Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1080741
3 NEWS maltatoday | SUNDAY • 10 FEBRUARY 2019 DAVID HUDSON THE Nationalist Party's muckraker Joe Mikallef may have missed the mark but not by much when his TV show Sorsi Infurmati produced misleading footage and audio from an electoral counting hall to illustrate a story of mi- nor importance: a Christmas party bash by Central Bank employees breaking out in song by chanting 'Viva l-La- bour'. Since then, Mikallef's 'scoop' has been torn apart by La- bour's own political TV mas- cot Karl Stagno Navarra and a categorical denial by the Cen- tral Bank. And yet, an eyewitness who came forward to MaltaTo- day about what happened at the Central Bank's Christmas Party says that chants of 'Viva l-Labour' were well and truly on the menu. "The three persons whose photos were published on the media and who gave sworn affidavits saying they did not participate in any form of political chant were conveni- ently utilised by the Central Bank to negate the story. But the bank employs hundreds of people, not just three," the Central Bank employee told MaltaToday. The party did not take place at the Central Bank of- fices but at Gi- ardini Lambrosa, a typical wedding venue at the limits of Rabat, on Decem- ber 14, the source told MaltaToday. Catered by Elia Borg Bonaci, the swimming-pooled venue offered copious amounts of food and drinks, and the en- tertainment came in the form of former Eurovision singer Kurt Calleja. Calleja sang songs during the first half of the night but then took on the role of DJ as he took requests and played popular bangers. "The bank advocates a policy of moderate drinking even during social gatherings. Some, however, were still in- toxicated by the end of the party… but not uncontrolla- bly so. They knew what they were doing," the source said. One of the employees was seen approaching Calleja with a song request – ostensibly Robert Miles's Children, La- bour's 1996 electoral anthem. So far, so harmless. "As soon as the song started playing, the employee could be seen hoisted onto the shoulder of another employee and the chant 'Viva l-Labour' could be heard by anyone there – the disc jockey could hear it, there were foreign waiters around, other employees," the source said, adding that around 50 people participat- ed in the chant, by clapping, jumping and singing to the Labour anthem. The source said that the bank knows that employees might be too scared to speak out, fearing some form of ret- ribution, but that the situa- tion could have been straight- forwardly solved. "The governor could have easily said that it happened and that it wasn't that big of a deal. Telling members of the media that it did not happen was an unnecessary risk. The bank de- cided to cover up childish be- haviour to the detriment of the reputation and the integrity of the institution," the source told MaltaToday. The Central Bank was quick to issue a statement after Joe Mikallef's story was published and revealed by One TV's Pjazza to have been a shoddy report that made use of foot- age of a Barcelona nightclub and vote-counting hall audio. In its statement, the Central Bank said that it condemned any attempt to cause politi- cal division among the bank's staff. "The Bank would like to reassure the public that it always takes appropriate ac- tion whenever it has hard evi- dence of breaches in its Code of Conduct," it said. The source said that though the political chanting didn't last longer than it took for Children to finish playing, it had in fact happened and there were many witnesses who watched but did not par- ticipate. Among the 50 participants, some were high-ranking em- ployees within the bank, the source confirmed. "When the Central Bank negated the charge of political discrimi- nation over something that could have easily been admit- ted – a five-minute, drunken lapse – it begs the question of whether there is some truth to the allegation," the em- ployee said. dhudson@mediatoday.com.mt Central Bank eyewitness: Labour chants did take place at party 'Viva l-Labour' chanting did happen, a Central Bank employee told MaltaToday – despite sexed-up report by PN media that allowed Central Bank to issue sworn statement of employees denying drunken chanting The party did not take place at the Central Bank offices (pictured) but at Giardini Lambrosa in Rabat DAVID HUDSON IN an agreement between the Malta Developers Association and the Envi- ronment Minister, a fixed dumping fee of €8 for every tonne of waste dumped in quarries will be enforced for the next one and a half years. The MDA has met with Minister José Herrera asking for more quarries to be opened for the purpose of dumping construction waste. This comes after Herrera confirmed that there were plenty of quarries on the island for this purpose at an Envi- ronment and Development Planning Committee meeting. However, only a handful of the 32 quarries licensed to receive construc- tion waste are actually doing so, lead- ing the few operators to make a killing from higher dumping fees – indeed a doubling of former fees. For this reason, Herrera announced a fixed fee of no more than €8 for every tonne of waste dumped in quarries. "This is so that the price becomes sta- bilised and the economy is not discour- aged by unjustified prices. From next Monday, the price remains fixed and I will use all the measures allowed to me by law for a genuine cooperation with quarry operators," Herrera said. The environment minister met with MDA yesterday in an attempt to find a solution for construction waste, an is- sue that made the rounds in the media this week. MDA President Sandro Chetcuti said that an agreement had also been reached with the minister so that the opening hours of quarries will now be extended from 6.30am to 3.45pm. Industry sources had complained that they were facing a crisis at a time when the construction industry was booming. "The limited space where to dispose of construction and excava- tion waste is leading to trucks forming queues outside the few quarries as they wait their turn to discard their load," they said. The situation was also leading to higher prices for the disposal of con- struction waste. One quarry in the past weeks informed contractors of a 70% hike in fees for every tonne of con- struction debris. The quarry close to Ħaġar Qim and Mnajdra prehistoric temples, which is operated by Tum Invest and V&C Con- tractors as La Cava Operations raised its rates to €12 per tonne from €7 per tonne for construction waste and to €15 per tonne from €10 per tonne for demolition waste. Construction waste dumping fees reduced PN journalist Joe Mikallef's use of misleading footage and audio rendered his story of an actual event entirely unbelievable