Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1292560
11 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 27 SEPTEMBER 2020 NEWS Private guards inside detention centres: no breakdown of costs KARL AZZOPARDI THE private security companies Signal 8, JF Security, and Execu- tive, have been employed to pro- vide services at the Safi and Hal Far closed centres for irregular migrants. The use of private security guards at Malta's detention cen- tres was brought to the limelight after a security guard – Darren Bonello – shot one of five mi- grants who escaped from the Safi centre in a riot last week. A spokesperson for the home affairs ministry confirmed with MaltaToday that detention cen- tre guards are not authorised to carry firearms both at the open and closed centres. The ministry said that at open centres run by the Agency for the Welfare of Asylum Seekers, Signal 8 is providing security services following a call for ten- ders. Due to the rise in arrivals, the Detention Services Unit – which is separate from AWAS – commissioned private secu- rity companies to assist deten- tion officers. Companies Signal 8, JF and Executive are being employed at the closed centres in Safi and Hal Far. But a break- down on the number of security guards employed as well as the costs involved were not given by the ministry. Malta has received over 2,000 arrivals from boat migrants ac- cording to UNHCR data. Bonello was accused of using a shotgun that was in his car to shoot at the man, who sustained slight injuries, according to po- lice. Bonello, 30, was granted bail after being charged with the at- tempted murder of Abdulrah- man Abdullah Hamza. Bonello was further accused of breaching conditions of his arms licence and carrying the weapon in public without permission. He pleaded not guilty. Bonello first fired a warning shot, then hit Hamza with a sec- ond shot as he tried scaling the fence leading to the airport run- way. Lydia Abela, spouse of Prime Minister Robert Abela, writes this week in MaltaToday of her wish to have Labour push forward environmental protection as a driver of economic growth. In a piece marking the 100th anniversary of the Labour Party, which she served as secretary to the executive committee, Abela writes of a vision that sees Malta increase reliance on renewa- ble energy sources, financed by green bonds; improving drinking water quality to eliminate dependence on bottled water and plastic waste, with best quality drinking water fountains in public spaces; and policies that reduce people's reliance on cars through a mass transit system, incentivising teleworking, and encourage commercial sprawl rather than concentration. Lydia Abela MT2 OPINION