Volt proposes Hazard Pay for healthcare workers due to pandemic

Feb 1 2022

Political party Volt has proposed introducing ‘Hazard Pay’ for all healthcare workers as the country progresses through the third year of the COVID-19 pandemic. ‘Volt believes that healthcare workers who have helped sustain the healthcare system through all the waves experienced thus far have not been shown enough appreciation’ the party stated.

Co-President of Volt Alexia DeBono said that it is well-known that there is a shortage of healthcare workers on the island. In spite of that, she said, they did a remarkable job since before there was the vaccine and throughout each variant which reaches our shores. Volt is now proposing a hazard pay rise for healthcare workers in 3 ways. For those who have been working for 1-12 months during the pandemic, a supplement of 5% on their salary is given.

For those who have been working more than 12 months, that supplement goes up to 10% until the end of the pandemic, the party said. Kassandra Mallia, Candidate and Vice-President of Volt Malta said that ‘we must also acknowledge not just their current work, but also past work.’

‘Therefore, we are also proposing that healthcare workers who have already been working during the pandemic, will receive a grant based on the same calculation starting from March 2020. So if they have worked for 2 years during the pandemic, the healthcare workers would receive a grant equivalent to 5% of their income of the first 12 months, and then 10% of their income of the following month.’

Arnas Lasys, Co-President of Volt Malta, added that this would also be given to students who in the final year of their medical degree were called up to with the pandemic.

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Photo Source: Volt Communications

Paulina Dembska’s body has been released for burial

Feb 1 2022

The late Paulina Dembska’s body has been released for burial, with her funeral expected to take place in Poland in the coming days.

TVMNews was informed that in recent days, Paulina’s relatives were in Malta to identify her body at Mater Dei Hospital.

With her body expected to be sent to Poland in the coming hours, Dembska was murdered on the morning of January 2nd 2022 at the Independence Garden, Sliema.

Murder suspect Abner Aquilina assaulted, raped and killed Dembska, with an autopsy confirming that she had died of suffocation after succumbing to physical violence and injuries.

In mere hours, over €20,000 were raised in an initiative taken on by some of Dembska’s friends to help the family with funeral costs and legal expenses. The court case of Aquilina is currently ongoing after he was admitted to Mount Carmel.

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Calls for auditor to investigate Malta Film Awards costs

Feb 1 2022

Election candidate Arnold Cassola has asked the auditor-general to investigate the spending by the Malta Film Commission on the Malta Film Awards.

He observed that the declared budget was €400,000, which is already a substantial amount given that the commission’s annual budget was €600,000.

However, suspicions that the awards budget was exceeded surfaced, with Times of Malta reporting that commissioner Johann Grech was being evasive when asked about this matter.

In the mean time, Matthew Caruana Galizia tweeted on Monday that a freedom of information request will be filed for the film commission to reveal how much presenter David Walliams was paid.

Hello @davidwalliams,
We’re filing an FOI request for your invoice to Malta, but I was wondering whether you could just cut to the chase and tell us how much you were paid to speak at what was turned into a party-political event. https://t.co/g5PAnDuGWw

— Matthew Caruana Galizia (@mcaruanagalizia) January 31, 2022

The presenter even made live jabs at Malta’s reputation for being a country of tax evasion to an International audience. ‘I was wondering whether you could just cut to the chase and tell us how much you were paid to speak at what was turned into a party-political event’ added Galizia.

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312 new electric car charging points installed in 6 months

Feb 1 2022

In the past six months, 312 new charging points for electric cars were installed in various localities in order to increase the breadth of areas where drivers can charge their vehicle.

The aim of the charging points is to encourage more people to use vehicles with cleaner energy and at the same time do this in the least amount of time.

The latest figures show that there are 5,000 electric vehicles registered in Malta, with engineer Abigail Cutajar telling TVMNews that more charing points are being installed in public places as more electric transportation is registered.

The points are capable of charging a battery in 30 minutes, with the number possibly increasing especially due to the subsidy increase which was announced in this year’s budget. This would bring a grant of €11,000 for buyers of electric cars.

Energy Ministry project manager Joanna Incorvaja said that attention is being given to local councils’ suggestions before new charing points are installed. This is just one of many initiatives taken into consideration by authorities in order for Malta to transition to a sustainable economic model.

This is also part of the nation’s commitment to follow the UN meeting on Climate Change, COP26. Malta pledged that it will reduce the carbon use within nine years while it will no longer use toxic gas by 2050.

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Photo Source: Miriam Dalli FB