A 150% increase to art and culture funds announces Minister Bonnici

Nov 3 2022

Minister for National Heritage, the Arts and Local Government Owen Bonnici revealed that there has been a 150% increase in funds allocated to the arts and culture sector in the recent budget.

Bonnici revealed in parliament that, next year, over €60 million will be allocated to the cultural sector. The Minister said that the investment is an important part of the recovery from the pandemic and to boost the economy forward.

There was a big surge in tourists who visited historical sites in the country after the pandemic. Heritage Malta alone was the recipient of an investment of €8,700,000, with another €2 million added after.

The recurrent allocation alone for 2023 – EUR 60 million – is already double the total amount of funds (recurrent and capital) invested by a Nationalist Administration in their last budget.

The allocation for next year (a total of almost EUR 85 million) represents a 7.5% increase over last year.

All this is happening in an immediate post-pandemic period, with a war between Russia and Ukraine affecting the markets and energy prices all over the world. At the same time our public finances are in order and well within the fiscal criteria imposed by the European Commission.

‘This is what taking culture and the arts seriously looks like’.

#MaltaDaily

Brace yourselves for traffic: 60km of road projects per year planned

Nov 3 2022

It was revealed by Transport and Infrastructure Minister Aaron Farrugia that approximately 60km worth of residential road-building projects will take place per year.

Infrastructure Malta (IM) has prepared a work plan with local councils for residential roads, with around 54 local councils being in consultation.

The work plan is to supposedly be stretched out over the next three years as a continuation of the implementation of the national plan to improve residential road quality.

Minister Farrugia emphasised the importance of quality and safe roads for people, but also encouraged active mobility and active means of transport. He also highlighted the €35 million investment to strengthen cycling infrastructure.

However, many across the island have often lamented at the fact that most traffic jams occur and are maintained due to the large amount of ongoing and dragging road projects.

For this, Farrugia said that an effective system will be put in place to ensure transparency to commuters and residents as to the responsible entities, deadlines and length of any inconvenience.

#MaltaDaily

Malta to criminalise virginity testing; explore making sterilisation free

Nov 3 2022

Parliamentary Secretary for Reforms Rebecca Buttigieg revealed this morning that women in Malta could soon be able to get sterilised free of charge even if not medically required.

Apart from this, the act of virginity testing could also be criminalised as part of a 5 year government strategy to mainstream gender equality.

Buttigieg said that this strategy recognises the significant progress made but commits to making better advancements where needed.

This comes after Health Minister Chris Fearne announced that free contraception will be offered to the general public as of next year. The new measures being explored and mentioned by Buttigieg form part of the 2022 manifesto.

This had included the provision of free menstruation products at school, a primary health care centre for rape victims and free emergency contraception at Mater Dei.

#MaltaDaily

Instagram could become an NFT marketplace very soon

Nov 3 2022

Meta has just announced that it is introducing a number of new creator updates across Instagram and Facebook. Most notably, creators on Instagram could soon be able to create and sell NFTs directly to fans.

Through this new update, creators will have access to a ‘toolkit’ which will help them create, showcase and sell NFTs.

Polygon is the first partner which Meta chose to run this feature. The process will also take place via traditional in-app purchases across iOS and Android. And Instagram won’t take a cut from the revenue just yet.

Meta is currently testing this new feature with a small group of US creators and plans to expand it to more countries in the future.

The platform will also allow video-based digital collectibles to be showcased. Having recently launchd its Digital Collectibles feature in 100 countries, Instagram will include a shimmery effect to the NFT to indicate ‘authenticity’.

#MaltaDaily