Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1006805
NEWS 6 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 22 JULY 2018 WORKSHOPS ON ONLINE SUBMISSION OF TENDERS FOR THE BUSINESS COMMUNITY IN GOZO The Ministry for Gozo in conjunction with the Department of Contracts will be organising workshops in Gozo on the electronic Public Procurement System for Economic Operators. The workshops will give an opportunity to those attending to familiarise themselves with compiling and submitting their bids online. The workshops will be free of charge. The actual date of the training will be notified at a later stage to those who apply to attend the workshop. Interested economic operators are kindly requested to apply by e- mail on procurement.mgoz@gov.mt or by phoning on 2210 0268 between 8:00am and noon by not later than Monday 13 th August 2018. MALTA POLICE FORCE EXPRESSION OF INTEREST 2 /2018 The Commissioner of Police notifies that:- Proposals will be received by Email on address: tenderspolice.mhas@gov.mt by not later than 11.00 am on Monday 20 th August 2018 for :- INVITATION TO SUBMIT PROPOSALS FOR THE LEASE OF PREMISES TO THE MALTA POLICE FORCE Further details may be obtained by sending an Email request with the subject title "Request Form – PREMISES TO THE MPF" on Email address: tenderspolice.mhas@gov.mt The Commissioner of Police notifies that:- Proposals will be received by Email on address: tenderspolice. mhas@gov.mt by not later than 11.00 am on Monday 20th August 2018 for :- INVITATION TO SUBMIT PROPOSALS FOR THE LEASE OF PREMISES TO THE MALTA POLICE FORCE Further details may be obtained by sending an Email request with the subject title "Request Form – PREMISES TO THE MPF" on Email address: tenderspolice.mhas@gov.mt JAMES DEBONO A Sliema property had its scheduling on its garden re- moved by the Planning Au- thority a mere four months after being awarded Grade 2 protection by the Planning Authority. The 19th century town- house at the intersection of St Vincent and Carmel streets, named Trafalgar House, is earmarked for the develop- ment of a boutique hotel in a planning application still be- ing assessed by the PA. The original two-storey townhouse is to be restored and have another three floors added to it. The application presented by Muriel Thake also foresees the development of four levels of apartments in the back garden of the town- house, which has now been de-scheduled. Grade 2 properties are large- ly protected from demolition but may be subject to internal alterations. In the case of the Cloisters palazzo in St Julian's, which enjoys the same Grade 2 lev- el of protection, the PA also approved an extra storey on top of the house apart from a seven-storey block in its un- scheduled garden at the back. The Superintendence for Cultural Heritage has already noted the "rarity" of the gar- den in the urban Sliema con- text, noting that allowing the development would mean "the garden will be lost." The NGO Flimkien Ghall- Ambjent Ahjar has appealed the PA's decision to de-sched- ule the gardens of the villa, by challenging the schedul- ing process which includes no public consultation before decisions with a direct bear- ing on historic landmarks are taken. The organisation also in- voked the Aarhus Convention which obliges public authori- ties to provide information on decisions impacting on the environment. "In this case the PA did not observe the con- vention as it decided to de- schedule the garden without informing anyone," lawyer Claire Bonello on behalf of Flimkien Ghall-Ambjent Ah- jar, said. If upheld, the appeal would have a revolutionary impact on the opaque manner in which decisions are presently taken over de-scheduling of protected buildings. The PA denied MaltaToday a list of buildings awaiting scheduling in 2017, arguing that this would result in "ex- ternal interference that may hamper the scheduling pro- cess." Sources in the PA point- ed out that publishing such a list could effectively endanger some of these buildings. But such reasons do not apply to cases of buildings whose pro- tection is removed. Recently the PA accepted a request for scheduling made by the daughter of the late premier Dom Mintoff, for his Tarxien villa to get Grade 1 protection. In Sliema, a re- quest by the Sliema local council to schedule the Fort Cambridge officer's mess at Tigné, is still awaiting a de- cision from the PA – a deci- sion that would have a direct bearing on the fate of a plan- ning application by construc- tion giants Gap Holdings for a 40-storey tower. YANNICK PACE THE National Development and Social Fund (NDSF), the entity tasked with adminis- tering 70% of the proceeds from Malta's cash-for-pass- ports scheme – is expecting a reply on its bid to purchase a majority share in Lombard Bank shortly. Back in March, the NDSF announced that it had agreed to buy 49% of the shares in the bank, which are currently held by the Cypriot Popular Bank Pub- lic Co. Ltd, which is under pressure to compensate depositor and shareholders after the bank's collapse. The bank is under pres- sure to sell its shares by a summer 2018 deadline imposed by the European Central Bank and the Eu- ropean Banking Authority, in order for dues with de- positors to be settled. The NDSF's chairman David Curmi told Mal- taToday when contacted that the fund was currently awaiting a reply on the proposed deal from both the Malta Financial Servic- es Authority and the Euro- pean Central Bank. He added, however, that it did not appear as though there would be any prob- lems in the deal going through within the time- frames set by the ECB. The NDSF had said in March that the acquisition was not a strategic invest- ment and was intended solely to facilitate the exit of the Cypriot bank and that it would be seeking to reduce its proposed share- holding in the bank in an "orderly manner, at the right market conditions". Asked when this would be happening, Curmi said that the fund was currently finalising a plan to reduce its shareholding but would not elaborate further, not- ing that a public statement would be issued once the deal went through. Green light expected on Lombard sale to IIP The PA dances to the market's tune as Sliema houses lose scheduling to make way for higher development What the PA giveth, it taketh away… Trafalgar House (top), and the garden as seen from Google Maps, which has now had its scheduling withdrawn