Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1083753
NEWS maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 20 FEBRUARY 2019 2 NOTICE BY THE ELECTORAL COMMISSION European Parliament Election & Local Councils' Elections – May 2019 Persons to serve as Assistant Electoral Commissioners, Polling Place Officers and Counting Staff The Electoral Commission notifies that it will receive applications from eligible persons to serve as Assistant Electoral Commissioners, Polling Place Officers and Counting Staff in the forthcoming European Parliament and Local Council Elections due on Saturday, 25th May, 2019. Applicants would be expected to attend briefing sessions held by the Electoral Commission in due course. Applications will be received by the Electoral Commission at the Naxxar Counting Complex (Ex-Trade Fair Grounds) From: Monday 18th to Friday 22nd February Between: 3.00 pm and 8.00 pm And on: Saturday 23rd February Between: 8.00 am and 1.00 pm Applicants must present their Identity Card. Persons residing in Gozo may apply at the Identity Cards Office, 28A, St. Francis Square, Victoria, Gozo. Application forms, the only ones admissible, may be obtained from the Electoral Office at the Naxxar Counting Complex during the mentioned days and hours or may be downloaded from the Electoral Commission's website: https://electoral.gov.mt/Elections/ApplicationForm www.electoral.gov.mt YANNICK PACE THE Maltese government has submitted an official re- quest to the European Com- mission for it to report to the European Council on the economic and social situa- tion of Gozo. In particular, the request asks for an assessment of the dis- parities in social and economic development levels between the two islands, the govern- ment said in a statement on Tuesday. "The Maltese government is convinced that further efforts are required to adequately sup- port island territories to ensure that these regions are not un- dermined by the territorial handicaps that these regions face," the government said. It added that the declaration calls for "action to be taken be- fore the end of each budgetary period in an effort to mitigate these challenges in future pro- jects". The government said it be- lieved that addressing Gozo's specific situation required a tailor-made approach that can bolster the island's economic activity whilst "protecting its inherent and distinctive natu- ral features". It said that for this purpose, the government had ear- marked 10% of the Structural and Cohesion Funds due to it, specifically to address the needs of Gozo during the last two programming periods. The government said that despite investment undertak- en in recent years, Gozo still lagged behind Malta. Within this context, it said it was invited the Commission to propose appropriate meas- ures to further enable Gozo's integration within the Euro- pean internal market. Government requests European Commission assessment of social and economic disparities between Gozo and Malta The government believes that addressing Gozo's specific situation requires a tailor-made approach CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 The minister was asked by Nationalist MP Karol Aquilina what the result of the inquiry was and whether the minister was prepared to make the re- port public. "I have no problem publishing the report. You ask a parliamentary question and I will table the report in parlia- ment," Herrera said. Regarding the result of the inquiry, the minister said there had been two recommenda- tions, both of which were im- plemented. The first, he said, related to the way in which tuna was weighed. "It's very technical and I couldn't explain it to you, even if I wanted to, but you can ask a PQ and I will answer it." Turning to the second recom- mendation, Herrera said the lawyer leading the inquiry had noted that an assistant director at the fisheries department was related to one of the manag- ers at the Mare Blu tuna com- pany. "I need to emphasise that the inquiry did not find that she had done anything wrong, but simply that for the sake of transparency, she should not have a regulatory role," Herrera said. He added that as a result, the person in question no longer worked on regulatory matters. The back-and-forth regarding the tuna industry was started by Opposition MP Edwin Vas- sallo, who asked the minister for an update on what action was being taken following al- legations of bribery against the department's director general. Department to outsource inspectorate function Herrera said that together with Parliamentary Secretary Clint Camilleri, he was work- ing to reform the department, especially when it comes to its inspectorate function, adding that Randall Caruana had been appointed acting director gen- eral. He said that as things stand, there is a robust legal frame- work in place, however the de- partment was facing challenges with enforcement because of the difficult in recruiting staff for certain roles. "The legal framework is there," he said. "Now if there are abuses on the ground that is a different matter. I've already said that Clint [Camilleri] and myself are looking into how we can revise the inspectorate methodology. Herrera noted that it was not easy for the department, given its limited resources, to carry out comprehensive inspec- tions, especially out at sea. A report by the National Au- dit Office last November, Her- rera said, had also noted that there were too few specialised people. "Take divers for inspections, as an example. Its not easy to find good quality people that are willing to do a certain type of work," he said. Herrera insisted that one op- tion that was being considered was to outsource certain in- spections. "Hindsight is 20/20. Naturally, if we can't find peo- ple to engage directly, this is the only way out," he said. He said he had encountered a similar problem at the Envi- ronment and Resources Au- thority, and had overcome it by issuing a tender for another company to supply personnel for its enforcement unit. "This problem has come up now and I will solve it," Herrera insisted, when asked whether he would be shouldering political re- sponsibility. Finally, regarding the fact that the fisheries board had not met in 20 months, Herrera noted that the board's role was a minimal one and that it did not have any regulatory roles. As such, he said the fact that the board had not met in a while was not as serious as it was being made out to be. "Its work is only to suggest ideas to the permanent secretary re- sponsible," he said, adding that there were some 50 boards that fell under the ministry's remit and that it was not as simple to appoint them immediately." Acting director general appointed following suspension of Andreina Fenech Farrugia Fisheries Department