Turtle dove hunting season to go ahead as court revokes BirdLife case

Apr 15 2022

The First Hall of the Civil Court has dismissed a case which was filed by NGO and bird conservation group Birdlife Malta.

The case was filed in a bid to stop the hunting season of turtle doves, but Madame Justice Audrey Demicoli dismissed the case and revoked the prohibitory injunction. This was issued earlier this week before the court heard the case in an urgent sitting.

The NGO had filed proceedings requesting the court to order the Prime Minister, Environment Minister Miriam Dalli and Gozo Minister Clint Camilleri as well as the Wild Birds Regulation Unit (WBRU) to close the spring hunting season which will start on Sunday and go on until April 30th.

This means that licensed hunters will be able to shoot turtle doves and quails with a big limit of 1,500 for the turtle doves. The opening of a spring hunting season for the bird came after years of pressure from hunting organisations, despite the turtle dove being a vulnerable species.

Gozo Minister Clint Camilleri, who is also an avid hunter, thanked the State Advocate and Wild Birds Regulation Unit for working to have the injunction revoked. Taking to social media, the Minister said that ‘what is ours, remains ours.’

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Hotels welcoming influx of tourists for Easter holidays says Tourism Minister

Apr 15 2022

Taking to social media, Minister for Tourism Clayton Bartolo highlighted how the Easter period in Malta for this year will be a very busy one indeed.

Following three years of the COVID-19 pandemic, the sector took quite a hit due to lack and difficulty when it come to travel. However, the Minister revealed that this will be different this year.

He explained how the occupancy in four star hotels in Malta has reached a rate of 90%, whereas the rate for five star hotels is set to reach 80%. This indicates a strong return for tourism in Malta as the world recuperates from the pandemic.

This comes as many Maltese have also opted to travel abroad to enjoy their Easter holidays, indicating a thriving and active tourism sector. With the easing of measures and the summer period just around the corner, we might be finally seeing a return to pre-pandemic tourist activity on the island.

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Parents commemorate late son Jake through Puttinu walk

Apr 15 2022

Among the many people who walked alongside Puttinu Cares for their Good Friday marathon were Jeanelle and Kevin Curmi, parents of their late son Jake.

The late Dr Victor Calvagna, the founder of the non-governmental organisation Puttinu Cares, had dedicated his last medal to the young Jake.

Now, despite neither Jake nor Dr Calvagna being no longer with us, the parents of the young boy joined the Puttinu Cares marathon to commemorate all the help the organisations offers to parents such as themselves.

With a touching image of Jake printed on their T-Shirts, Jeanelle and Kevin joined in the walk to raise funds for the organisation and will continue on by volunteering during the fund-raising marathon which takes place today.

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March 2022 was the coldest month in Malta since 1987

Apr 15 2022

Malta experienced the coldest start to the spring season in 2022 from the year 1987, as the average temperature of March was 12.4°C.

As revealed by Malta’s International Airport Weather reports, the average temperature was closer to that of February’s 12.5°C rather than that of March’s average temperature of 14.1 degrees Celsius.

The highest recorded temperature in March 2022 was 25.2°C, whereas the lowest temperature was recorded to be 6.0°C on the 11th of March.

According to the Meteorological Office, the lowest temperature ever recorded was a chilling 2.2°C back in 1949. A low temperature similar to 2.4°C was recorded back in 1987, when the average temperature of March was 11.8°C.

The sun did not visibly appear at any point between the 13th and 19th of March, with the 13th of March taking the record for the most amount of rain at 18.4mm. The wind velocity of March was recorded to be 11.1 knots, higher than the average 9.5 knots characteristic of the same period.

Meteorological offices are warning that the strong winds are set to continue until late in the evening today, Friday 15th April 2022. It will calm down on Saturday, to open up to clear skies by Sunday.

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