Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1237083
2 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 19 APRIL 2020 CORONAVIRUS CRISIS maltatoday One-month special delivery fee of just €1 per day for orders up to 5 newspaper per address To subscribe 1. Email us your choice of newspapers, recipient's name, address, contact number to production@millermalta.com 2. Forward cheques payabale to Miller Distributors Ltd to address: Miller House, Air- port Way, Tarxien Road, Luqa LQA1814 Queries on other newspapers and magazines, contact production@millermalta.com home delivery maltatoday TRIED, TESTED & LOVED Your local rental partner. Since 1969. e. renting@franksalt.com.mt | w. franksalt.com.mt/renting L E T T I N G L E T T I N G #STAYSAFE SUNDAY • 12 APRIL 2020 • ISSUE 1067 • PUBLISHED EVERY WEDNESDAY AND SUNDAY €1.95 maltatoday PGS 2-3 Malta tells EU traffickers are 'using' NGO to ferry migrants MATTHEW VELLA MALTA'S foreign and home affairs ministers yesterday met the ambassadors of France and Spain, explaining to them that it was "impos- sible for Malta" to rescue boat migrants and asylum seekers being transported out at sea by traffickers in Libya. Evairst Bartolo and Byron Camileri told the ambassadors that the COVID-19 pandemic had put the Maltese islands under pressure in terms of law enforcement. "The resources and space in migrant reception centres are limited, and the arrivals of more mi- grants will imperil the migrants living in these centres," they said in a statement to the press. The ministers said that Spain had closed its ports and borders, much as Malta had done af- ter Italy announced its closure of ports to mi- grant rescue charities. "Human trafficking has increased since Sun- day after the German-flagged boat operated by Sea-Eye 'promoted' its operations at sea to take in rescued migrants to Europe," the ministers said, adding that human traffickers in Libya had taken the cue to ferry the asylum seekers out at sea to be picked up by the 'Alan Kurdi' vessel. The ministers said the traffickers were ex- ploiting the Libyan instability, and that the EU had to intervene to disrupt this business model. Bartolo also spoke to the EU's external rela- tions commissioner Josep Borell yesterday, say- ing that unless Libya is aided, human traffickers will keep imperiling the lives of migrants they ferry out to sea. STAY IN, STAY SAFE, WE ARE IN THIS TOGETHER WWW.MALTATODAY.COM.MT/COVID19 Raphael Vella: Home is where the art is INTERVIEW MT 2 Never before has your support of free and independent journalism been so crucial SUBSCRIBE maltatoday.com.mt/maltatodaydigitaledition Pilots were 'guaranteed pay' in 2016 side-letter AIR Malta pilots were given a signed guarantee by the Labour government that they would be kept on a state payroll with their same take-home pay, in the absence of a volun- tary retirement scheme should their jobs be terminated. The side-letter of 18 August 2016 was an agreement forced by the threat of a strike by Malta's pilots, in which then-tourism minister Edward Zammit Lewis had to placate pilots in a bid to increase their flying hours. The agreement states that the government "is giving all Air Malta pilots in Malta a guarantee of work, and will actively consid- er a voluntary early retirement scheme to 'right-size' [the air- line] that would be acceptable to all parties, including ALPA… the government is guaranteeing pilots that they will continue receiving a 'take home pay' of their choice according to either years 2014, 2015 or 2016." PAGE 4 Robert Abela gets 62% 'pandemic' trust rating, while PN gets Gozo boost mt survey Eek! With humans at home, pests mount return 9 Foodie frontliners: wine and fine dining 10-11 and takeaway armies 16 MALTATODAY SURVEY PAGES 14-15 Same-day delivery of your favourite Sunday newspaper Monday-Friday Sat Sunday MaltaToday Midweek €1 n/a MaltaToday on Sunday €1.95 BusinessToday €1.50 n/a ILLUM €1.25 The Malta Independent €1 €1 The Malta Independent on Sunday €1.95 Times of Malta €1 €1 Sunday Times of Malta €1.95 In-Nazzjon €1 €1 Il-Mument €1.20 l-Orizzont €1 €1 It-Torca €1.50 Daily Mail €2.40 €2.40 Mail on Sunday €3.30 Daily Mirror €2.50 €2.50 Sunday Mirror €2.70 The Sun €2.50 €2.50 Sun on Sunday €2.50 Daily Express €2.50 €2.50 Sunday Express €3.30 Daily Star €2.20 €2.20 Sunday Star €2.50 Daily Telegraph €4.50 €5.00 Sunday Telegraph €5.70 The Times €4.50 €5.00 The Sunday Times €5.70 Financial Times €3.70 €4.50 People €2.70 The Guardian €3.90 €4.60 The Observer €4.90 Support your favourite newspaper with a subscription https://bit.ly/2X9csmr CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 Apart from its troubles with the unions, notably cabin crew and pilots who refused pay cuts and forced the airline to forge ahead with redundancies, Air Malta will be seeing budgeted revenues fall by over €180 mil- lion in 2020, three-quarters of which represents its summer business. "It's devastating. The airline will transition from its breake- ven position into massive loss- es, not counting certain costs associated with third-party contracts, pending salaries and taxes, and other ancillary costs on fuel," said the government source with knowledge of the airline's predicament. But Air Malta is also hoping it will weather the COVID-19 thunderstorm with a raft of unprecedented reforms inside the airline that it was previous- ly unable to do so. The airline went on the war- path with the Airline Pilots As- sociation (ALPA) when union representatives refused to meet Air Malta to discuss a €1,200 monthly salary offer while all aircraft was grounded. The airline called the union's bluff by forging ahead with the redundancies of 108 pilots out of a workforce of 139. Similar cuts took place with cabin crew personnel, after the UCC refused the €1,200 salary, with personnel on defi- nite contracts claiming union representatives were fighting their patch to preserve higher salaries for crew on indefinite contracts. "The management has the up- per hand in as many years. The crisis affects all of Air Malta's competitors equally, in a cer- tain sense, but allows the air- line to rebalance itself and then scale up once the clouds of this pandemic clear up," the gov- ernment source said. Credit rating agency Fitch yesterday said that Malta's re- al GDP will contract by 5.9% in 2020, a more austere outlook than a recent IMF prediction, reflecting the health crisis shock to the global economy and tourism, coupled with the government's containment measures, and a stop on con- sumer spending. With shuttered airports and grounded airliners, tourism will sharply contract with hotel occupancy in 2020 to be close to 50% of 2019 levels, with the remaining sectors dependent on tourism to be harshly affect- ed as well. All this could go further south if the pandemic's effects linger for longer than expected and affects Malta's trading part- ners. Fitch estimates the general government balance to dete- riorate to a deficit of 8.2% of GDP in 2020, from a surplus of 0.8% in 2019, based on the op- eration of automatic stabilisers and the direct budget impact of close to €600 million (4.5% of GDP) from the government measures. Lower spending and a re- bound in economic activity would partly shrink the deficit in 2021 to 5% of GDP. Debt could increase to 55.7% of GDP in 2020, from an esti- mated 43.4% in 2019. The au- thorities estimate up to €2 bil- lion (15.1% of 2019 GDP) will be borrowed in 2020, in line with Fitch's expectations. Malta already has €379 mil- lion in cash buffers that will be partly used to help finance the large deficit. "While Malta is likely to emerge from this crisis with a higher level of public debt, its recent track record of sound fiscal performance, including consecutive fiscal surpluses be- tween 2016 and 2019, means it is better prepared than some of its peers to face the challenges in consolidating public financ- es over the medium-term," Fitch said. "We expect the labour market will deteriorate markedly this year, with the unemployment rate set to increase to 6.1% in 2020 from 3.4% in 2019, before edging down to 5.1% in 2021. This would match the lev- el from 2013 but would come short of the maximum regis- tered during the global finan- cial crisis in 2009 at 6.9%. Air Malta losses