Interest free loans for farmers to buy leased land proposed by PN

Dec 12 2021

The Nationalist Party said that farmers should be given the opportunity to buy their leased agricultural land through interest free loans.

Edwin Vassallo, PN MP, state that if the party were to take up government, it would set up a national fund offering bank guarantees to farmers who till agricultural land.

Following a constitutional court judgement that ruled in favour of landowners, many farmers have cried out saying that they risk being evacuated from fields that they lease.

The government has promised to revise agricultural land lease laws to ensure the farmers are not forced off their lands, but the legal form has not yet materialised.

The PN said that it wants to see this revised law passed without further delay and that its proposal to offer farmers he interest free loans would ensure that they could keep their land without discriminating agains the property rights of landowners.

An aid scheme is also being proposed by the Opposition which will see the covering of 70% of ground rent costs for farmers, provided they can prove they used the land to grow locally sold fruits and vegetables.

The party’s proposals, Vassal said, would be entirely voluntary and would not impinge on any private agreements that farmers and landowners might reach.

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Photo Source: Edwin Vassallo FB, Friends of Earth Malta

Many calling for Teatru Rjal to be rebuilt in pre-War fashion

Dec 12 2021

The Malta Arts Council issued a study which shows that the majority of Maltese are in favour of Pjazza Teatru Rjal receiving an architectural revamp similar to how it was before the bombing of World War II.

The reconstruction seems to have taken the majority, but there are other proposals which people are also putting forward to be considered by authorities as long as the theatre has a roof.

A copy of the study results was acquired by TVM, revealing that almost two thirds of respondents want a change in Pjazza Teatru Rjal Structure.

Another proposal which is acceptable to the study’s participants is one wherein the theatre has a retractable roof according to weather conditions.

This is followed by a third most preferred option which calls for the theatre becoming an indoor theatre. The least acceptable proposal among 600 participants is that the theatre is built with glass surroundings.

Only three out of every ten participants said that they attended for an activity at the theatre occasionally, with a majority saying they enjoyed the activity.

Two thirds of the theatre goers said they want more concerts, while over a third of those who occasionally attended an activity said that the events programme can be better planned.

On the other hand, persons who never attended an activity at Pjazza Teatru Rjal said they did so because there weren’t activities of interest to them.

Culture Minister Jose Herrera said that the survey is being evaluated.

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Photo Source: Wikipedia

Prime Minister’s sister-in-law announces she will contest general election

Dec 12 2021

Alison Zerafa Civelli, Bormla’s mayor and Prime Minister’s wife Lydia Abela’s sister, has announced she will contest the upcoming general election on the Labour Party ticket in the second district.

Posting to Facebook on Sunday morning, Zerafa Civelli revealed her running for the general election. She joins a very long list of candidates on this same district – including Glenn Bedingfield, Oliver Scicluna, Byron Camilleri, Clyde Caruana, Chris Agius, Joe Mizzi and Robert Abela himself.

‘As a woman, a teacher, mayor and activist, I always did my best to carry out all that you have taught me, carry it out in practice and do what’s good for our families’ the post read, referring to the locality as a whole.

‘How could I therefore reject your call and the Labour Party’s call to take the next step and work for our district?’

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Photo Source: Lydia Abela IG, Alison Zerafa Civelli FB

PN call for the removal of Education Minister following damning report

Dec 12 2021

An ethics report found that a criminal investigation should be launched into a €15,000 contract given by Education Minister Justyne Caruana to close friend Daniel Bogdanovic after he lied about having done the work he was paid for.

Commissioner for Standards in Public Life George Hyzler details in a damning report how the minister abused her power in awarding a contract to Bogdanovic, who is a former footballer.

The report shows how although Bogdanovic was paid handsomely to review the National Sports School, he had not even written the report himself, going on to repeatedly lie about it when questioned.

Meanwhile, the Nationalist Party called on the education minister to immediately publish a Standards Commissioner’s report into the breach of ethics, even though this is impossible for her to do.

The reports of the Standards Commissioner are never made available to the person under investigation, because they are only handed to the Speaker of the House.

The report by Hyzler says there was a concerted effort to hide Bogdanovic’s ‘incompetence’, with the work in fact having been done by one of Caruana’s consultants, Paul Debattista.

“It is my understanding that Minister Justyne Caruana used her discretion in a way that constitutes abuse of power, and broke with the ministerial code of ethics, by giving preferential treatment to Daniel Bogdanovic, and in particular by giving Bogdanovic a contract by direct order that he was neither qualified for or competent to carry out,” the report concludes.

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Photo Source: Justyne Caruana FB, Times of Malta