MaltaToday previous editions

MALTATODAY 19 December 2021

Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1438074

Contents of this Issue

Navigation

Page 6 of 51

7 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 19 DECEMBER 2021 NEWS The English Language Teaching Council has withdrawn the licence of. ICTQ CENTRE FOR ENGLISH EXCELLENCE 112, Gorg Borg Olivier Street, Mellieħa [fmr.] Licence No - ELT 280/2014 ICTQ has no licence to operate as an ELT School with immediate effect. PUBLIC NOTICE The Planning Authority, following Government's direction, has initiated the process to carry out a planning review for the innermost sheltered part of the Grand Harbour, along the coastal area of Marsa. Due to its strategic location the area has been heavily industrialised to cater for ship building and repairs, cargo handling and distribution, power generation and fuel storage amongst other activities. As a result, the urban environment of the area has deteriorated considerably with Marsa experiencing the highest population percentage loss of any settlement in Malta. The vision is that all this heavy industry is significantly scaled down or relocated, giving the area the chance to re-invent itself into a prime tourism and leisure harbour destination. Integrated in this vision is the creation of a socially diverse, coastal residential neighbourhood on the site of the ex-Marsa Power Station and its immediate areas. Albert Town will be transformed into a high-quality innovation hub with facilities and shared spaces for start-ups in the creative industries. Public access to the coast shall be restored as part of a network of public green open spaces and recreational areas. The vision is to exclude the potential of new tall buildings within this area as they may detract from the wider historical landscape value of the fortifications. Buildings must adopt innovative architectural designs evoking the maritime history of the harbour location and relate well to the existing buildings of cultural importance. A major transport interchange to accommodate the wideset range possible of public transport, both on land and sea will also need to be catered for. The full list of the proposed objectives, the driving principles and the map of the site area which will guide the necessary amendments to the 2002 Grand Harbour Local Plan may be viewed on the Authority's website www.pa.org.mt/consultation The Authority invites interested parties to submit their comments pertaining to these proposed objectives on email address ghlp@pa.org.mt. This first phase of public consultation will close on 15th January 2022. www.pa.org.mt PLANNING AUTHORITY HAVE YOUR SAY (Phase 1) OPEN PUBLIC CONSULTATION Review of 2002 Grand Harbour Local Plan - Marsa Regeneration Area Public Consultation imreihel and marsa.indd 1 29/11/2021 12:57:06 become President of the Euro- pean Parliament, having held the office from 1979 to 1982. A Holocaust survivor, Veil is best remembered for the 1975 law that legalised abortion and for advancing women's rights in France as health minister. She died in 2017 at the age of 89, a feminist icon in the French world. The Green MEP Damien Careme has also declared he will "not vote for an EPP representa- tive who stands against my polit- ical convictions on the climate, the Green Deal, migration, de- mocracy, and abortion. This is non-negotiable". The Greens have so far not ad- vanced any candidate for the EP presidency, and the jury is out on whether the bloc will be sup- porting Metsola for president despite co-president Ska Keller's declarations that it is high time for the EP to have a woman at the helm as president. And the Left MEP Leïla Chai- bi, also French, has argued that Metsola's election as EP Pres- ident would be "a disgrace, as women's right to bodily auton- omy is increasingly attacked across Europe." The Left are presenting their own candidate for the EP pres- idency, Sira Rego, with co-pres- ident Manon Aubry not failing to point out Rego's feminist cre- dentials in contrast to Metsola's anti-abortion record. While Metsola's European voca- tion means her voice as presi- dent of the EP requires her to be loyal to the majority position of MEPs, her rise to one of the most powerful posts in the Union's institutions illustrates the diver- gent views of her conservative Nationalist Party's position on abortion. Abortion remains a taboo issue for a party that has exploited its pro-life credentials among the Catholic electorate, to humiliate opponents who do not share their zealous anti-abortion agen- da. Despite the PN being home to its own liberal faction of voters, recently Opposition leader Ber- nard Grech issued his clearest declaration yet against party rep- resentatives in favour of abortion, in a six-minute tirade on PN radio station Net FM. The Nationalist leader in fact committed himself to a categori- cal anti-abortion stance by saying that he would not tolerate anyone representing the party to be in favour of abortion. "The abortion issue is a closed matter. This par- ty was, is, will always be against abortion. It is a clear declaration I have made, that my predeces- sors have made, and it is our of- ficial position as laid down in the statute. Nobody, and I repeat no- body, as long as I am PN leader… will permit anyone to be in favour of abortion and stay in this party or as a representative of the par- ty." Grech's strong comments reflect his long-held position on the is- sue, despite the presence of more vocal pro-choice members inside the PN. He has accused Labour of weaponising this difference in opinion against the PN, doubling down on his uncompromising stance. Grech's categorical statements also opened up questions about self-declared pro-choice candi- dates like Emma Portelli Bonnici, who are at the forefront of party policy even while espousing pro- choice views on sexual health and reproductive rights. Europe is not Malta

Articles in this issue

Links on this page

Archives of this issue

view archives of MaltaToday previous editions - MALTATODAY 19 December 2021