Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1265051
3 maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 1 JULY 2020 NEWS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 Last year, Malta attracted 2.7 million tourists but all travel was wiped out in March as a re- sult of restrictions introduced globally to curb the spread of the coronavirus. The minister said Malta was doing its utmost in market- ing the country to travellers around the globe. Malta International Airport will reopen its doors today but the travel experience will feel different as a result of health and safety protocols intro- duced because of COVID-19. The airport company said on Tuesday that it has introduced more hand sanitising stations, signage reminding guests to keep safe distances, and pro- tective panes to limit unneces- sary interactions. A team of specially trained front-liners, wearing blue high-visibility vests for easy identification, will be roaming the terminal to provide assis- tance to guests. Calling on guests to cooper- ate, MIA has issued five basic guidelines that travellers using the airport should observe: 1. Plan ahead Arrive at the terminal at least 2.5 hours before your flight de- parture time. This will allow you enough time for all airport processes including check-in, security screening and COV- ID-related procedures such as thermal screening. Should you be experiencing COVID-19 symptoms on the day of your travels, postpone your trip. 2. Wear a face mask or visor You will need to wear a mask or visor inside the terminal. Only children who are under 6 years of age and people having a valid medical reason are ex- empt from wearing face masks or visors. Given that face masks should be changed every four hours, it is important to pack enough masks in your hand luggage for the duration of your journey. While there are around 120 sanitising stations around the terminal, it is rec- ommended to keep a small bot- tle of hand sanitiser handy. 3. Keep safe distances While it is recommended to keep safe distances as indi- cated by the signage and floor markings installed around the terminal, members of the same household will be allowed to travel together in a group. 4. Say your goodbyes and hellos outside Non-travelling guests will not be allowed to accompany or welcome travellers inside the terminal. Say your goodbyes before entering the building and your hellos after exiting the terminal. 5. Retail and food and bever- age outlet accessibility While the passenger journey has been reorganised in order to avoid the crossing of paths of passengers and visitors, the retail and food and beverage of- fering will remain unchanged. MIA issues guidelines for travellers MATTHEW VELLA THE Speaker of the House has found Nationalist MP Jason Az- zopardi in breach of parliamen- tary privilege, when he claimed in parliament that the former prime minister Joseph Muscat knew of Daphne Caruana Gali- zia's murder plot. Azzopardi claimed Muscat de- cided to call an early election in 2017 because he knew about the plot to murder Caruana Galizia. Azzopardi was drawing his con- clusions from testimony given by a police inspector in the Caruana Galizia public inquiry today that murder suspect Yorgen Fenech had told police during interroga- tion that he knew an early election was on the cards at least seven months before. Azzopardi claimed the reason for the June 2017 election was not the Egrant controversy as Muscat had claimed but the fact that he knew Caruana Galizia was onto something and a plot was hatched to murder her. The MP, who is the lawyer to the Caruana Galizia family, declared in the House that he will not with- draw his statement. This means that the case will now pass to the parliamentary committee of privileges. In a statement he posted on Facebook, Muscat said the ruling confirmed that Azzopardi had abused his privileges "when lying against me and invented, without the slightest proof, that I knew of the assassination plan of Daphne Caruana Galizia from before." Muscat said the Speaker's rul- ing shows that Azzopardi's claims went "against every sense of jus- tice… the Hon. Azzopardi is even insisting on this lie." Muscat has described the claim as "the worst abuse of parliamen- tary privilege that I have ever seen how long I have been following the House of Representatives." Muscat said only MPs could challenge the abuse of parliamen- tary privilege, and augured for a reform of the principle. "Who knows how many people who are not MPs, are mentioned at random without being able to defend themselves, having no re- dress. "Parliamentary privilege was created for good purpose in an- other time when the world was different. Today, the privilege and immunity has become outdated, especially when it is abused by MPs from whom much better is expected, because of the educa- tion and training they have been given, and especially because these same MPs portray themselves as the paragons of decency. "The government electoral pro- gramme includes a reform of the privilege and abolition of immuni- ty. I know that extensive work has been done on this proposal and I hope it will be carried out," Mus- cat said. Muscat made an angry interven- tion last week, when he told the House he would not allow anyone to sully his reputation with "slan- der and lies". "These claims, which are untrue, result from nowhere but Jason Azzopardi's nonsensical fantasy… I understand that politics requires me to accept harsh criticism but I will allow nobody to sully my rep- utation with a calumny like this." Azzopardi to appeal Speaker's ruling Jason Azzopardi stood by his claims and will be lodging an ap- peal as per parliamentary pro- cedure to contest the Speaker's ruling. Such an appeal will be dis- cussed in the plenary and if the government shoots it down, the matter will pass on to the commit- tee of privileges. And at committee stage Azzo- pardi has promised that he will bring forward a number of wit- nesses, some of who are inmates at the Corradino Correctional Fa- cility. "At that stage, I am ready to mobilise a number of witnesses, some of whom are at the Corradi- no Correctional Facility. Then we will see who was telling the truth," he said. The implication is that Azzopar- di may ask Daphne Caruana Gal- izia murder suspects George De- giorgio, Alfred Degiorgio, Vince Muscat and mastermind Yorgen Fenech, to testify in front of the parliamentary committee. In a Facebook post, Azzopardi insisted that he repeated the al- legation both inside and outside parliament. "What I believed yesterday after an analysis of facts (some known and others are not), I will continue believing today," his post read. He also said that last Wednes- day's allegations were based on facts, which emerged from court on that day. Azzopardi said: "I know they were new facts to the public, and that the information might have shocked some, but that doesn't mean that they are not true. God forbid an MP cannot analyse, in- terpret and conclude from facts established by forensic evidence. Then what type of MP is he?" In a subsequent Facebook post, Muscat hit back, insisting that no amount of witnesses would change the fact that Azzopardi's claim was an abject lie. PN MP refuses to withdraw statement on Joseph Muscat Joseph Muscat: "The worst abuse of parliamentary privilege that I have ever seen"