Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1377253
5 maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 26 MAY 2021 NEWS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 The money purportedly came from freemasons and was pay- ment for Caruana Galizia's mur- der. However, the money was nev- er delivered because Muscat was eventually arrested and charged with Caruana Galizia's murder along with brothers Alfred and George Degiorgio. Earlier this year, Muscat ad- mitted to the murder and was sentenced to 15 years in prison after a plea bargain agreement. Theuma insisted in court he had no first-hand knowledge of this transaction and only got to know about it through Cremona. The implication is that there may have been other people who paid to have Caruana Galizia murdered, apart from Fenech, who Theuma has always iden- tified as the sole mastermind known to him. "Johann told me that [Omissis] was appointed by the freema- sons to take €100,000 to Koħħu," Theuma told the court. Theuma added that Cremo- na had claimed that [Omissis] caused him a lot of damage by identifying Theuma and speak- ing to Europol and the Caruana Galizia family. In another recording heard in court, Theuma claimed that [Omissis] was with Cardona, un- derstood to be former economy minister Chris Cardona. Theuma specified in court that [Omississ] was close to Cardona and il-Koħħu had spilt the beans to "protect those who had com- missioned him". The witness also said that Cremona had told him to pin the murder on Cardona, even though he [Theuma] did not know the former minister and people close to him. Theuma also testified how Fenech was "worse off than him" after the murder and turned to cocaine for solace. In one of the recorded conver- sations, Theuma told Cremona that Fenech would not bring Caruana Galizia back by resort- ing to "coke". Theuma said that a reference in the recording to a "Fredu", was Fenech telling him to get Al- fred Degiorgio to get on with the murder. Towards the end of the sitting, Theuma was admonished by the magistrate for the confusing tes- timony he was giving at times. Magistrate Rachel Montebello warned him that perjury was a crime. Earlier, an expert from Europol testified on the procedure used to extract the data from Fenech's mobile phones confiscated by the police. Daphne Caruana Galizia, an investigative journalist, died in a car bomb explosion outside her home in Bidnija in October 2017. Courtroom players Magistrate Rachel Montebello is presiding. Superintendent Keith Arnaud and Inspector Kurt Zahra are prosecuting, aided by Deputy Attorney General Philip Galea Farrugia. Fenech's defence lawyers are Marion Camilleri, Charles Mer- cieca and Gianluca Caruana Curran. Lawyers Jason Azzopardi and Therese Comodini Cachia are appearing parte civile for the Caruana Galizia family. Law- yers Kathleen Calleja Grima and Matthew Brincat are assisting Theuma. Magistrate admonishes Theuma for 'confusing testimony', reminds him perjury is a crime Melvin Theuma testified in Court how Yorgen Fenech (pictured above) was "worse off than him" after the murder and turned to cocaine for solace A number of initiatives have been launched by Minster for Energy, Enterprise and Sus- tainable Development Miriam Dalli to support enterprises to invest in sustainable and energy efficient operations. The initiatives were revealed during a press conference held at the Valletta De- sign Cluster, where representatives from the Malta Chamber of Commerce and the Chamber of SMEs and representatives of the main banks — Bank of Valletta, APS and HSBC — were present. Also in attend- ance were representatives from the Energy and Water Agency, the Regulator for En- ergy and Water Services (REWS) and Mal- ta Enterprise. "Today's initiative is a result of continu- ous work and collaboration between the Government, entities and stakeholders. We will continue to enhance the collabo- ration between different entities and part- ners, such as industry representatives and banks, to keep on ensuring the implemen- tation of investments in favour of sustain- able economy," Dalli said. One of the main initiatives refers to the scheme managed by EWA, where compa- nies may receive up to €5,000 for an energy audit. This auditing will be beneficial for the companies, allowing them to make ef- ficient use of energy and to consume less. Through this auditing, companies will also be guided on how to benefit from current schemes offered by different entities. In a second scheme managed by Malta Enterprise, €15 million are being allocat- ed to help small and medium enterprises with projects that ensure energy efficien- cy (Investment Aid for Energy Efficiency Projects). This scheme directly finances investment in machinery and modern op- erations and can cover between 40% and 50% in eligible value. Energy auditors will also prepare a sus- tainability report, providing companies with the visibility of the three main sus- tainability pillars: environment, social, and governance. This report will give a clear picture of what type of investment is best to carry out the company, in order to avoid investment by crisis. This allows the com- pany to plan ahead. SMEs are also being encouraged to par- ticipate in a third scheme managed by REWS, promoting investment in renewa- ble energy projects of between 40KW and 1MW. The investment is of €50 million spread over 20 years, in line with the life- time of the feed-in tariff. Local banks are also participating, through the launch of the so-called green loans. In fact, two local banks have un- locked €54 million in loans for this aim. Chamber of Commerce presidnt Marisa Xuereb, SMEs Chamber president Paul Abela and Bank of Valletta Chairman Dr. Gordon Cordina addressed the press con- ference. Xuereb and Abela stressed the importance of guiding enterprises to invest in sustaina- bility. They praised the fact that a number of initiatives have been brought together, as this will facilitate such investment. Cordina argued that the way forward for economic recovery was through more sustainable means by which businesses provide their products and services. He said this was essential for long-term com- petitiveness. "Banks will be at the forefront with innovative solutions at European lev- el on the type of support we will be giving to businesses," he said. Chief Business Officer Anthony Buttigieg attended on behalf of APS, whilst Head of Corporate Sustainability Caroline Buha- giar Klass attendend on behalf of HSBC. Initiatives launched to incentivise investment by enterprises in sustainability