‘Beware fake news’ – Archbishop

Archbishop Charles Scicluna, flanked by Archbishop Emeritus Paul Cremona and Auxiliary Bishop Joseph Galea-Curmi, led a walk from near the monument of Christ the King, in Floriana, to St John’s Co-Cathedral in Valletta, on the occasion of the feast of Christ the King. During a Mass at St John’s, Archbishop Scicluna warned of a world “threatened by fake news and post-truths”, saying all should take heed of the commandment that one should not lie.

What made the headlines

NAO finds flaws in power station contract: A bid by Electrogas to build a power station failed to meet minimum requirements to win the lucrative contract in “multiple instances”, the National Audit Office found. In a 500-page report presented to Parliament, the Auditor General flagged shortcomings in the 2013 selection process that eventually saw Electrogas win the contract to build a new power station and supply electricity to the national grid. The audit noted shortcomings in the funding guarantees submitted by Electrogas and a €20 million shortfall in the required total investment and “limited evidence” of firm commitments by suppliers to provide gas during the term of the project. A “conservative estimate” by the NAO found energy generated by the new Electrogas power plant to be on average €50.64 per unit more expensive than the Malta-Sicily interconnector. In reaction to the report Tourism Minister Konrad Mizzi, who as energy minister had presided over the Electrogas contract, insisted there was “no evidence of wrongdoing” against him, while PN leader Adrian Delia said Prime Minister Joseph Muscat had no choice but to sack Dr Mizzi.

Malta-based gaming companies in new anti-Mafia investigation: Maltese gaming companies licensed by the Malta Gaming Authority are being implicated by Italian prosecutors as serving as a money-laundering machine for various Italian Mafias based in Sicily, Reggio Calabria and Puglia, the Times of Malta revealed.

Construction worker dies in Sliema fall: A 26-year-old man died after falling seven stories on a construction site in Sliema. The man, Akram Almshay, a Libyan national who lived in Msida, plunged to his death at a construction site in Qui-si-Sana. He dangled from a rope on the side of the building for about 90 seconds after the wooden plank he was standing on while plastering an outside wall gave way.

Journalists in Malta ‘facing bigger risks’: Journalists in Malta faced bigger risks, a report on media pluralism and freedom found. The country moved from low to medium risk in basic protection afforded to journalists when compared to last year’s ranking, with the Centre for Media Pluralism and Media Freedom noting this was of particular concern. The downgrade from low to medium risk was influenced by the assassination of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, the centre noted. Her murder, it pointed out, represented “the darkest hour for media freedom and media pluralism in the European Union since the 2015 Charlie Hebdo massacre in France”. It found a high-risk of commercial and owner influence over editorial content, adding political independence of the media was at high-risk, since there was no law making government office incompatible with media ownership.

Two Malta-based gambling firms fined millions by UK regulator: Two-Malta based online companies were fined millions of euros by the UK’s gambling regulator for breaching anti-money laundering rules. Another, CZ Holdings of Birkirkara, decided to voluntarily surrender its licence in the UK soon after it got wind that its operations there were under surveillance. The Times of Malta reported that Casumo, based in Swieqi and owned by 58 shareholders, mostly Swedes but also a number of Maltese, was fined €6.5 million. Videoslots, based in Birkirkara and also owned by Swedes, was fined €1.1 million. Although Malta-based, the money laundering irregularities by the two companies occurred in the UK.

More government retainers for Zammit Lewis: Former tourism minister Edward Zammit Lewis has been given another government retainer, this time by the Water and Energy Ministry, according to the Times of Malta. Dr Zammit Lewis, a lawyer by profession who failed to make it to Cabinet after the last general elections, has been engaged by Energy Minister Joe Mizzi on a six-month contract for €4,333 a month. According to information given in Parliament Dr Zammit Lewis is also a consultant to the Lands Authority where he is being paid €2,118 a month. It also emerged that Luke Dalli, the eldest son of Equality Minister Helena Dalli, is being paid €3,000 a month by the Lands Authority for legal work which used to be carried out by in-house lawyers.

What trended

‘Complaining about the market bubble they helped create’

A gaming sector salary is something most local workers would jump through hoops to secure. But life inside the offices of these multinational firms isn’t all that, if gaming executives are to be believed.

Top managers within the sector warned this week that rising rental prices were making Malta less competitive and called for the government to pin rental prices to a salary index.

The warning struck a chord with many readers, albeit for varying reasons.

“And this from the industry with some of the best salaries,” marvelled Christian. “Yet the powers that be continue telling us that there isn’t anything to worry about”.

Bobby had a similar reaction.

“What about the Maltese who earn €1,200 a month??” he exclaimed.

Marcus struck a pessimistic note. Regardless of the warning, he wrote, “by the time that there is a rent reform in place, it will probably be too late”.

Charles was less inclined to take the executives’ words at face value.

“If gaming companies are so concerned with the rental costs for their expats, they should consider subsidising the rent using part of the hundreds of millions of tax savings they benefit from as a result of their operations in Malta,” he argued.

Only reason is tax benefits

Would that be a pyrrhic victory, though? Giorgio certainly seemed to think so.

“The only real reason they operate from Malta is tax benefits. Now remove that in whatever shape or form and poooof they’re gone,” he replied.

Adrian reckoned things were coming full circle.

“I was under the impression that it was the online gambling companies who brought in a flood of foreign workers that were to blame for the increase in rents,” he mused.

“Now they themselves are complaining about the very market bubble they helped create”.

Trash talk

Newly-introduced recycling laws continue to get tongues wagging, with more opinions than there is garbage on street corners.

This week’s best piece of trash talk comes from Rachel, whose solution to Tony’s problem of cats and dogs tearing apart those flimsy white bin liners is as Maltese as they come.

“Spray them with pifpaf or baygon and no animals will move next to them,” she suggested. Given that organic waste is now being turned into compost, adding chemical compounds to what will eventually be soil might not be the wisest move.

What they said

“An ally of ours won’t be there anymore.”

Prime Minister Joseph Muscat emphasising that Malta will be losing a close friend when Britain exits the European Union in March next year.

“Joseph Muscat swore he would be loyal to the Constitution but, instead, he is being loyal to those around him. Those are the ones he seeks to protect.”

Nationalist Party leader Adrian Delia commenting on the Prime Minister’s lack of action in the aftermath of the revelations about the ownership of 17 Black and connections with the new power station.

“A badly-written essay.”

Democratic Party leader Godfrey Farrugia describing Malta’s Constitution, which, he said, needs to be completely rewritten to champion the common good and equality, while strengthening all aspects linked to good governance.

“I would prefer for it to be after Christmas.”

Environment Minister Josè Herrera replying to a question by the Times of Malta regarding when fines will be introduced for taking out the wrong rubbish bag.

“What do I have to do with all this?”

Equality and European Affairs Minister Helena Dalli replying to a question by the Times of Malta whether she still had confidence in the Prime Minister’s chief of staff Keith Schembri and Tourism Minister Konrad Mizzi in the aftermath of the 17 Black media reports.