Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1187474
6 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 24 NOVEMBER 2019 NEWS The Skinny No 11. MaltaToday's 20th anniversay What our we skinning? This very newspaper! Why are we skinning it? MaltaToday will be celebrating its 20th anniversary later on this week. Whoop-dee-doo. Isn't that a little bit self-serving? Surely the passage of time is par for the course for a newspaper, which at the very least seeks to arrest the daily stream of events and pluck out what's significant to present to readers... Aren't we feeling philosophical today?! Give it a rest and come join the party. Fine. What's on offer, and what's the main conversation piece? We can offer you any number of fine and not-so-fine spirits – leftover swag mouldering in the newsroom under a pile of archived newspapers and complementary publications. The conversation, however, has just hit a high note – we're remembering the paper's trajectory from its humble origins in 1999 to now, where it's become a bona fide national paper and a key player of Malta's media landscape. But what makes MaltaToday so special? I must confess I never quite got it, though maybe it's because I mainly get my news from Facebook these days... Well, MaltaToday emerged – and continues to assert itself – as an independent English-language newspaper in a country that runs short on them to this day. And given the toxic Maltese combination of draconian libel laws and a business-political stranglehold that is no friend to independent voices, that's no small feat. Indeed, and for 20 years running too! What do you think keeps the paper going? I would guess it's a mix of foolhardy gumption and a decently clever approach to editorial recruitment. Present company excepted, of course. Of course. Actually... Who ARE you, really? That's a secret for the MaltaToday vaults, which may or may not be cracked open at the same time, 20 years ahead. Do say: "We wish MaltaToday another 20 years of robust investigative journalism, which remains courageous and unrelenting in the face of economic obstacles and intimidation, while also allowing itself to take stock and accept and assimilate constructive criticism." Don't say: "Less double-page analyses, more listsicles please!" Malta, shrunk down Malta Industrial Parks Ltd 88, Msida Valley Road, Birkirkara, BKR9020 www.mip.com.mt Expression of Interest The Chief Execu�ve Officer, Malta Industrial Parks Ltd (MIP), no�fies that sealed submissions will be received for: MIP/TQF/GEN/S307/19/IV - Expression of Interest for the development and/or opera�on of Industrial Parks - Fourth Call Interested par�es may download a copy of the Expression of Interest document from www.mip.com.mt. Proposals should be made in line with the relevant condi�ons included in the Expression of Interest document. Sealed submissions marked with the relevant reference will be received in the tender box at the recep�on desk of Malta Industrial Parks Ltd, 88, Msida Valley Road, Birkirkara, BKR9020 by not later than: 10:00am of Friday, 20th December, 2019 JAMES DEBONO IN a sign of the growing audac- ity that defies the public mood against over-development, a number of requests to build outside development zones (ODZ) were filed with the Plan- ning Authority over the past weeks in Gozo. Only last Thursday, the PA board controversially approved a villa and pool on land owned by construction magnate Jo- seph Portelli on the pristine Qala coast. But despite an on- going revision of ODZ policies, the pressure is bound to keep increasing in the next months. So far in 2019, 22 applica- tions for ODZ dwellings have been presented in Gozo. They include applications for pools which are adjacent to dwellings proposed inside the develop- ment zone. The latest proposals include a brand new terraced house at the valley side of Wied Biljun in Qala. The site and its immedi- ate surroundings are covered with vegetation and protected trees. The terraced house, which will protrude into the valley, is being proposed on a "vacant plot" set between two old buildings. The Environment and Re- sources Authority has already shot down the application, noting that the development would result in the loss of ru- ral features such as protected trees and rubble walls, and the formalisation of the site. But judging by the way ERA was ignored in the case of the Qala villa, this may not be enough. An extension of an already approved villa is also being proposed in Sqaq l-Arcipriet in Gharb, in an application presented by Bianchi Invest- ments Limited. The applica- tion foresees a swimming pool and extension of the approved dwelling, within development zones, which already included a boundary wall enclosing the ODZ site and blocks a pathway to the fields from the locality's urban conservation area. The application extends the ap- proved dwelling, further out- side the development zone. Another application in Gharb foresees a villa with swimming pool off Triq San Pietru, and another one envisaging a ter- raced house on agricultural land at the edge of the devel- opment zones on 500sq.m of agricultural land along Triq Birbuba. Another application in San Lawrenz proposes the con- struction of two terraced hous- es at id-Dahla ta' Kuna in San Lawrenz. While the dwellings are being proposed in a vacant plot within the development zone, the swimming pools and decking area are being pro- posed outside development boundaries. Developers get more audacious in bid for ODZ villas in Gozo Developments in Gharb (top), San Lawrenz, and Wied Biljun