Local artist gets major shoutout from Nickelodeon and Spongebob on latest artwork

Oct 22 2021

Malta has its fair share of talented artists which range from analog to the digital side of things and digital artist Zack Ritchie has been on the forefront of Malta’s digital art scene for years. Beyond his now-iconic Beppe character, Ritchie’s most recent work has managed to grab the attention of two entertainment giants in the form of Nickelodeon and the official SpongeBob Instagram accounts.

The art piece in question is an artistic rendition of money-grabbing SpongeBob character Mr. Krabs stylised in a number of Ritchie’s trademark spikes and vibrant colours. The Mr. Krabs piece is one out of many cartoon character renditions which include the likes of Marvin the Martian, Johnny Bravo, Wile E. Coyote and many more.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Zack Ritchie | Design (@zackritchie_design)

The official Nickelodeon page with over 6.3 million followers recognised Ritchie’s work and left a comment ‘THIS IS 🔥’ while the official SpongeBob account left a crab and money bag emoji. Ritchie immediately replied saying that his day was made through the comment.

We’d like to congratulate Ritchie on getting his stellar work recognised.

Are you familiar with Zack Ritchie? Visit his profile and show him some love.

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Malta to undergo national survey to pave the way for metro system

Oct 22 2021

With the subject of Malta’s metro system becoming a heated point of national discussion, Transport Minister Ian Borg has revealed that a household survey will be conducted to analyse the nation’s travel patterns and hopefully pave the way for alternative transport, including the metro itself.

The Minister stated that decisions as large as the implementation of the metro system require heavy research and analysis, which data will refined the decisions surrounding the metro proposal. The National Transport Household survey is held every 10 years and will be done digitally through a collaboration between the National Statistics Office (NSO) and the Transport Ministry.

Such a survey will highlight Malta’s travel patterns and behaviour and will contribute to the introduction of policies and measures within Malta’s Transport Master Plan update by 2030. The master plan will be an essential part of Malta’s journey towards meeting the European Union’s environmental targets.

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PN vows to extend grants to second-hand electric vehicles

Oct 22 2021

During a recent conference, The Nationalist Party revealed its plan to extend grants on electric cars to individuals looking to purchase second-hand vehicles.

This was revealed by PN MP David Thake, where he went on to explain that promoting purchases of second-hand vehicles contributes to the creation of a circular mentality. Malta currently has 80,000 electric vehicles in its roads, with 60 charging points across the island. Thake highlighted that the points are not highlighted clearly and there is a lack of penalisation on regular cars parking in the dedicated spaces.

The PN MP also bashed Transport Minister Ian Borg and his ministry’s lack of doing any “serious planning” while shining a light on the PN’s proposal to increase carpooling incentives.

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Malta ranked 7th best in the world for commuting

Oct 22 2021

In a surprising revelation revealed by UK-based price comparison service Uswitch, Malta has been ranked as the 7th best country in the world for commuting. The survey breaks down countries commuting habits with factors like average commute time, public charging stations per million people and average monthly public transport pass cost, with Malta ranking one spot above Bulgaria and one below France.

Turkey secured the number one spot with an average commute time of 23 minutes and the cheapest average fuel price per litre at $0.89. Malta also received praise for its CO2 emissions of three tonnes per person, shining a light on Malta commuting contribution. Uswitch highlighted that Malta seems to be making the best progress so far with regards to green alternatives.

Malta currently has over 400,000 licensed vehicles, with the majority of which (76.8%) being passenger cars, 13% being commercial vehicles and 8% being motorcycles.

Do you agree with this revelation?

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