Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1082991
Suspended: fisheries boss Andreina Fenech Farrugia SUNDAY • 17 FEBRUARY 2019 • ISSUE 1006 • PUBLISHED EVERY WEDNESDAY AND SUNDAY PAGE 2 YOUR FIRST READ AND CLICK OF THE DAY WWW.MALTATODAY.COM.MT SUNDAY • 17 FEBRUARY 2019 • ISSUE 1006 • PUBLISHED EVERY WEDNESDAY AND SUNDAY maltatoday €1.95 THE SECRET VALENTINE Liberal mores and the mainstream erotic movie give Malta's online sex shops a big boost in sales PAGE 12 2 INSIDE THE Q&A Singer MAXINE PACE dreams big ART Patrick Fenech TELEVISION Netfl ix's Russian Doll & Sex Education PGS 10-11 KURT SANSONE IAN Borg is ranked as the best performing minister by people of all ages, men and women, Labourites and Nation- alists, a MaltaToday sur- vey has found. The infrastructure min- ister was ranked top by 21.6% of people, a result very likely influenced by his very visible portfolio that includes roads. Borg, who is the young- est minister, has been given a massive budget that has re- sulted in what is possibly the largest overhaul of Malta's road network in decades. Second and third in line came Chris Fearne, the deputy prime minister, who also doubles up as health minister, with 12.9%, and Konrad Mizzi, the tourism minister, with 8.2%, respectively. Social Solidarity Minister Michael Falzon came in fourth with 4.4%. Almost a third of those questioned (32%) did not know who to choose. These included those who mentioned Joseph Mus- cat. The Prime Minister was excluded from this exercise. Ian Borg most popular minister among all voters Ian Borg, Chris Fearne and Konrad Mizzi are Joseph Muscat's top three Cabinet performers MINISTERS' RATINGS mt survey Fuentes enjoyed unfair advantage inquiry found FISHERIES SCANDAL YANNICK PACE & MATTHEW VELLA AN internal inquiry kick-start- ed by anonymous complaints to environment minister José Herrera in 2016, had ascer- tained that the Fuentes subsidi- ary in Malta, the Mare Blu Fish- ing company, was being given a market advantage intentionally. The inquiry, led by a lawyer appointed by Herrera, was held at the same time as a police investigation into diesel smug- gling allegations, which eventu- ally crossed lines with Malta's multi-million tuna ranching industry. Specifically, the inquiry found that Mare Blu, run by brothers Massimo and Giovann Cap- pitta, was granted larger alloca- tions for the harvesting of tuna than rival firms. Watching the broadcasters Broadcasting Authority CEO Joanne Spiteri INTERVIEW 16-17