Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1007543
OPINION maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 25 JULY 2018 8 NEWS JAMES DEBONO IN the past four months the Lands Au- thority has affected 1,103 inspections in the various localities in Malta and Gozo in order to determine the "state of play" for establishments endowed with chairs and tables, a government spokesperson confirmed. The review of permits for chairs and tables was commenced by the Lands Authority after the lands authority removed a controversial platform out- side a bar on a busy Paceville road. The review, as announced to Malta- Today in February, was described as "a process whereby the Authority will be checking all the permits it has issued and whether all those who placed tables and chairs have all the permits in place." The exercise is still in process, the spokesperson confirmed. The government official did not re- veal how many establishments were found not in line with permit condi- tions and how many permits were re- voked. But the government spokesperson confirmed that "direct action is being taken to remove illegalities whenever these establishment are blocking path- ways". Applications for the erection of chairs and tables on public pavements or on makeshift platforms have shot up from just 32 in 2013 to 163 in 2017, an increase of 409%. The major rise in applications took place between 2015 – when 57 such applications were presented – and 2016 when 129 applications were pre- sented. The surge in applications coincided with the approval of a new policy regu- lating outside catering establishment, which effectively allows restaurants and cafeterias to set up platforms on public roads and parking spaces as long as they leave a 1.5 metre-corridor for people to pass from. The measure is said to have resulted in a massive increase in table covers and thus profits for restaurants but has also decreased parking spaces and hindered pedestrian access especially in localities like Sliema, Gzira, St Ju- lian's and Marsaskala. 1,103 inspections on chairs and tables FELIX Busuttil is gunning for a place on the Labour Party's ballot sheet for the European Parliament election next year, the artiste confirmed on Face- book. Busuttil said that he had submitted his candidature to the party for approval, thank- ing Prime Minister Joseph Muscat and ministers Helena Dalli and Owen Bonnici for their support. The dancer and choreogra- pher made his 'political debut' during last year's election cam- paign when he was asked to ad- dress the PL mass meeting in Naxxar. In a short and hard-hitting speech, Busuttil underscored the new civil rights for gay peo- ple introduced by the govern- ment that allowed him to join his partner in a civil union. Busuttil follows other people, who will be contesting the EP election for the first time with the PL, including Cyrus Engerer and Alex Saliba. Incumbent Miriam Dalli will contest again, while former prime minister Alfred Sant has not yet made known his inten- tions. Marlene Mizzi has decid- ed to call it a day. Dancer and choreographer Felix Busuttil has asked the Labour Party to approve him as a candidate for next year's European Parliament election Felix Busuttil to stand for European Parliament election with Labour MATTHEW AGIUS TWO court messengers have been charged with attempt- ing to steal a case file from criminal proceedings. 56-year-old Edwin Vas- sallo and 61-year-old Jo- seph Bezzina were charged with attempting to destroy or steal documents belong- ing to the courts, tampering with evidence and aggra- vated theft, amongst other charges. The two men appeared before magistrate Joe Mifsud yesterday, assisted by lawyers Franco Debono, Amadeus Cachia and Al- fred Abela. Prosecuting Inspector Frank Anthony Tabone tes- tified that on 27 April the police were called to the court due to an attempt of theft of the file Police vs Angel Attard. Upon arriving at court, police were informed that there was a file that could not be found and the duty magistrate was informed and started an inquiry. Investigations revealed that Edwin Vassallo had collected some files which were to be given to Magis- trate Neville Camilleri, but Vassallo had passed the An- gel Attard file on to Bezzi- na. Bezzina had placed it in a locked drawer in a room in court. CCTV footage re- lating to the incident was exhibited to the court. Bezzina had explained that he had found Edwin Vassal- lo outside hall 11 who had told him to hold on to the court file. He hadn't asked him why he was to hold on to the file because it wasn't the first time, Inspector Ta- bone said. A number of witnesses testified, including mobile telephony expert Martin Bajada, who said that the men had not directly con- tacted Attard, but had done so through a third party. The Court decree there was a prima facie ground for a bill of indictment to be issued. The case continues in September. magius@mediatoday.com.mt Two court messengers accused of attempting to steal case file