford this, which hovers somewhere around the EU average of nine per cent.
In terms of risk of poverty, Malta is on a par with Belgium and Germany, with 15 per cent of the population living at risk of poverty. This figure is also two per cent below the average EU rate of 17 per cent, according to the report.
The average for the 27 member states has remained pretty stable, varying between 16 and 17 per cent since 2005, according to the report.
The report reveals that Latvia is the member state with the highest at-risk-of-poverty rate, which stands at 26 per cent, closely followed by Romania, with 23 per cent of the population at risk.
The lowest at-risk-of-poverty rates, on the other hand, are found in the Czech Republic, with a mere nine per cent of the population at risk. The rates for the Netherlands and Slovakia both stand at 11 per cent.
It seems that children and elderly people have a higher risk-of-poverty, in most cases, and Malta is no exception. 20 per cent of Maltese children are at risk of poverty, and 22 per cent of those aged over 65, but on the other hand it is 15 per cent of the total population.
Employment makes a huge difference to the statistics, with only five per cent of those employed living at risk of poverty in Malta. On a European level, the figure stands at eight per cent, but it is still considerably lower.
This information coincides with the opening of the European Year for Combating Poverty and Social Exclusion, organised by the European Commission and the Spanish Presidency of the EU.
Social benefits fraud
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20100119/local/social-benefits-fraud
The government has suspended 861 cases of social benefits because of fraud during the first nine months of last year.
Answering a parliamentary question by Alfred Sant (PL), Social Policy Minister John Dalli said that in the process the government saved €3,134,439. For the whole of 2008, the government suspended benefits in 960 cases and saved €2,491,502 while the previous year, the suspended cases totalled 982 and the government saved €3,482,410.
The government has suspended 861 cases of social benefits because of fraud during the first nine months of last year.
Answering a parliamentary question by Alfred Sant (PL), Social Policy Minister John Dalli said that in the process the government saved €3,134,439. For the whole of 2008, the government suspended benefits in 960 cases and saved €2,491,502 while the previous year, the suspended cases totalled 982 and the government saved €3,482,410.
New Church schools
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20100119/local/new-church-schools
The phasing-in period for the new primary schools to be opened by four Church schools and the opening of the new secondary school will begin in the scholastic year starting September 2011 and not next scholastic year as erroneously reported in the article titled Church Schools Plan €20m Expansion, yesterday. The process will take three years.
The phasing-in period for the new primary schools to be opened by four Church schools and the opening of the new secondary school will begin in the scholastic year starting September 2011 and not next scholastic year as erroneously reported in the article titled Church Schools Plan €20m Expansion, yesterday. The process will take three years.
15% of population 'at risk of poverty'
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20100119/local/15-of-population-at-risk-of-poverty
Poverty may be hidden in Malta but it is alive and well.Fifteen per cent of the population were estimated to be on the threshold of poverty in 2008, according to statistics released by Eurostat.
The figure may be slightly better than the EU average of 17 per cent but the island's elderly seem to be in a more vulnerable position, with 22 per cent of those over-65 considered to be at risk of poverty, three per cent more than in the EU as a whole.
According to economic theory, the at-risk-of-poverty rate is set at 60 per cent of the national median income. In Malta this was calculated at €7,800 per household in 2008.
Eurostat said even when including the receipt of social benefits, including pensions in the case of the elderly, 15 out of every 100 Maltese did not live in a household that reached the median income.
Though lower than the EU average, material deprivation was also significantly high among Malta's population.
Eurostat said that in 2008, 13 per cent of Malta's population was considered to be materially deprived, meaning they had difficulties in obtaining three out of a list of nine essential items.
The list includes: the ability to face unexpected expenses; to pay for a one-week annual holiday away from home; keeping up with the bills (mortgage, utility bills, loan payments); capacity to have a meal with meat, chicken, fish or a vegetarian equivalent every second day; capacity to keep the home adequately warm; and possessing a washing machine, colour television, telephone, and private car.
An annual holiday away from home seems to be the most unattainable "luxury" for the Maltese, according to Eurostat.
The study showed that 65 per cent of the Maltese were unable to commit to an annual holiday. This is one of the highest rates in the EU, surpassed only by Romanians (76 per cent) and Hungarians (67 per cent). Just 37 per cent of the population in the rest of the EU said they could not afford an annual holiday.
The survey showed that 10 per cent of the Maltese population said they could not eat meat, chicken, fish or a vegetarian equivalent every second day, while nine per cent had difficulties in keeping their home warm during the winter.
On a general EU level, Eurostat said the highest at-risk-of-poverty rates in 2008 were found in Latvia (26 per cent), Romania (23 per cent), Bulgaria (21 per cent), Greece and Spain (20 per cent), while the lowest rates were in the Czech Republic (nine per cent) and The Netherlands and Slovakia (both 11 per cent).
This year the EU is commemorating the European Year for Combating Poverty and Social Exclusion to highlight the difficulties poor people in Europe are facing and stimulating action by member states to help these vulnerable people.
Poverty may be hidden in Malta but it is alive and well.Fifteen per cent of the population were estimated to be on the threshold of poverty in 2008, according to statistics released by Eurostat.
The figure may be slightly better than the EU average of 17 per cent but the island's elderly seem to be in a more vulnerable position, with 22 per cent of those over-65 considered to be at risk of poverty, three per cent more than in the EU as a whole.
According to economic theory, the at-risk-of-poverty rate is set at 60 per cent of the national median income. In Malta this was calculated at €7,800 per household in 2008.
Eurostat said even when including the receipt of social benefits, including pensions in the case of the elderly, 15 out of every 100 Maltese did not live in a household that reached the median income.
Though lower than the EU average, material deprivation was also significantly high among Malta's population.
Eurostat said that in 2008, 13 per cent of Malta's population was considered to be materially deprived, meaning they had difficulties in obtaining three out of a list of nine essential items.
The list includes: the ability to face unexpected expenses; to pay for a one-week annual holiday away from home; keeping up with the bills (mortgage, utility bills, loan payments); capacity to have a meal with meat, chicken, fish or a vegetarian equivalent every second day; capacity to keep the home adequately warm; and possessing a washing machine, colour television, telephone, and private car.
An annual holiday away from home seems to be the most unattainable "luxury" for the Maltese, according to Eurostat.
The study showed that 65 per cent of the Maltese were unable to commit to an annual holiday. This is one of the highest rates in the EU, surpassed only by Romanians (76 per cent) and Hungarians (67 per cent). Just 37 per cent of the population in the rest of the EU said they could not afford an annual holiday.
The survey showed that 10 per cent of the Maltese population said they could not eat meat, chicken, fish or a vegetarian equivalent every second day, while nine per cent had difficulties in keeping their home warm during the winter.
On a general EU level, Eurostat said the highest at-risk-of-poverty rates in 2008 were found in Latvia (26 per cent), Romania (23 per cent), Bulgaria (21 per cent), Greece and Spain (20 per cent), while the lowest rates were in the Czech Republic (nine per cent) and The Netherlands and Slovakia (both 11 per cent).
This year the EU is commemorating the European Year for Combating Poverty and Social Exclusion to highlight the difficulties poor people in Europe are facing and stimulating action by member states to help these vulnerable people.
Inflation down further
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20100119/local/inflation-down-further
Malta's inflation rate fell by 0.4 per cent to 1.8 per cent last month, the biggest fall in the rate it has seen in the last 12 months.
However, inflation is still the highest in the euro area, which stood at just 0.3 per cent, even as the average in the 16-member eurozone rose by 0.9 per cent, a further indication of economic recovery.
Eurostat said the lowest 12-month average up to December was registered in Ireland (-1.7 per cent), Portugal (-0.9 per cent) and Spain (-0.3 per cent), and the highest in Romania (5.6 per cent), Lithuania (4.2 per cent), Hungary and Poland (both four per cent).
The main components with the highest annual rates in December were alcohol and tobacco (4.8 per cent) and transport (3.5 per cent), while the lowest annual rates were observed for food (-1.3 per cent), communications (-0.8 per cent), and housing (-0.3 per cent).
Fuels for transport (0.42 percentage points) and tobacco (0.13) had the largest upward impact on the inflation rate, while gas (-0.33) and cars (-0.10) had the biggest downward impact.
Malta's inflation rate fell by 0.4 per cent to 1.8 per cent last month, the biggest fall in the rate it has seen in the last 12 months.
However, inflation is still the highest in the euro area, which stood at just 0.3 per cent, even as the average in the 16-member eurozone rose by 0.9 per cent, a further indication of economic recovery.
Eurostat said the lowest 12-month average up to December was registered in Ireland (-1.7 per cent), Portugal (-0.9 per cent) and Spain (-0.3 per cent), and the highest in Romania (5.6 per cent), Lithuania (4.2 per cent), Hungary and Poland (both four per cent).
The main components with the highest annual rates in December were alcohol and tobacco (4.8 per cent) and transport (3.5 per cent), while the lowest annual rates were observed for food (-1.3 per cent), communications (-0.8 per cent), and housing (-0.3 per cent).
Fuels for transport (0.42 percentage points) and tobacco (0.13) had the largest upward impact on the inflation rate, while gas (-0.33) and cars (-0.10) had the biggest downward impact.
37 tons of provisions and counting
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20100119/local/37-tons-of-provisions-and-counting
The Civil Protection Department had collected 37 tons worth of provisions for the victims of the Haitian earthquake by yesterday.
Some eight tons of water, six tons of blankets, 10 tons of food and 13 tons of clothing were collected over the weekend.
CPD deputy director Patrick Murgo said: "We are still waiting for instructions to establish where the collected provisions will be sent to. We have informed the EU about what we have collected."
He added that the CPD was still receiving provisions and would keep doing so until the whole collection was shipped out at the end of this week. Anyone wishing to make a donation was welcome to do so.
Currently, aid workers are experiencing problems in Haiti due to armed gangs attacking them in an attempt to steal provisions.
The January 12 earthquake registered 7.0 on the Richter scale and is believed to have killed between 50,000 and 200,000. A further 250,000 are in need of urgent medical attention and up to three million people have been affected.
The Civil Protection Department had collected 37 tons worth of provisions for the victims of the Haitian earthquake by yesterday.
Some eight tons of water, six tons of blankets, 10 tons of food and 13 tons of clothing were collected over the weekend.
CPD deputy director Patrick Murgo said: "We are still waiting for instructions to establish where the collected provisions will be sent to. We have informed the EU about what we have collected."
He added that the CPD was still receiving provisions and would keep doing so until the whole collection was shipped out at the end of this week. Anyone wishing to make a donation was welcome to do so.
Currently, aid workers are experiencing problems in Haiti due to armed gangs attacking them in an attempt to steal provisions.
The January 12 earthquake registered 7.0 on the Richter scale and is believed to have killed between 50,000 and 200,000. A further 250,000 are in need of urgent medical attention and up to three million people have been affected.
7% increase in Maltese tourists in November
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20100119/local/7-increase-in-maltese-tourists-in-november
The number of Maltese going abroad in November reached 23,028, up by 7 per cent when compared to November 2008, the NSO said today.
The UK and Italy, as usual, emerged as the destinations with the highest preference, with both countries registering increases over the comparative month in 2008. 7,063 went to the UK (Nov 2008 = 6,798) and 6,394 went to Italy (6,012)
The 25-44 year old age bracket hosted the largest amount of travellers (45 per cent), followed by those aged 45-64 (36 per cent). Male tourists exceed females and made up 60 per cent of the total..
Between January and November the number of outbound passengers was estimated at 273,661, almost unchanged when compared to 2008 levels. Of these, 236,872 travelled to EU destinations; the most visited countries being Italy and the UK. Together, these destinations account for 56 per cent of total outbound trips.
The number of Maltese going abroad in November reached 23,028, up by 7 per cent when compared to November 2008, the NSO said today.
The UK and Italy, as usual, emerged as the destinations with the highest preference, with both countries registering increases over the comparative month in 2008. 7,063 went to the UK (Nov 2008 = 6,798) and 6,394 went to Italy (6,012)
The 25-44 year old age bracket hosted the largest amount of travellers (45 per cent), followed by those aged 45-64 (36 per cent). Male tourists exceed females and made up 60 per cent of the total..
Between January and November the number of outbound passengers was estimated at 273,661, almost unchanged when compared to 2008 levels. Of these, 236,872 travelled to EU destinations; the most visited countries being Italy and the UK. Together, these destinations account for 56 per cent of total outbound trips.
Friday, January 15, 2010
Rebuilding the traditional family
Times of Malta
Opinion
Friday, 15th January 2010
Caroline Galea
The eagerly-awaited report drafted by the House Social Affairs Committee regarding the reality crassly labelled as "the unknown father" has now been published. This report follows the Caritas-sponsored conference held earlier last year entitled Marriage- Quo Vadis? While the latter attempted to address a number of thorny issues surrounding the realities of marriage, the SAC report zeroed in exclusively on the role of the father and the impact of the absence of the father figure in the life and development of children.
The SAC report continues to confirm the continuing growing trend of single-parent families. The committee explicitly reveals its preoccupation with the disconcerting rise of undeclared fathers on birth certificates. Over a relatively short period of time (2003-2007), the increase of single-parent households in Malta increased by a staggering 112 per cent (from 1,720 families in 2003 to 3,650 families in 2007). In the following year, a quarter of all births were registered outside wedlock while a third of these children were registered as "father unknown". It seems abundantly clear that the trend is continuing to rise and has so far shown no signs of abating let alone diminishing.
The SAC held a number of public hearings with several professionals in the field of family issues with a view to drawing a clearer picture as to the realities and challenges facing Maltese families today. Having pondered on the facts presented, the committee had the unenviable task of putting forward a number of recommendations that seek to address the circumstances of the modern family and the apparent erosion of the traditional Maltese family nucleus. Since the exercise is a public consultation, the SAC made it clear that the recommendations were open to scrutiny and to further suggestions or improvements. In this sense, the report has its positives and, possibly, also some contentious aspects.
I was relieved to see that the economic aspect of the phenomenon was given the appropriate mention without too much emphasis on the monetary/fraud conundrum. Sadly, when this subject is discussed it is the social benefit angle that invariably takes the upper hand. Make no mistake in that I believe that this situation should be addressed as soon as possible. However, reducing the phenomenon of the single family/unknown father to pounds, shillings and pence (or euros!) is abjectly simplistic and artificially shallow.
The report's recommendations are built on four aspects.
Firstly, admitting the realities that our society faces and, thus, the importance of awareness. In this context, rights and obligations of both parents are to be highlighted. This is followed by the need for more training and preparation for couples both on a legal and psychological basis. At a more basic level, the case is made for further education.
This is, of course, none other than sex education, a subject that could be the key to more mature choices within relationships. Lastly, the need for more comprehensive and intense research that would give law makers and professionals a less anecdotal and more scientific basis for evaluation and concrete action in the future.
The committee has not minced its words. It is clear it believes that the role of the father is indispensable for the sake of the full development of the child.
Clearly, it has deduced that children from broken families are the ultimate victims in messy separations. Although it avoids to generalise, one feels that the committee was probably too harsh in its belief that children shorn from the traditional family face impending doom. Here again, the lack of precise national data hampers the discussion as such.
The SAC recommends that the registration of both parents should be obligatory. While one appreciates that law makers have to make hands-on decisions, the delicate nature of the subject makes the matter even more complex than it appears. Compulsory registration may address particular issues, yet, it fails to address the deeper changes that are occurring in our society. Mere names on certificates go a short way in resolving issues of relative poverty or social exclusion experienced by a significant proportion of non-traditional households.
The SAC understands the issues surrounding the present realities and gives credence to the need to strengthen values. This, unfortunately, cannot be done by mere legislation. Preservation of our values comes from personal beliefs and circumstances. In this sense, it seems strange that no mention has been made as to the realities behind many of the children born out of wedlock who are probably now part of stable relationships, which are unable to reconstitute themselves legally. One would have expected such an issue to be raised at least at this level.
Clearly, the family and the welfare of children continue to occupy the agenda both of this country and its people. There is now significant momentum to further this debate. The changes that will be proposed may have significant influence on our society in the future. Effective change can only happen through consensus and our participation is evidently crucial.
info@carolinegalea.com
Times of Malta
Letters
Friday, 15th January 2010
Impassable pavements
Natasha Aleksic, Sliema
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20100115/letters/impassable-pavements
There has been a lot of discussion about parking and works in the streets in Sliema. But does someone check the state of the streets and of the pavements?
I would like to draw attention, for example, to High Street. A very dear Maltese friend who lives there is confined to a wheelchair. She loves to go out but sometimes it is a nightmare.
Part of the street is so rough and unsuitable for wheelchairs that we have to use the road and angry drivers stop and shout "prosit!" or "bankina!". Sometimes we find bags of rubbish blocking the pavement and again have to step down onto a busy road.
Once we reach Dingli Street, where the footpaths are better and can be used, the problem we encounter is cars mounted on pavements. It often happens that we have to step down on the street between two cars with little space in between and no ramp.
Somebody has to do something about pavements in Sliema, a town with a high population of elderly people as well as being popular with many mothers with pushchairs.
Times of Malta
Letters
Friday, 15th January 2010
Replacing censorship with age classification
Owen Bonnici MP (PL), Valletta
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20100115/letters/replacing-censorship-with-age-classification
Austin Bencini failed to put forward a coherent reasoning on obscenity laws (January 13) and merged the debate about the young editor Mark Camilleri's ordeal with censorship, child pornography, sexual harassment, extreme pornography, erotic websites and the like.
His article was published only one day after Justice and Interior Minister Carm Mifsud Bonnici told Parliament that my proposal to throw censorship in the arts out of the window would open the door to pornographic material which abuses of children, people with disability and other vulnerable persons.
Censorship by definition is a mechanism whereby a state-owned entity curbs and suppresses, partially or in toto, a communicative effort from being transmitted before that effort is actually transmitted. Therefore the Camilleri case has nothing to do with censorship since he at no time was held from publishing and distributing his newspaper, but with another issue (that of the application of anti-obscenity laws).
In our country, censorship is obtained under the so-called Cinema and Stage Regulations whereby, as the Stitching promoters know well enough, a government authority has the obscene power to censor a film or play in part or in whole.
As MPs from both sides of the House, the President of the Chamber of Advocates and a long list of authors and artists have claimed, the concept of censorship is anathema to a healthy democracy based on freedom of speech, belief in the arts and the natural right to make use of our pens as of our tongue, at our peril, risk and hazard.
Really and truly, censorship reflects the state's lack of confidence in society.
A 2002 Council of Europe report compiled by a group of experts led by Anthony Everitt stated in no uncertain terms that "stage censorship, being a control over the freedom of expression, is inconsistent with the principles of the Council of Europe and the European Union and should be abolished. (B 6.17)"
Since I believe in a true, healthy democracy I am calling for the total abolishment of censorship from our laws obtaining under the Cinema and Stage Regulations and the introduction, instead, of an age rating mechanism similar to that found in cinemas and some TV programmes.
Should the present-day conservative government keep on dragging its feet on this issue, Labour will propose its own fully-fledged private members Bill by the end of next May to throw censorship out of the window completely and replace it with an age-classification mechanism.
Even without the archaic institute of censorship, society would still be protected from grave abuses involving child pornography, extreme pornography and serious harassment to vulnerable sectors of society through anti-obscenity laws.
However, the application (or non-application) of anti-obscenity laws should always be made in a way in which to favour the liberty of freedom of expression and artistic freedom.
To take the Camilleri case, there is absolutely no way where a sensible and progressive democracy can ever accept that a young University student be accused of a crime which carries the maximum penalty of six months imprisonment just because he happened to publish an article or short story in a University newspaper on an anti-hero who attracts disgust on his views about women, be it with or without any literary value!
We need both a modernisation and revamp of article 208 of the Criminal Code and the anti-obscenity laws and, most importantly, a revamp in the conservative mentality of this government and all the other authorities which were involved in this tragi-comedy of errors.
In discussing what is obscene, we should keep in mind that the European Court of Human Rights has stated that the values of pluralism, tolerance and broadmindedness without which there is no democratic society demand a freedom of expression not only of ideas that are favourably received or regarded as inoffensive or as a matter of indifference, but also to those that offend, shock or disturb.
Labour will do everything that is in its power to put some sense and instil in Malta a breath of fresh air in line with the contemporary reasoning in Europe.
In saying this, Labour is not putting undue pressures on the serenity and the independence which the courts must enjoy at all times as it has been suggested, but is putting pen to paper what it believes in, what it stands for, and where it wants the Maltese society to go.
Times of Malta
Letters
Friday, 15th January 2010
The Israeli-Palestinian conflict
Ryan Dalli, Movement for Peace and Justice in Palestine, Malta, Żabbar
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20100115/letters/the-israeli-palestinian-conflict
Palestinian farmers clash with Israeli settlers who tried to stop them from working in their land in the village of Immatein, east of the West Bank town of Qalqilya, earlier this week. Photo: Jaafar Ashtiyeh/AFP.
I am afraid that Albert Cilia-Vincenti (Neutrality In ME Conflict, January 12) has the wrong idea of neutrality and its meaning in the face of prolonged injustice and oppression.
His concept of neutrality on which the argument is based is at the least very naïve. We ought to approach the concept of neutrality thoughtfully. We need a different approach.
Three come to mind: There are the mind-sets of the naïve (which is a way of avoiding critical thought), the cynical (who are paranoid against the other side(s)) and the critical. The distinction between the cynical and the naïve is not as sharp as it may seem - and wherever possible we need to avoid that kind of thought.
In my letter First Anniversary Of Israeli Offensive, as a representative of the Movement for Peace and Justice in Palestine, Malta, I did not advise Maltese politicians to support blindly and without question the Palestinians at the European Union, but instead we advise the Maltese people to be critical.
Being critical does not mean being negative or hostile - it is not cynicism - it means using dialogue and expressing one's views in a peaceful and critical way rather than pretending to be invisible in world politics.
When dealing with the concept of neutrality we have to avoid the extremes of both the naïve (looking away) and the cynical rejection of one side or the other.
Instead, a critical and neutral country like Malta should evaluate the basis of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which in our view is the illegal occupation of a country by another country, and construct its own position on whether the deaths of 1,387 Palestinians, half of whom were women and children, were worthwhile or not. I have to remind Mr Cilia-Vincenti that Malta is part of this world and like all other countries it has an essential role to play.
Ironically, in his last few sentences he wrote: "As President Obama has stressed, it is up to Israelis and Palestinians to work out how they can have two adjoining states living in peace." Malta can start being neutral yet critical by advising President Obama that there will be no peace between Palestine and Israel if the US won't stop selling arms to Israel.
In this context I would like to share this quote by Paulo Freire: "Washing one's hands of the conflict between the powerful and the powerless means to side with the powerful, not to be neutral."
Opinion
Friday, 15th January 2010
Caroline Galea
The eagerly-awaited report drafted by the House Social Affairs Committee regarding the reality crassly labelled as "the unknown father" has now been published. This report follows the Caritas-sponsored conference held earlier last year entitled Marriage- Quo Vadis? While the latter attempted to address a number of thorny issues surrounding the realities of marriage, the SAC report zeroed in exclusively on the role of the father and the impact of the absence of the father figure in the life and development of children.
The SAC report continues to confirm the continuing growing trend of single-parent families. The committee explicitly reveals its preoccupation with the disconcerting rise of undeclared fathers on birth certificates. Over a relatively short period of time (2003-2007), the increase of single-parent households in Malta increased by a staggering 112 per cent (from 1,720 families in 2003 to 3,650 families in 2007). In the following year, a quarter of all births were registered outside wedlock while a third of these children were registered as "father unknown". It seems abundantly clear that the trend is continuing to rise and has so far shown no signs of abating let alone diminishing.
The SAC held a number of public hearings with several professionals in the field of family issues with a view to drawing a clearer picture as to the realities and challenges facing Maltese families today. Having pondered on the facts presented, the committee had the unenviable task of putting forward a number of recommendations that seek to address the circumstances of the modern family and the apparent erosion of the traditional Maltese family nucleus. Since the exercise is a public consultation, the SAC made it clear that the recommendations were open to scrutiny and to further suggestions or improvements. In this sense, the report has its positives and, possibly, also some contentious aspects.
I was relieved to see that the economic aspect of the phenomenon was given the appropriate mention without too much emphasis on the monetary/fraud conundrum. Sadly, when this subject is discussed it is the social benefit angle that invariably takes the upper hand. Make no mistake in that I believe that this situation should be addressed as soon as possible. However, reducing the phenomenon of the single family/unknown father to pounds, shillings and pence (or euros!) is abjectly simplistic and artificially shallow.
The report's recommendations are built on four aspects.
Firstly, admitting the realities that our society faces and, thus, the importance of awareness. In this context, rights and obligations of both parents are to be highlighted. This is followed by the need for more training and preparation for couples both on a legal and psychological basis. At a more basic level, the case is made for further education.
This is, of course, none other than sex education, a subject that could be the key to more mature choices within relationships. Lastly, the need for more comprehensive and intense research that would give law makers and professionals a less anecdotal and more scientific basis for evaluation and concrete action in the future.
The committee has not minced its words. It is clear it believes that the role of the father is indispensable for the sake of the full development of the child.
Clearly, it has deduced that children from broken families are the ultimate victims in messy separations. Although it avoids to generalise, one feels that the committee was probably too harsh in its belief that children shorn from the traditional family face impending doom. Here again, the lack of precise national data hampers the discussion as such.
The SAC recommends that the registration of both parents should be obligatory. While one appreciates that law makers have to make hands-on decisions, the delicate nature of the subject makes the matter even more complex than it appears. Compulsory registration may address particular issues, yet, it fails to address the deeper changes that are occurring in our society. Mere names on certificates go a short way in resolving issues of relative poverty or social exclusion experienced by a significant proportion of non-traditional households.
The SAC understands the issues surrounding the present realities and gives credence to the need to strengthen values. This, unfortunately, cannot be done by mere legislation. Preservation of our values comes from personal beliefs and circumstances. In this sense, it seems strange that no mention has been made as to the realities behind many of the children born out of wedlock who are probably now part of stable relationships, which are unable to reconstitute themselves legally. One would have expected such an issue to be raised at least at this level.
Clearly, the family and the welfare of children continue to occupy the agenda both of this country and its people. There is now significant momentum to further this debate. The changes that will be proposed may have significant influence on our society in the future. Effective change can only happen through consensus and our participation is evidently crucial.
info@carolinegalea.com
Times of Malta
Letters
Friday, 15th January 2010
Impassable pavements
Natasha Aleksic, Sliema
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20100115/letters/impassable-pavements
There has been a lot of discussion about parking and works in the streets in Sliema. But does someone check the state of the streets and of the pavements?
I would like to draw attention, for example, to High Street. A very dear Maltese friend who lives there is confined to a wheelchair. She loves to go out but sometimes it is a nightmare.
Part of the street is so rough and unsuitable for wheelchairs that we have to use the road and angry drivers stop and shout "prosit!" or "bankina!". Sometimes we find bags of rubbish blocking the pavement and again have to step down onto a busy road.
Once we reach Dingli Street, where the footpaths are better and can be used, the problem we encounter is cars mounted on pavements. It often happens that we have to step down on the street between two cars with little space in between and no ramp.
Somebody has to do something about pavements in Sliema, a town with a high population of elderly people as well as being popular with many mothers with pushchairs.
Times of Malta
Letters
Friday, 15th January 2010
Replacing censorship with age classification
Owen Bonnici MP (PL), Valletta
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20100115/letters/replacing-censorship-with-age-classification
Austin Bencini failed to put forward a coherent reasoning on obscenity laws (January 13) and merged the debate about the young editor Mark Camilleri's ordeal with censorship, child pornography, sexual harassment, extreme pornography, erotic websites and the like.
His article was published only one day after Justice and Interior Minister Carm Mifsud Bonnici told Parliament that my proposal to throw censorship in the arts out of the window would open the door to pornographic material which abuses of children, people with disability and other vulnerable persons.
Censorship by definition is a mechanism whereby a state-owned entity curbs and suppresses, partially or in toto, a communicative effort from being transmitted before that effort is actually transmitted. Therefore the Camilleri case has nothing to do with censorship since he at no time was held from publishing and distributing his newspaper, but with another issue (that of the application of anti-obscenity laws).
In our country, censorship is obtained under the so-called Cinema and Stage Regulations whereby, as the Stitching promoters know well enough, a government authority has the obscene power to censor a film or play in part or in whole.
As MPs from both sides of the House, the President of the Chamber of Advocates and a long list of authors and artists have claimed, the concept of censorship is anathema to a healthy democracy based on freedom of speech, belief in the arts and the natural right to make use of our pens as of our tongue, at our peril, risk and hazard.
Really and truly, censorship reflects the state's lack of confidence in society.
A 2002 Council of Europe report compiled by a group of experts led by Anthony Everitt stated in no uncertain terms that "stage censorship, being a control over the freedom of expression, is inconsistent with the principles of the Council of Europe and the European Union and should be abolished. (B 6.17)"
Since I believe in a true, healthy democracy I am calling for the total abolishment of censorship from our laws obtaining under the Cinema and Stage Regulations and the introduction, instead, of an age rating mechanism similar to that found in cinemas and some TV programmes.
Should the present-day conservative government keep on dragging its feet on this issue, Labour will propose its own fully-fledged private members Bill by the end of next May to throw censorship out of the window completely and replace it with an age-classification mechanism.
Even without the archaic institute of censorship, society would still be protected from grave abuses involving child pornography, extreme pornography and serious harassment to vulnerable sectors of society through anti-obscenity laws.
However, the application (or non-application) of anti-obscenity laws should always be made in a way in which to favour the liberty of freedom of expression and artistic freedom.
To take the Camilleri case, there is absolutely no way where a sensible and progressive democracy can ever accept that a young University student be accused of a crime which carries the maximum penalty of six months imprisonment just because he happened to publish an article or short story in a University newspaper on an anti-hero who attracts disgust on his views about women, be it with or without any literary value!
We need both a modernisation and revamp of article 208 of the Criminal Code and the anti-obscenity laws and, most importantly, a revamp in the conservative mentality of this government and all the other authorities which were involved in this tragi-comedy of errors.
In discussing what is obscene, we should keep in mind that the European Court of Human Rights has stated that the values of pluralism, tolerance and broadmindedness without which there is no democratic society demand a freedom of expression not only of ideas that are favourably received or regarded as inoffensive or as a matter of indifference, but also to those that offend, shock or disturb.
Labour will do everything that is in its power to put some sense and instil in Malta a breath of fresh air in line with the contemporary reasoning in Europe.
In saying this, Labour is not putting undue pressures on the serenity and the independence which the courts must enjoy at all times as it has been suggested, but is putting pen to paper what it believes in, what it stands for, and where it wants the Maltese society to go.
Times of Malta
Letters
Friday, 15th January 2010
The Israeli-Palestinian conflict
Ryan Dalli, Movement for Peace and Justice in Palestine, Malta, Żabbar
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20100115/letters/the-israeli-palestinian-conflict
Palestinian farmers clash with Israeli settlers who tried to stop them from working in their land in the village of Immatein, east of the West Bank town of Qalqilya, earlier this week. Photo: Jaafar Ashtiyeh/AFP.
I am afraid that Albert Cilia-Vincenti (Neutrality In ME Conflict, January 12) has the wrong idea of neutrality and its meaning in the face of prolonged injustice and oppression.
His concept of neutrality on which the argument is based is at the least very naïve. We ought to approach the concept of neutrality thoughtfully. We need a different approach.
Three come to mind: There are the mind-sets of the naïve (which is a way of avoiding critical thought), the cynical (who are paranoid against the other side(s)) and the critical. The distinction between the cynical and the naïve is not as sharp as it may seem - and wherever possible we need to avoid that kind of thought.
In my letter First Anniversary Of Israeli Offensive, as a representative of the Movement for Peace and Justice in Palestine, Malta, I did not advise Maltese politicians to support blindly and without question the Palestinians at the European Union, but instead we advise the Maltese people to be critical.
Being critical does not mean being negative or hostile - it is not cynicism - it means using dialogue and expressing one's views in a peaceful and critical way rather than pretending to be invisible in world politics.
When dealing with the concept of neutrality we have to avoid the extremes of both the naïve (looking away) and the cynical rejection of one side or the other.
Instead, a critical and neutral country like Malta should evaluate the basis of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which in our view is the illegal occupation of a country by another country, and construct its own position on whether the deaths of 1,387 Palestinians, half of whom were women and children, were worthwhile or not. I have to remind Mr Cilia-Vincenti that Malta is part of this world and like all other countries it has an essential role to play.
Ironically, in his last few sentences he wrote: "As President Obama has stressed, it is up to Israelis and Palestinians to work out how they can have two adjoining states living in peace." Malta can start being neutral yet critical by advising President Obama that there will be no peace between Palestine and Israel if the US won't stop selling arms to Israel.
In this context I would like to share this quote by Paulo Freire: "Washing one's hands of the conflict between the powerful and the powerless means to side with the powerful, not to be neutral."
Haiti relief effort picks up momentum
Di-Ve
by Vanessa Macdonald - editorial@di-ve.com
Current Affairs -- 15 January 2010 -- 16:10CEST
http://www.di-ve.com/Default.aspx?ID=72&Action=1&NewsId=68553&newscategory=31
Aid is pouring into Haiti, with several airlines offering flights and agencies mobilising their resources, but with the death toll still rising after Tuesday’s earthquake, there is much left to be done.
An earthquake measuring 7.3 on the Richter scale struck Haiti on Tuesday January 13, 2010. It hit the capital Port-au-Prince and other areas of the country and tens of thousands are dead with many more missing and hundreds of thousand homeless.
The UN is sending disaster relief while the World Health Organization is coordinating medical assistance and sending a 12-member team specialising in victim care, while NGOs such as Medecins sans Frontiers are scaling up their efforts on the ground as quickly as possible.
The World Food Programme has begun distributions of emergency food rations that were already in country, and is moving another 86 metric tons of high-energy biscuits from El Salvador. UNICEF has flown in water purification supplies and shelter materials.
In Malta, a number of funds have been opened (see below) while the Civil Protection Department is collecting blankets, canned food and drinking water for the victims of the earthquake as well as for the torrential floods that hit Albania last week.
The collection will take place at the Humanitarian Aid Section of the Civil Protection Department at Shipwrights Wharf Marsa (behind Marsovin Ltd.) and the CPD Fire Station at the Heliport in Gozo on Saturday and Sunday between 0900h and 1600h.
Monetary donations may also be made at Bank of Valletta, account number 40018758443 and HSBC on account 078-002391-050.
The Salesians of Don Bosco are urging people to donate money to HSBC account 085111 995050 Salesians: Emergency Haiti, or to Fr Eric Cachia, Salesian Oratory. 20 Triq Karm Galea, Sliema. The Salesians run 11 schools in Haiti, of which more than half were destroyed. 2 Salesians were killed; one other was buried along with 200 children, none of whom have yet been recovered. 50 others are missing, with no news of their whereabouts.
Red Cross volunteers in Haiti are currently assisting the injured and supporting hospitals which do not have enough capacity to deal with this emergency. The Red Cross Red Crescent has pre-positioned relief supplies for 3,000 families in Haiti. In Port-au-Prince there are enough pre-positioned supplies for 500 families, including kitchen kits, personal hygiene kits, blankets and containers for storing drinking water.
The Malta Red Cross is also raising funds. Donations can be made at 104, Saint Ursula Street, Valletta, or at the Gozo Branch, Mgarr Road, Xewkija (entrance opposite the post office). Alternatively, donations may be made directly at Bank of Valletta in account number 10206374012.
Donations to SOS Malta’s campaign can be deposited on the following bank accounts: APS a/c 20000245111, HSBC a/c 006070932050 006070932050 and BOV a/c 40013974950.
Cheque donations can also be sent by post to SOS Malta, 9, Camilleri Court, Testaferrata Street, Ta’ Xbiex XBX 1407 or online through www.sosmalta.org/donate_now.
Donations to Caritas Malta may be passed on to all Maltese and Gozitan Parish priests or sent directly to Caritas by cheque payable to ‘Caritas Haiti Fund’, to the following address: Caritas Malta, 5, Triq l-Iljun, Floriana FRN 1514. The donations may also be deposited in the following bank account numbers: APS - 20000887495, Bank of Valletta 40018761294 or HSBC – 089021513051
by Vanessa Macdonald - editorial@di-ve.com
Current Affairs -- 15 January 2010 -- 16:10CEST
http://www.di-ve.com/Default.aspx?ID=72&Action=1&NewsId=68553&newscategory=31
Aid is pouring into Haiti, with several airlines offering flights and agencies mobilising their resources, but with the death toll still rising after Tuesday’s earthquake, there is much left to be done.
An earthquake measuring 7.3 on the Richter scale struck Haiti on Tuesday January 13, 2010. It hit the capital Port-au-Prince and other areas of the country and tens of thousands are dead with many more missing and hundreds of thousand homeless.
The UN is sending disaster relief while the World Health Organization is coordinating medical assistance and sending a 12-member team specialising in victim care, while NGOs such as Medecins sans Frontiers are scaling up their efforts on the ground as quickly as possible.
The World Food Programme has begun distributions of emergency food rations that were already in country, and is moving another 86 metric tons of high-energy biscuits from El Salvador. UNICEF has flown in water purification supplies and shelter materials.
In Malta, a number of funds have been opened (see below) while the Civil Protection Department is collecting blankets, canned food and drinking water for the victims of the earthquake as well as for the torrential floods that hit Albania last week.
The collection will take place at the Humanitarian Aid Section of the Civil Protection Department at Shipwrights Wharf Marsa (behind Marsovin Ltd.) and the CPD Fire Station at the Heliport in Gozo on Saturday and Sunday between 0900h and 1600h.
Monetary donations may also be made at Bank of Valletta, account number 40018758443 and HSBC on account 078-002391-050.
The Salesians of Don Bosco are urging people to donate money to HSBC account 085111 995050 Salesians: Emergency Haiti, or to Fr Eric Cachia, Salesian Oratory. 20 Triq Karm Galea, Sliema. The Salesians run 11 schools in Haiti, of which more than half were destroyed. 2 Salesians were killed; one other was buried along with 200 children, none of whom have yet been recovered. 50 others are missing, with no news of their whereabouts.
Red Cross volunteers in Haiti are currently assisting the injured and supporting hospitals which do not have enough capacity to deal with this emergency. The Red Cross Red Crescent has pre-positioned relief supplies for 3,000 families in Haiti. In Port-au-Prince there are enough pre-positioned supplies for 500 families, including kitchen kits, personal hygiene kits, blankets and containers for storing drinking water.
The Malta Red Cross is also raising funds. Donations can be made at 104, Saint Ursula Street, Valletta, or at the Gozo Branch, Mgarr Road, Xewkija (entrance opposite the post office). Alternatively, donations may be made directly at Bank of Valletta in account number 10206374012.
Donations to SOS Malta’s campaign can be deposited on the following bank accounts: APS a/c 20000245111, HSBC a/c 006070932050 006070932050 and BOV a/c 40013974950.
Cheque donations can also be sent by post to SOS Malta, 9, Camilleri Court, Testaferrata Street, Ta’ Xbiex XBX 1407 or online through www.sosmalta.org/donate_now.
Donations to Caritas Malta may be passed on to all Maltese and Gozitan Parish priests or sent directly to Caritas by cheque payable to ‘Caritas Haiti Fund’, to the following address: Caritas Malta, 5, Triq l-Iljun, Floriana FRN 1514. The donations may also be deposited in the following bank account numbers: APS - 20000887495, Bank of Valletta 40018761294 or HSBC – 089021513051
Smoking rooms to be phased out by 2013
Di-Ve
Current Affairs -- 15 January 2010 -- 11:35CEST
http://www.di-ve.com/Default.aspx?ID=72&Action=1&NewsId=68538&newscategory=31
Designated smoking rooms will have to be phased out by 2013, according to a legal notice issued this month.
Health Division spokesman John Attard Kingswell said that after 2013, the only place for smokers to light up would be outdoors. He said the division has been in contact with the representatives of the catering industry, to keep them up to date with developments. The move mirrors that in the EU.
However, a source within the industry said that this would be a real blow.
"While most restaurants and their patrons have come to terms with the current smoking rules, nightclubs and other leisure outlets invested considerable sums of money to set aside space for designated smoking areas, and in the extraction equipment these require. It is going to be a real blow for all that to be for nothing in just 3 years' time..." he told www.di-ve.com
The legal notice also states that all smoking rooms in catering establishments must be registered with the Superintendent of Public Health within 2 months, and that they must conform with technical specifications issued by the Malta Standards Authority.
Another legal notice extended the restrictions on advertising and smoking to products often used by smokers trying to quit the habit, such as electronic smoking devices.
The application for the registration of designated smoking rooms is available from the Department for Environmental Health at 37/39 Rue d’Argens, Msida or any Department regional office.
In case of any further queries the public is requested to contact the Department for Environmental Health on tel. 21337333 between 0800h and 1500h.
Current Affairs -- 15 January 2010 -- 11:35CEST
http://www.di-ve.com/Default.aspx?ID=72&Action=1&NewsId=68538&newscategory=31
Designated smoking rooms will have to be phased out by 2013, according to a legal notice issued this month.
Health Division spokesman John Attard Kingswell said that after 2013, the only place for smokers to light up would be outdoors. He said the division has been in contact with the representatives of the catering industry, to keep them up to date with developments. The move mirrors that in the EU.
However, a source within the industry said that this would be a real blow.
"While most restaurants and their patrons have come to terms with the current smoking rules, nightclubs and other leisure outlets invested considerable sums of money to set aside space for designated smoking areas, and in the extraction equipment these require. It is going to be a real blow for all that to be for nothing in just 3 years' time..." he told www.di-ve.com
The legal notice also states that all smoking rooms in catering establishments must be registered with the Superintendent of Public Health within 2 months, and that they must conform with technical specifications issued by the Malta Standards Authority.
Another legal notice extended the restrictions on advertising and smoking to products often used by smokers trying to quit the habit, such as electronic smoking devices.
The application for the registration of designated smoking rooms is available from the Department for Environmental Health at 37/39 Rue d’Argens, Msida or any Department regional office.
In case of any further queries the public is requested to contact the Department for Environmental Health on tel. 21337333 between 0800h and 1500h.
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