Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1062629
MATTHEW VELLA MALTESE police are liaising with Spanish counterparts on a criminal investigation concerning tuna fattened in Maltese pens that could have been used for the 'laundering' of illegally caught tuna by the Fuentes fishing group in Spain. Spanish investigators have said that tuna imported from fattening farms in Malta had their traceability codes – the Bluefin Tuna Catch Docu- mentation – used on invoices for illegally-caught tuna that was exported by the tuna giant Fuentes & Hijos. The Fuentes subsidiary in Malta, Mare Blu Tuna, has de- nied any allegations of illegal- ity in its relations with its par- ent company. "The information you received is not correct and has been manipulated to cause harm to our company," direc- tor Massimo Cappitta said. "We are a leading company in the field in Malta that have ex- ported Bluefin tuna to Japan for more than 10 years, creat- ing employment and invest- ment in Malta." Newspaper post YOUR FIRST READ AND CLICK OF THE DAY WWW.MALTATODAY.COM.MT SUNDAY • 16 DECEMBER 2018 • ISSUE 997 • PUBLISHED EVERY WEDNESDAY AND SUNDAY SUNDAY • 16 DECEMBER 2018 • ISSUE 997 • PUBLISHED EVERY WEDNESDAY AND SUNDAY • PUBLISHED EVERY WEDNESDAY AND SUNDAY maltatoday SUNDAY • 16 DECEMBER 2018 • ISSUE 997 • PUBLISHED EVERY WEDNESDAY AND SUNDAY today today • PUBLISHED EVERY WEDNESDAY AND SUNDAY today • PUBLISHED EVERY WEDNESDAY AND SUNDAY PAGE 6 INTERVIEW Gozo bishop Mario Grech on the challenges of the Catholic Church in an era where change is the only constant PAGES 16-17 €1.95 Hungry at Christmas Rev. Kim Hurst at the Valletta Foodbank reveals the reality of those who at Christmastime are unable to keep up PAGE 11 SUNDAY • malta SUNDAY • 1.95 Great dame! The indefatigable panto star and actor Edward Mercieca reveals himself in our Q&A MaltaToday2 2 INSIDE Xghajra selected for reclamation, not Bahar ic-Caghaq JAMES DEBONO THE Environment and Resources Authority has concluded a site selection exercise on land recla- mation to dispose the large mass of construction and demolition waste created by construction projects like the Gozo tunnel. MaltaToday is reliably informed that the study was presented to the ERA board on Friday and was immediately handed to environment min- ister Josè Herrera with a recommendation for Xghajra to become an area for land reclamation. The Gozo tunnel project is set to create one million tonnes of waste, coupled with waste cre- ated by various private sector projects like the DB project in Pembroke which by itself will cre- ate 336,000 cubic metres of waste. When contacted, the ERA refused to reveal which sites are being considered for land recla- mation. "ERA is conducting a site selection exercise solely from an environmental perspective, which is almost concluded, therefore mentioning indi- vidual sites is premature," a spokesperson said. But MaltaToday is reliably informed that the site selection study indicates that the only suit- able site from an ecological perspective is the northern part of the coastline between Xghajra and Marsaskala, which has experienced severe degradation due to the sewage outfall and where protected Posidonia meadows and other sea grasses are less preva- lent. protected Posidonia meadows and PAGE 3 Malta police liaising with Spain in tuna investigation Second French spy plane spotted in Malta DAVID HUDSON A spy operation similar to the French operation revealed a few weeks ago by Malta- Today could still be taking place from Malta, according to flight patterns seen by this newspaper. Evidence shown to this newspaper suggests that even after the 2016 plane crash that killed five French secret agents in Malta, a similar op- eration based on the island to rendezvous over Libya is ongo- ing. PAGE 5