Luqa the first to get better roads among Malta’s industrial areas

Sep 7 2021

Economy Minister Silvio Schembri announced that around 1.2 kilometres of roads will service the Luqa industrial estate. Similar works will be taking place in the near future, with the minister revealing that the €5.5 million investment will see upgrades to roads and new routes being introduced.

Schembri revealed that more road work network upgrades will also be carried out around industrial areas with a €30 million investment in the Hal Far, Bulebel, Marsa, Corradino and San Gwann industrial areas. The project is being heralded by Industrial Innovative Solutions (INDIS) Malta, a stage agency which manages Malta’s industrial zones.

Schembri also stated that around 117 small and medium enterprises operating from the Luqa industrial area will benefit after the zone had faced abandonment for up to 40 years. The road face lift is also part of a €470 million investment which was announced in 2020, seeking to help expand Malta’s industrial infrastructure. The work on the industrial roads in the area is expected to take about six months to be completed, covering an area of around 92,500 square meters.

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Photo Source: Silvio Schembri FB

Teachers still awaiting new laptops as they make do with old technology

Sep 7 2021

Several teachers and educators around Malta and Gozo have had to work with laptops given to them approximately 5 years ago. The Malta Union of Teachers (MUT) stated that several members of its organisation are finding themselves in varying situations wherein they either do not have the necessary equipment to operate with or make do with old technology which often malfunction.

The Ministry for Education stated that it is still awaiting new laptops to arrive in Malta, with Permanent Secretary for the Education Ministry Dr Frank Fabri telling Newsbook that the ministry checks the online platforms from where the laptops are purchased every single week. They are however unavailable due to the lack of production of chips on an international level.

Teachers also spoke to the newsroom Newsbook, revealing how at the pandemic’s peak, the laptops they currently possess proved inadequate for the school workload. Some teachers have complained about working with laptops whose batteries died or with damaged webcams and/or microphones. Given the advent of online learning due to the pandemic, this made teaching more difficult.

Given today’s technological context, the old laptops are not up to date to keep up. Newsbook was also informed by MUT that a number of directives have been issued in April.

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Photo Source: Malta Union of Teachers

PN demand police investigation into Labour’s €200,000 finance deal

Sep 7 2021

The Opposition Party demanded a police investigation into a draft deal which would have resulted in a company linked to the Labour government to receive €200,000 from murder suspect Yorgen Fenech. The suspect was lead promoter of the Electrogas consortium when the deal was drafting, being the winning bidder for the venture backed by the government to build a new gas-fired power station.

Former PL mayor Charles Azzopardi addressed a press conference in which he accused the government for facilitating and failing to fight corruption. Now a PN candidate, Azzopardi said that a government who acted in such a way could never get Malta off the FATF grey list.

Fellow PN candidate Mark Anthony Sammut backed up Azzopardi’s claims saying that ‘this was an organised system of criminality.’ Sammut accused the government of a ‘whole bribery structure’, with people turning a blind eye, banks facilitating suspicious transactions and resulting in a context of people ready to kill.

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Photo Source: Charles Azzopardi FB

Ramla Bay Hotel to be renovated into three seven-storey blocks

Sep 7 2021

Ramla Bay Hotel’s owners wish to demolish their four-floor hotel to replace it with three seven-storey blocks. The Holden Developments’ new hotel will rise to around 30m above sea level to replace the last part of the old hotel. This comes five years after obtaining the permit for a heart-shaped extension which can be viewed from the Marfa coastline in Mellieha.

The design by architect Ray Demicoli, who designed the first phase approved in 2016, will include 400 guest rooms, indoor swimming pool, gym, car park facilities, restaurants and a banqueting area. The plans will result in the foreshore re-landscaped for a new outdoor pool with a sand surface over concrete. A new beach facility called the Alang Alang restaurant will also be introduced, with a natural sandy beach to the south-west remaining publicly accessible. The hotel was first constructed in 1967, having several alterations over the years.