Thirteen foreigners found illegally in Gozo

Aug 4 2022

Thirteen non-EU foreigners living in Gozo illegally were found during a routine inspection. This comes only days after Gozo shadow minister Alex Borg pleaded with the Authorities to take more notice of illegal foreigners living in Malta’s sister island.

According to TVMnews the 13 foreigners were made up of four Turks, two Ghanaians, three Albanians, two people from Togo and one person from Pakistan.

They were reportedly caught in Għajnsielem during a routine inspection carried out by Public Order and Enforcement officials.

With the help of officials from Transport Malta, Gozo District Police, the Immigration Office as well as from the Detention Centre the 13 foreigners were found without the necessary documentation to allow them to work and live in Malta.

Arrangements are currently being made to send them back to there home countries.

#MaltaDaily

Spain bans establishments from turning air conditioning below 27°C

Aug 4 2022

The Spanish government has just set a law stating that, in most public places, setting the air condition unit to anything below 27°C is illegal.

This new law applies to establishments such as bars, airports, cinemas, shopping centres and many more commercial outlets but does not apply to households. The reasoning behind such a decision is to reduce Spain’s energy consumption and reliance on Russian oil and gas; Spain had joined the rest of the EU in pledging to reduce consumption by seven per cent.

Not exclusive to just summer, public buildings also will not be able to increase their heating units above 19C in winter, with shops to have their windows turned off by 10pm.

Spain is currently having an incredibly hot summer, with two heatwaves in July and temperatures expected to hit 40°C once again in the coming days.

Should Malta adopt these laws?

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Nearly 50,000 contraband cigarettes and 211 of kg tobacco seized from Birkirkara garage

Aug 4 2022

48,620 cigarettes and 211 kg of illegal hand-rolling tobacco have been seized from a Birkirkara garage by Malta Customs officers.

During the search, officers found a man in the garage loading cigarettes into a Peugeot Partner.

When officers asked the man about the cigarettes, he told them that the cigarettes were bought from a local supplier, whom he refused to identify. The man was not available to provide any receipts or invoices for the cigarettes.

The customs officers later announced that excise duty on all the cigarettes was €8,320, VAT was €1,813 and import tax was €346. The excise duty on the tobacco came to be €25,788 and VAT was €5,592. The total amount of taxes on the cigarettes and tobacco came out to be €41,860.

#MaltaDaily

New roof garden inaugurated in Hamrun

Aug 4 2022

A new roof garden in Misraħ is-7 ta’ Ġunju 1919 in Ħamrun has been inaugurated. The garden has been built on a parking area as the community around the area will get a new lease of life with the uncommon greenery.

The Ministry of Environment has reportedly invested €1.5 million into turning the parking area into a modern green space suitable for all ages. The area will still maintain its purpose as space for parking but will also be a part of the government’s priority of the greening of urban areas and giving citizens a better quality of life through sustainable communities.

Environment Minister Miriam Dalli had this to say “This is another project that is offering an open green space, which will help to improve the quality of life of residents. Trees, shrubs and plants have been planted and benches installed for the comfort of residents, a step away from their homes. We are working to have more open spaces in the heart of our communities,”

The project has been funded by the National Development and Social Fund and led by GreenServ like many other environmental projects. GreenServ made use of sustainable materials such as fully recycled aluminum and wood coming from sustainable forests in order to further enhance the garden. Solar panels were also installed to generate electricity.

WasteServ head Richard Bilocca explained how the 500 square metre garden rests on an innovative metal structure. NSDF CEO Raymond Ellul revealed that support is being given to environmental and sustainable ideas such as this and Ġnien Victor Calvagna launched last week in Mosta.

#MaltaDaily