Lecturers Union state that university budget cuts must be implemented ‘intelligently’

Aug 24 2022

Luciano Mule Stagno, the head professor of the Lecturer’s Union, has stated that university budget cuts must happen diligently in order not to affect any research.

This statement comes after the University of Malta was informed that the government will reduce their budget by a hefty €1.1 million.

“We have to ensure that major operations are not impacted by the cuts,” the University of Malta Academic Staff Association head (UMASA) said.

UOM rector Alfred Vella also informed lecturers and University staff that the budget will be kept around the same number come next year, meaning that the cut will not be a one time occurence.

Luciano Mule Stagno told MaltaToday that the Union is yet to confirm its official position since they only recently learned of the news.

“We understand that this was imposed on the university, but we are currently concerned on where these budget cuts will be carried out, and what their impact will be,” he said.

The biggest concern for the union is that the budget cut will affect ongoing research being carried out. This refers to any individual projects and tools needed for any particular research.

When asked whether the Union were expecting any budget cuts or even heard anything prior to the announcement he had this to say “In the last couple of days we did hear that some budget cuts would be rolled out, and given the country’s current deficit, we did expect something, but we did not know of any figure.”

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Tripled security at St Vincent de Paul following Carmelo Fino disappearance

Aug 24 2022

The amount of security officers guarding entrances and exits at the St Vincent de Paul home has tripled since the disappearance of a resident in June.

Times of Malta were informed by Active Ageing Minister Jo Etienne Abela that almost 40 security officers had been added to the already present 20.

The Minister said that the emergency measures had to be established with urgency following the disappearance of Carmelo Fino, the 83-year-old dementia sufferer who escaped during the middle of the night.

Fino was caught on CCTV leaving the Luqa home at 3am on June 28th. Since then, four security officers, two carers and a nurse have been suspended on half pay upon the instructions of the Public Service Commission.

The minister also dismissed with ToM the claim about a misdiagnosis of Fino’s dementia on the part of the doctors. He said that misdiagnosis is not part of the blame apportioning process.

The incident, he said, was not a system failure because there are standard operating procedures which the inquiry found had not been followed.

“The home needs modernisation and rejuvenation. The process started by my predecessors and it’s continuing,” he said.

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New dog friendly beach opens in Birżebbuġa

Aug 24 2022

Birżebbuġa councillor Doriana Portelli has announced on her Facebook, the opening of a new dog friendly beach which will be a part of the beach of Wied Buni.

In her post Portelli had this to say about the exciting news “Officially, I would also like to thank, from the bottom of my heart, my fellow councillors who have always worked hand in hand with me towards this dream which today, became a reality in our locality.”

This project of having a beach available for the residents’ four-legged friends has been ongoing for months, as the council had to work hard in order to obtain the right permits and to install the right signs to indicate that the beach is in fact dog friendly.

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This Italian island is paying people €15,000 to move there

Aug 24 2022

Many dream of starting a brand new life somewhere else but have no idea when and where to actually pack luggage and move.

Now, an Italian island is offering prospective movers the chance to relocate to their slice of heaven and be paid for it. The government of Sardinia is offering grants of up €15,000 to anyone willing to undertake this big change in their life.

The government has put aside a whopping £38 million worth of cash for the scheme, which aims to bring life to its rural areas with decreasing populations.

However, there is a catch. The cash is required to be used to buy or renovate a property and the amount of the grant cannot be more than half of the price of buying or renovating the home.

The house ha to also be situated in a town which has fewer than 3,000 inhabitants. Sardinia lies to the west of Italy and boasts some of the most stunning beaches in the Mediterranean.

Sardinian President Christian Solinas said that there can be no growth without a real enhancement of the territories, of the interior and most disadvantaged areas, which must pass through new polices for their repopulation.

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