Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1225368
7 maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 25 MARCH 2020 NEWS Coronavirus MATTHEW VELLA TRUCKERS and port workers speaking to MaltaToday are in- sisting the lack of quarantine rules for non-Maltese drivers carrying out the transport of es- sential goods could be discrimi- natory in their regard. Industry insiders and workers this newspaper spoke to said foreign, mainly Italian drivers arriving on the Grimaldi ship- ping lines are not being thor- oughly checked for coronavi- rus symptoms. "The authorities tell us these drivers are providing a neces- sary service by transport food and medicines. But we have seen them transport furniture as well… as well as staying on in the island to eat," said one port worker. According to an industry source, while the Grimaldi and Tirrenia shipping lines were issued notices not to have ve- hicles accompanied by their drivers staying overnight, the same was not issued to the Virtu Ferries catamaran com- pany. "It's an abuse. These drivers can put others at risk. And it puts these shipping lines at a disadvantage of course," the source said, who filed the com- plaint to the 111 emergency line. "I called, I sent emails, I even petitioned the prime minister about this situation. The su- perintendence of public health says these vehicles are carrying essential goods, but that still gives the one company an un- fair advantage over the other shipping lines." Port workers: Italian drivers should be checked SCOOTER 001 SHARING THE PRESENT, SO WE CAN BUILD A BETTER FUTURE. One app. Over 450 shared vehicles. Pay per minute, per hour or per day. goto.com.mt/download * Rate per minute for Scooter trips on the GoTo Business Plan. Terms and Conditions apply. €1.50 PAGE 2 PAGE 5 Silvio Schembri apologises for 'unfortunate' foreign workers comments Banking customers offered home loan moratorium due to Covid-19 THURSDAY 19 MARCH 2020 • ISSUE 50 WWW.BUSINESSTODAY.COM.MT DAVID HUDSON A rescue package worth €1.8 bil- lion has been unveiled to mitigate the impact of Covid-19 on the economy. PAGE 3 PAGE 2 Editorial PAGE 9 RIDING OUT THE STORM AND SAVING JOBS Coronavirus Government announces €1.8b rescue package to mitigate crisis Robert Abela BOV registers pre-tax profit of €89.2m • Government to pay companies €350 per employee on quarantine leave • Businesses ordered to shut down temporarily, will receive two days of assistance per week per employee Id-dinja dieħla f'riċessjoni? U Malta? www.illum.com.mt ARA PAĠNI 12 u 13 €1.25 IL-ĦADD 22 TA' MARZU 2020 • NRU 701 'Il-Gvern huwa rrassenjat li se nitilfu x-xogħol. Mentri aħna rridu nsalvawh' 'ROBERT GĦINNA QABEL IKUN TARD WISQ' Il-GWU, l-MHRA, il-GRTU, il-FATTA u l-UĦM mal-ILLUM iwissu li jekk il-Gvern mhux se jħabbar miżuri ġodda se jibdew jingħalqu n-negozji u jintilfu l-impjiegi, speċjalment fit-turiżmu, fir-ristoranti u d-divertiment! ARA PAĠNI 4 u 5 PAĠNI 10 u 11 SUNDAY • 22 MARCH 2020 • ISSUE 1064 • PUBLISHED EVERY WEDNESDAY AND SUNDAY €1.95 maltatoday This won't work, Robert EDITORIAL MT2 ROBERT Abela's package does not go far enough and will not work. Malta has entered a war which has destabilised the economy and all its workers. Abela cannot be scared of spending and rack- ing up the necessary government debt needed for a national stim- ulus now: the risks of not acting will be greater than what lies ahead in the next months. He must alleviate economic hard- ship during the epidemic to pre- vent lasting damage to the econ- omy by stopping this recession from turning into the next Great Depression. What Malta needs is a form of universal credit for all, to keep aggregate demand up and so that idle workers at home can return straight to work at the end of the crisis and restore the supply chain. STAY IN, STAY SAFE, WE ARE IN THIS TOGETHER WWW.MALTATODAY.COM.MT/COVID19 Our appeal is simple: Maltese businesses must be sustained by keeping workers in a job with a social insurance that sustains their wages CLAUDIO GRECH 'We cannot allow Maltese businesses to fail. We would be failing society' INTERVIEW MT2 Never before has your support of free and independent journalism been so crucial Support us with a subscription or a donation maltatoday.com.mt/maltatodaydigitaledition Truckers and port workers criticise lack of quarantine rules for non- Maltese drivers THE Malta Trust Foundation has received a consignment of 20,000 specialised face masks from China that it will be do- nating to the Prime Minister, GPs and NGOs to help curb the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. The donation — a mix of sur- gical and KF94 masks, which can filter out 94 per cent of particulate matter and pro- vides protection against drop- lets — stems from the collab- oration between The Malta Trust Foundation and Chinese donors William Zeng, Nicole Yang and Li Hua. Foundation head Marie-Lou- ise Coleiro Preca said: "It is heartwarming to see our friends from China – who have their own ordeals to face – coming forward to give tangi- ble help to our country." The Malta Trust Founda- tion's international director Sophie Chen was instrumental in securing this donation. She also recently facilitated an online call for Malta's front- line healthcare professionals with Wang Chen, the leading expert and specialist in Chi- na who has been in charge of strategy and implementation against the COVID-19 out- break. Ms Coleiro Preca said that 15,000 masks will be donated to Prime Minister Robert Ab- ela tomorrow. The remaining 5,000 will be distributed to the Association of General Practitioners for doctors who were seeing pa- tients in their clinics without any protective equipment; as well as other NGOs, such as the Foodbank Lifeline Foun- dation, and Fondazzjoni Naz- areth who were at-risk groups working to help the vulnerable in the community. Coleiro Preca appealed to everybody out there to abide by the authorities' instructions on social distancing to ensure healthcare professionals could continue to do their job with- out being overwhelmed in their fight against the corona- virus outbreak. "This is a very difficult and challenging time for each and every one but through solidar- ity, and the public's coopera- tion to change their behaviour, we can overcome this critical period together." Malta Trust Foundation to donate 20,000 masks to healthcare workers