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08.08.19 2 YANNICK PACE MICHAEL Falzon has hailed the pro- gress registered by the country in terms of the number of people at risk of pov- erty, following the publication of the latest statistics on income and living conditions. e statistics were published on Wednesday by the National Statistics Office (NSO) and are based on data col- lected during 2017. Addressing a press conference on the subject, the social solidarity minister stressed that Malta had succeeded in drastically reducing poverty since 2013. He highlighted that the number of people at risk of poverty had fallen from 24.6% to 19% since 2013, noting that the number of people living in condi- tions of severe material depravation had also dropped substantially, falling from 10.2% to 3%. Both indicators, he said, were today at historically low levels. According to the NSO, the number of people living under conditions of severe material depravation stood at 3% in 2017, having seen a marginal decrease of 0.3% over the previous year. During the same period, the number of people who were at risk of pover- ty stood at 16.8%, equivalent to 78,685 people. e average gross household income was estimated to be €33,573, while households' average disposable income stood at €27,830. e number of people living below the at-risk-of-poverty line grew by 0.01% over the previous year. Falzon insisted that the result obtained by the present administration stood in stark contrast with those obtained by past Nationalist administration. He said that the country had gone from a situation were it was registering poverty levels above the European aver- age to one that was now below average. Malta was today being compared to Scandinavian country, rather than countries going through economic cri- ses as was the case in the past, he said. e minister pointed to measures such as the tapering of benefits and the tapering of benefits as having contrib- uted to a reduction in people living in poverty. Permanent Secretary Mark Musu not- ed that there had been some 70 meas- ures that were intended to directly or indirectly address the issue of poverty in the last two budgets, adding that it was expected that the results from these measures would be noticeable over the next few years. e explained that the at-risk-of-pov- erty and social exclusion indicator was based on three main criteria: how an individual's income compares with the median equivalised national income, the amount of people under 60 not working for at least eight hours a week and the number of people living under condi- tions of severe material depravation. Minister hails drop in poverty for fifth year in a row FROM PAGE 1 Debono's lawyer Victor Bugeja claimed in court on Wednesday that US embassy officials told Debono they wanted informa- tion on the provision of fuel to Russian ships, in order to lift sanctions against Debono and his businesses. "Do you remember those two Russian ships that wanted to dock in Malta and that Malta didn't allow to refuel? ey told him to confirm whether the Prime Minister and the govern- ment took them outside territo- rial waters and whether he gave them fuel himself. ey insisted on being given information and asked for information about the Prime Minister and Keith Schembri. He said, 'no because he is my Prime Minister and I am not a spy'," Bugeja said. e claim was made in court in a case in which Debono is requesting an injunction on attempts by the Maltese gov- ernment to designate Unit- ed Nations sanctions against him. e court will decree on whether to uphold the request next week. Debono is facing charges in It- aly after having been arrested in September 2017 for his involve- ment in an oil smuggling ring between Libya and Italy. Since then, his businesses have been hit by OFAC sanctions, and he has petitioned the US embassy in Malta to have the sanctions lifted. His lawyer insisted Debono was a fisherman who never made any transfers of oil out- side territorial waters, because he does not own fuel barges. He also said that Debono was asked by the Americans to spy on the Maltese government when queired about wether govern- ment had supplied fuel to Rus- sian warships, and that he had refused. "He refused to answer these questions." Bugeja argued that further sanctions against his client would be "catastrophic" for him. He said the American de- mands were made in a meeting during which Debono asked for the OFAC sanctions to be lifted, in which he was also asked for information about human traf- fickers and drug smugglers. Last month, MaltaToday re- ported that an attempt by Malta to have UN sanctions placed on the two men had hit a snag af- ter Russia sought more details about the petition at the elev- enth hour. e technical hold, as it is re- ferred to, requested more in- formation about the sanctions from the Maltese government, a request which it acceded to instantly. Both Darren Debono and Gordon Debono have filed in- junctions against the govern- ment over the attempt at im- posing sanctions. Debono's lawyer insisted throughout the sitting that the only reason Malta was attempt- ing to have sanctions against his client was to appease the United States. "is is not the govern- ment, this is the Americans." He said the actions were dis- proportionate when consider- ing the effect they would have on Debono's life, insisting there would be no way of reversing the decision given that the Unit- ed States had a veto in the UN Security Council and that the issue with Debono had now be- come "personal". Debono fires back at US Chargés d'Affaires Bugeja also insisted that the real reason sanctions were be- ing pursued came out in an 18 July episode of current affairs programme Xtra Sajf, which included an interview with US Chargé d'Affaires Mark A. Schapiro. In it, cases filed by Transport Malta by Debono, to stop the regulator from deregistering a number of ships he owns, was upheld. Schapiro had said during the programme that Malta's de- cision to present its first ever sanctions designation at the United Nations were an attempt to get around the decision. "at would have solved these problems because the judge would have been obliged to en- force this, because Malta is a member of the United Nations. It was unfortunate that it didn't go through." Maltese government not presently pursuing sanctions e court was presented with a sworn declaration from For- eign Affairs Minister Carmelo Abela in which it is stated that the Prime Minister and himself "at present do not intend to car- ry out any of the actions speci- fied by [Debono] and for which he requesting a precautionary warrant of injunction". is, however, does not pre- clude any further action at UN level by the Maltese, or any oth- er interested government seek- ing sanctions against actors sus- pected of fuel smuggling. Lawyer Christian Scerri Falzon from the office of the Attorney General noted that procedures related to the application of sanctions against an individual were in and of themselves con- fidential. "It doesn't make sense to go and tell someone that they are being investigated." He insisted that anything that might have been said through the media was not relevant to the case before the court, stress- ing that the facts relating to the veracity of statements made could not be established by the court. Moreover, he said that the courts had no jurisdiction to stop the UN from imposing sanctions. He further noted that the UN Security Council was not an entity that would impose sanc- tions for no reason. Bugeja insisted that it was not true that the procedure was now out of Malta's control. He said that both Abela and Schap- iro had stated that Malta was awaiting questions from Russia which it would be replying. e Maltese government is- sued an official statement after the court sitting, saying its dec- laration explained that the ele- ments for the issuance of a war- rant of prohibitory injunction did not subsist. Gordon Debono (centre) with Darren Debono (left) and Fahmi Bin Khalifa, are suspected of masterminding a fuel smuggling ring involving Libya, Malta and Italy Maltese government not presently pursuing sanctions

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