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NEWS maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 24 APRIL 2019 2 MATTHEW AGIUS A man who assaulted PD lo- cal council candidate Charles Polidano has been condition- ally discharged and ordered to stay away from the politician. Jack Azzopardi, 32, from Qrendi was arraigned un- der arrest before magistrate Audrey Demicoli this morn- ing, accused of threatening and slightly injuring Polida- no, as well as causing damage to his car and breaching the peace. Inspector Trevor Mi- callef told the court that Azz- opardi had assaulted Polidano after the latter had contacted the man's mother asking her to sign an endorsement of his candidature. The woman, who does not know how to read or write, had signed the form on Sat- urday. After that, Polidano claims, Azzopardi had called him "countless times," heap- ing verbal abuse and threats upon the politician. Polidano said things came to a head on Monday when the attacker approached him out- side his home. He told the MaltaToday that the man had physically assaulted him, leaving him with bruises on his shoulders, before pushing Polidano as he tried to get inside his car, closing the car door on his legs. The car had also sustained some €538 worth of damage during the assault, Inspector Micallef said. Lawyer Nico- lette Schembri, appearing as defence counsel for Azzopar- di, argued that he had reacted that way because his mother is a vulnerable person. He had encountered Polidano on the street and argued with him because he had allegedly por- trayed himself as a PL candi- date to the woman, she said. Azzopardi pleaded guilty to the charges and was handed a 2-year conditional discharge after both parties agreed that this would be the ideal pun- ishment. A 2-year protection order in favour of Polidano was also issued. He was giv- en six months to pay for the damage. Polidano has denied the claim that the endorsement was obtained fraudulently and lamented the fact that he was not even asked to testify in the proceedings. Polidano told MaltaToday that the woman's husband - the accused's father - asked her to support the nomina- tion. "His father, especially as someone very close to me, was fully aware of the com- plete context of my nomina- tion and can confirm that it was known that I was contest- ing with PD." Man admits to assaulting Partit Demokratiku candidate Charles Polidano lamented the fact that he was not even asked to testify in the proceedings against the man who assaulted him CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 Expenditure stood at 36.8% of GDP, a percent- age point increase, while revenue dropped to 38.8% of GDP from 39.2%. Public debt was cut by €17.8 million and stood at €5.66 billion. The debt-to-GDP ratio stood at 46%, down from 50.2% in 2017. The Maastricht criteria set a 60% benchmark for debt, with Malta having gone below that mark as far back as 2015. Malta among top three in EU Malta was among the top three EU countries that registered surpluses last year, according to Eurostat. The European statistics agency said on Tues- day that Luxembourg topped the list with a 2.4% surplus, followed by Bulgaria and Malta with 2% each. Germany registered a surplus of 1.7%. Two member states had deficits equal to or higher than 3% of GDP: Romania (-3%) and Cy- prus (-4.8%). At the end of 2018, the lowest ratios of gov- ernment debt to GDP were recorded in Estonia (8.4%), Luxembourg (21.4%), Bulgaria (22.6%), Czechia (32.7%), Denmark (34.1%) and Lithu- ania (34.2%). Fourteen member states had government debt ratios higher than 60% of GDP, with the highest registered in Greece (181.1%), Italy (132.2%), Portugal (121.5%), Cyprus (102.5%), Belgium (102.0%), France (98.4%) and Spain (97.1%). Malta registers second highest EU surplus JAMES DEBONO A residential dwelling just out- side Qala's development bound- ary may be turned into a 'yoga hotel' after the Planning Au- thority gave its go ahead today. The application for change of use was filed by Lina Refalo, the wife of former Gozo minister Anton Refalo. The proposal does not include any extension of the existing building, except for a new base- ment level. The hotel will spe- cialise in yoga meditation and culinary services. The site overlooks the pictur- esque Daħlet Qorrot Bay and can be accessed through the ru- ral road Triq ta' Ġulju. It is located on land designat- ed as an area of high landscape value for its rural setting, and an area of ecological importance. The Environment and Re- sources Authority had objected to the introduction of a new tourist accommodation facility in the rural landscape. "Although the site is commit- ted with development, the use proposed will indirectly increase the impact on the area in terms of traffic," ERA cautioned. It also warned that the permit would set an "undesirable prec- edent" for similar future devel- opment "which would cumu- latively lead to further adverse impacts on the overall state of the wider context". But the planning directorate disagreed noting that the pro- posal did not include any ad- ditional extensions to what is already approved on the site and will not result in any additional land take-up. It also claimed that in certain cases the redevel- opment of a permitted building that was developed "unsym- pathetically in the countryside may be considered as a gain if it is properly redeveloped". The Superintendence for Cul- tural Heritage gave its go ahead to the development. The site had been subject to two enforcement orders in the past two decades. These irregu- larities were regularised by two successful applications to sanc- tion additions which had been carried out without a permit. Piecemeal development on the 2,000sq.m. site, including various additions to the existing farmhouse, a swimming pool approved in 2004, and extensive landscaping works carried out between 1998 and 2018, have drastically changed the topog- raphy of the site as can be con- firmed by a comparison of aerial photos taken by the Planning Authority. In 2009, the PA justified the regularisation of a reservoir and landscaping works as these were in line with the landscaping layout already approved in the previous applications, while the reservoir was deemed accept- able as it complimented the use of the garden. All applications presented up to 2004 had been presented by Anton Refalo, who was already a Labour MP at the time. But all applications presented on the site after 2009 were presented by his wife Lina. The latest application foresees excavations beneath the farm- house to accommodate hotel rooms and ancillary services. The 2014 rural policy allows the development of basement levels and facilitates a change of use of legal establishments. Anton Refalo's wife gets 'yoga hotel' permit Former Gozo minister Anton Refalo's wife filed the application to change the residential dwelling into a hotel

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