Contraception project seeks to reduce pigeon pest population by 70%

Nov 9 2021

A project recently kicked off seeks to reduce pigeon populations by over 70% using contraceptive feed. Trying to reduce numbers without resorting to cruel means (such as shooting), pest exterminator Arnold Sciberras said it is a targeted feeding programme of contraceptive-laced feed which will use feeding silos to attract the birds.

The Environment Ministry, in April 2018, condemned the attempts by the Vittoriosa local council to reduce unwanted pigeon populations by shooting them.

Sciberras said this will be a three year programme. Despite taking longer, this is not an issue as it will still ensure that the nuisance caused by the pigeon doesn’t continue any longer. The contraception also works after being ingested over a long period of time by the birds. Thus, if a racing pigeon accidentally eats the contraceptive-laced food once, it will not affect them.

This rarely happens however as the racing pigeons are trained to eat from their coop at specific times.

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Peppi Azzopardi responds to accusations of defending

Nov 9 2021

Peppi Azzopardi responded to accusations made by the son of late Hugo Chetcuti, saying that he was misinterpreted over a social media post about the prison.

The Xarabank host posted to Facebook on Sunday, saying that there were four prisoners who wanted to make a police statement about abuses. They were allegedly being silenced by the authorities. Luke Chetcuti, the son of the murderer entrepreneur, took this to be reference to the four prisoners currently in solitary confinement. This included his father’s killer, Bojan Cmelik.

Chetcuti accused the host of attempting to defend the killer, saying that Peppi should be ashamed of doing so. Peppi said that he was instead ‘defending four men who are jailed over drug-related charges and have killed no one.’

‘They had only been trying to kill themselves with the help of drug pushers who make millions off people like them. It’s a lie to say they are killers and that they include the person who killed Hugo Chetcuti.’

‘Had he had the decency to read what I wrote’ said Peppi, ‘he would have realised that I never spoke about his father’s murderer or any other murderers. If anything is shameful is the the way in which Chetcuti failed to read my status and attacked me over things I did not say.’

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Cyclists slam new Mgarr bike lanes as unsafe and abysmal

Nov 9 2021

Malta’s cycling community took a critical jab at the new Mgarr bypass bike lanes which were recently unveiled.

The bypass still requires more work and is not fully complete, but lane segregation for bike lanes was not included for the finished areas. NGO Rota.mt posted to Facebook, expressing its disappointment with the new renovation.

‘This road was already poorly designed and has seen a number of car accidents over the years, including head on collisions, injured people and even fatalities.’

‘Instead of investing in traffic calming measures or road dieting, Infrastructure Malta is encouraging people to over-speed with the concrete crash barriers as “safety insurance”, while disregarding all needs of bicycle users and pedestrians.’

The post by the NGO compared the road before its redesign, ‘how it could have been if Infrastructure Malta were really concerned about the safety of ALL users’ and ‘today’s outcome.’

‘We are faced with a road that simply encourages driving above all else, rendering other modes of transport unsafe.’

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World food prices the highest ever in over 10 years

Nov 9 2021

World food prices have sky-rocketed to the highest level in more than 10 years, driven mostly by increased demand and lacklustre harvests.

The prices shot up for the third month in October, rising 3% over September 2021, according to an index published by the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO).

The FAO Food Price index tracks monthly changes across a range of food commodities. The gains in prices were driven by a rise in vegetable oil and wheat prices, and it rose by more than 30% over the past year.

Standing at the highest level since July 2011, the price of wheat surged 5% in October because of reduced harvests from major exporters.

The FAO also cited high global demand for products such as milk powder, poultry, vegetable oils and barley. Food supplies and prices are also under pressure from extreme weather, snarled supply chains, worker shortages and rising costs.

Supermarkets in major economies have also struggled to keep shelves fully stocked because of the pandemic. Rising food commodity prices are leading to higher costs for consumer goods companies.

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