Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1347847
4 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 7 MARCH 2021 NEWS Union deal on foreign nurses MATTHEW AGIUS THE government and nurses' union MUMN have reached an agreement to extend the validity of foreign nurses' residence per- mits to three years, one of several measures aimed at reducing bu- reaucracy for foreign nurses and their families. Under the agreement the gov- ernment pledged to process nurses' residency applications within 15 working days, as well as reducing the costs involved in obtaining the permit. Identity Malta bureaucracy was cited as one of the main reasons why some 140 nurses, equiva- lent to over a fifth of the nurses who are third-country nationals working in Malta, have either al- ready quit or were in the process of submitting their resignation. News reports in January re- ported that Malta was facing an exodus of foreign nurses who are being poached by the UK in a bid to control the COVID-19 situa- tion there. The government said on Friday that following two meetings led by Principal Permanent Secre- tary Mario Cutajar, and MUMN president Paul Pace, in consulta- tion with Identity Malta, changes will be implemented with imme- diate effect. Under the agreement all nec- essary medical examinations will be free of charge for non- EU state employees. This also applies to those on an indefinite contract with the public sector. Identity Malta Agency will also start issuing a residency permit valid for three, instead of one year, to nurses and other health professionals employed by the state on an indefinite contract. Nurses or other health profes- sionals from outside the EU, who are employed by the state, will have the usual application fee substantially reduced. They will now be paying €250 for their three-year work permit and €82.50 for a residency card that used to cost €27.50 annually. This means that in total, over a three-year period, they will be paying €332.50 instead of €832.50. Identity Malta Agency will start processing applications within 15 working days. Once the appli- cation is approved and the card is ready for collection, the appli- cant will receive a letter by post to collect it in person. Wives, husbands and the chil- dren of the applicant will also be issued a three-year residency permit, as long as all applications are filed together. Family members of sponsors who have a long-term residence permit will be issued a permit valid for five years. In a reaction, the Chamber of Commerce said while the agree- ment is welcome, the decision to allow only those employed in the public sector to benefit from it is unjust. The shortage of nurses and care health workers was felt by every- one and the fact that the public sector is favoured and classified as more important than the pri- vate sector "is unacceptable", the Chamber said. It said private healthcare allevi- ates the burden to the State when offering its services and many operators are also providing their service to the government. "Removing red tape in support of the public sector alone is unwar- ranted and will only result in for- eign health care workers seeking employment within the public health system compounding the problem further for the private sector," it said. The Chamber asked the gov- ernment to reconsider its deci- sion and offer the same terms and conditions on work permit duration, costs and applications irrelevant if one is employed in the public or the private sector. CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 This will see bird conserva- tion and protection removed from under the Environment Act, by eliminating the role of the Environment and Resourc- es Authority and further solid- ifying the regulatory authority of the Wild Birds Regulation Unit, a department that in- cludes former members of the hunting fraternity FKNK. All subsidiary legislation on conservation of wild birds falls will not also be designated un- der a law entirely concerned with hunting and trapping, as well as bird sanctuaries and nature re-serves, which will fall under the WBRU. The law will allow the minis- ter responsible for hunting to make regulations "after con- sultation" with the environ- ment minister, and only after draft rules are issued for public consultation four weeks be- fore. This will not apply to regula- tions "which the minister de- clares to be urgent". Indeed, all provisions related to hunting and trapping will Hunting minister law MATTHEW AGIUS A Constitutional court has be- rated prosecutors for a litany of mistakes, as a man subjected to a 15-year ordeal over allega- tions of drug trafficking, only to be found guilty of just sim- ple possession of cannabis, has been awarded €10,000 in moral damages. Christopher Mazzitelli was in his early 20s when and had taken up employment at a me- chanic's garage at Qormi, when his promising football career cut short by injuries. Two sons of the owner of the business frequented the garage, situated beneath the family home. In 2004 the police had been tipped off about criminal activity at the garage, leading to a surveillance operation being put in place by the Drugs Squad. Officers keeping watch on the comings and goings at the ga- rage in April 2004 had taken vid- eos of some individuals, who al- legedly had contacted one of the owner's sons and Mazzitelli, had visited the garage. Upon leaving the monitored premises, the five persons ob- served were then stopped and searched by the officers. They were taken in for questioning af- ter drugs were allegedly found in their possession. All five told the police that they had purchased their supplies from the accused who worked at the garage. Mazzittelli was one of four suspects prosecuted for their al- leged involvement in a drug-traf- ficking conspiracy, as well as for the aggravated possession and trafficking of heroin, cocaine and cannabis resin. One of them was later jailed and one acquit- ted of drugs charges and handed a suspended sentence for resist- ing the police. Whilst admitting under oath that in his youth, he used to smoke cannabis joints, Mazzitel- li had insisted that he had "never touched heroin or cocaine" nor had he ever trafficked drugs. He had been placed under house arrest after spending 20 days in police custody. Mazzitel- li ended up spending 163 days under house arrest, with his bail and curfew amendment re- quests being challenged by the Attorney General, who argued that the man was not trustwor- thy and that there was a risk of him tampering with evidence. He had requested the removal of his curfew requirement after 15 years in court delays over cannabis possession, court awards €10,000 in moral damages