Gozo losing its ’charm’ as over-development continues finds survey

Aug 10 2022

Malta’s sister island of Gozo has been found to be losing its charm according to all establishments taking part in a survey organised by the Gozo Tourism Association.

The GTA conducted an online survey over the past two weeks to assess the touristic product and constraints encountered by Gozitan establishments during COVID-19 recovery.

Various fields participated in the survey, ranging from restaurants, accommodation, diving centres, transport, travel agencies, real estate and tour operators. They all confirmed previously held suspicions: serious concerns about over-development.

All 100% of the establishment stated that Gozo is losing its charm and characteristics due to this phenomenon. A further 91% stated that the development will keep tourists away from visiting the island, whether they be Maltese or beyond.

In terms of other factors, 81% said that the unfinished projects are leaving a ‘shabby look’ on the island. 62% said that Gozo needs a general clean up and continued maintenance on gardens and playing fields.

55% said their establishments need to be renovated with 95% of those saying this claiming that they are not financially in a place to conduct such refurbishment.

66% proposed the postponement of employment with the public sector when asked for proposals to mitigate staff shortage. 64% suggested tax incentives for employees and 54% suggested the fast tracking of work permits and visa applications.

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Ryanair cabin crew strikes begin and could last until January 2023

Aug 10 2022

A new wave of Ryanair cabin crew strikes have just started this Monday 8th August and are set to continue until January of 2023.

The main strand of strikes comes from the airline’s Spanish cabin crew union members who are protesting for higher pay and better working conditions.

It is estimated that 24 hour strike action – running from Monday to Thursday – may impact up to 1.4 million passengers, or around 130,600 travellers per day. Airports in Valencia, Girona, Santiago de Compostela, Ibiza, Malaga, Madrid, Barcelona, Palma and Alicante will all be affected.

The strikes are being backed by union groups USO and Sitclpa, with leader of the former group Lidia Aransanz saying that ‘as the company has been unable to listen to the workers, we have been forced to call new strike days.’

Despite this, Ryanair insisted passengers shouldn’t expect many problems as the strikes are poorly supported and have minimal effect. News portal LadBible was informed that Ryanair negotiated collective agreements covering 90% of workers across Europe.

‘In recent months we have been negotiating improvements to those agreements as we work through the Covid recovery phase’ said a spokesperson. ‘Those negotiations are going well and we do not expect widespread disruption this summer.’

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1,185 Ukrainians given temporary protection status in Malta

Aug 10 2022

Since the conflict between Ukraine and Russia erupted earlier in the year, 1,185 Ukrainians have been able to find refuge in Malta. Like many other European countries, Malta decided to grant temporary protection over these refugees.

Temporary protection status grants these people the chance to live, work and study in said country.

Out of these 1,185 Ukrainians, 190 were given refugee status in March, 390 in April, 415 in May and another 190 in June.

These statistics have been released by Eurostat, which has been keeping an eye on the war in Ukraine and tallying the amount of refugees escaping the invaded country.

The statistics also show that Poland was the country which welcomed the most refugees, followed by Romania and Bulgaria.

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Vacancy issued to replace Mario Mallia receives huge backlash

Aug 10 2022

A vacancy issued by St Albert the Great College to replace previous head of school Mario Mallia received massive amounts of backlash.

The post was reshaped by rector at the college Aaron Zahra and comes after Mallia was let go of his position in an ongoing case which raised massive controversy.

When the case first made public headlines, it was understood that Mallia was fired because of his inclusive programmes which sought to bring students of different faiths and gender, amongst others, together.

However, Zahra, also a Dominican friar, later claimed that Mallia was fired because he refused to cooperate with his superiors and bee accountable to them.

As the case continues, with the Malta Union of Teachers filing the case to court and Archbishop Charles Scicluna mediating between Mallia and the college’s staff, the school released a vacancy searching for a replacement of Mallia.

The post was met with immense backlash. Many asked why the rector was not awaiting the decision of the tribunal before replacing Mallia. Others were harsher in their criticism, rhetorically asking the rector as to why he and his team are being so insensitive in regards to the issue.

What do you make of this?

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