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11 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 2 AUGUST 2020 NEWS MATTHEW VELLA THE deaths of five inmates at Corradino Correctional Facility are still under magisterial inquiry, the home affairs ministry has told MaltaToday. Six deaths have occurred at CCF since 2013, but the cause of five of these deaths has yet to be determined. Between 2013 and 2020, there were 26 prisoners' deaths: 20 of them occurreed at Mater Dei Hospital or in other care facilities such as Mount Carmel Hospital. According to a home affairs spokesperson, 16 of these deaths are listed as "natural causes", whereas five deaths were caused by suicide. The cause of the re- maining five deaths are yet to be determined. Malta's prison director Alexan- der Dalli has repeatedly insisted that under a new regime at CCF, the prison has been rendered practically drug-free. In 2020, the Correctional Ser- vices Agency carried out 486 urine tests for cocaine, heroin, cannabis, synthetic drugs and ec- stasy, with all tests proving neg- ative, the home affairs ministry said. In the previous years, there were 26 cases of drug finds inside CCF in 2019, a whopping 85 in 2018, and 62 cases in 2017. "The Correctional Services Agency would like to point out that severe reduction of drug use in prison is just one of the many initiatives undertaken by the agency. The engagement of more care professionals and having more prisoners in employment are just two of the many other re- forms taking place in prison," the ministry spokesperson said. The last death in CCF happened earlier this year, when a 72-year- old man – Gozo murderer John Attard, who in 2010 was impris- oned for the killing of traffic war- den Fortunata Spiteri in 2001 – had been discovered dead in his cell during morning call on Mon- day. This was the eighth death in 24 months. Before that, a 49-year-old pris- oner from Birkirkara had been found dead in his cell in Novem- ber 2019, at 2am in the morning. The last inmate to be report- ed dead at the Corradino pris- on was discovered in November 2019. That death had come just one month after another inmate had also died after he was found unconscious in his cell by prison guards. In 2018, a male prisoner died in Corradino Correctional Facility shortly after complaining about feeling ill. The man reportedly said he was feeling sick and asked for pills to ease the pain. Just a few minutes later, he become uncon- scious in his cell, TVM reported. Correctional officers admin- istered First Aid to the man be- fore calling for an ambulance and rushing him to Mater Dei. However, he was shortly declared dead afterwards. Three investigations – a magis- terial inquiry, a police investiga- tion as well as an internal investi- gation – were opened in the wake of the man's death. That death came barely three weeks after a 26-year-old inmate died in prison – on the very first day of his six-year prison sen- tence for rape – reportedly com- mitting suicide. The University of Malta aca- demic and broadcaster Prof. An- drew Azzopardi had launched a scathing criticism of Malta's correctional facility at Corradino and what he described as its mil- itarisation. Azzopardi, dean of the Faculty of Social Wellbeing, said the Cor- radino prison had been turned into the "3rd regiment of the Armed Forces", in an obvious reference to its prison director, the retired army Lt. Colonel Alex Dalli and his controversial meth- ods of discipline. He claimed the CCF was the site of allegations of punitive treatment, such as the inappropriate use of solitary con- finement, a humiliating punish- ment involving the use of a chair, and the curtailment of privileges after someone spoke to the press about the internal situation at CCF. But Dalli says he has turned the CCF from a chaotic den of crimi- nality into a "disciplined and pro- ductive" place of correction in under two years. The prison director insists his drastic tactics have disrupted an underground economy which he claims is valued at some €2 mil- lion a year. Today the Corradi- no Correctional Facility houses something in the region of 700 inmates. The prison authorities give a cautious estimate of 55% of these inmates being drug addicts upon admission to the facility, which equates to around 385 in- mates. "In the past, family members would sometimes smuggle drugs in food, which led to the need for food parcels to be painstaking dissected by prison staff, along with every package… To enforce discipline, you need to practise discipline. That is why we also embarked on getting our house in order. Those officers who wer- en't used to working in such a disciplined environment realised this was no longer the place for them." Five deaths in prison still under inquiry MINISTRY FOR ENERGY AND WATER MANAGEMENT INVITATION TO BID (ITB) FOR FINANCIAL SUPPORT FOR ELECTRICITY FROM SOLAR PHOTOVOLTAIC INSTALLATIONS WITH CAPACITY OF 1000KWP OR MORE Reference is made to the above-mentioned ITB for which closing date for the submission of bids is 22nd July 2020. Due to the current Covid-19 circumstances, prospective bidders may experience delays in procuring the necessary documentation and submit in time by the current deadline. In this regard, the Ministry is extending the deadline till 12:00 of the 28th August 2020 in terms of clause 22/22.1 of the ITB document. As per Annex 1 – Procedure for Grid Allocation; "each bidder is required to present a recent grid connection study issued by Enemalta plc". Prospective bidders who are interested in bidding for this tender, are kindly requested to inform Enemalta before the 20th of August 2020 as otherwise studies may not be completed in time. All other conditions and requirements remain in place. In 2020, the Correctional Services Agency carried out 486 urine tests for cocaine, heroin, cannabis, synthetic drugs and ecstasy, with all tests proving negative