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MaltaToday 24 August 2022 MIDWEEK

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3 maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 24 AUGUST 2022 NEWS Man charged over thefts of e-scooters CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 In comments to the press on Tuesday, Caruana said gov- ernment is still on track with the restructuring process an- nounced last January, with 574 employees at the airline still in- terested in accepting a transfer to another entity in the public service or take a lump sum and leave. "With respect to those employ- ees moving to government we offered alternative employment with guaranteed take-home pay. That offer is still there. The on- ly thing we've done since then is including another option for those employees who would like to take a lump sum and find a job elsewhere - that option is now on the table as well," Caru- ana said when asked by report- ers after addressing a joint press conference with Irish Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe, who is also Eurogroup president. When announcing the re- structuring plans in January, Caruana had said that the only offer on the table was an em- ployee transfer scheme to en- sure no one ended up without a job. However, government has now agreed to offer two gen- erous financial compensation schemes - a voluntary redun- dancy scheme and an early re- tirment scheme for those oover 50.When asked if the govern- ment is considering disman- tling Air Malta and replacing it with a new state-owned airline, Caruana said that plans for the airline are being discussed with the European Commission. "Once I have an agreement with the Commission I will be the first person to make those plans public," he said, without giving details on the nature of the discussions. The deadline for Air Malta's employee transfer scheme was extended from mid-August to later this year after airline boss- es feared that the exodus would hamper day-to-day operations at a time when demand for travel shot up. However, gov- ernment also found difficulty in finding jobs within the civil service structure for well-paid Air Malta employees without disrupting the pay scale system. This led to the introduction of the two financial compensation schemes. The company received 571 ap- plications from the 824 eligible employees when the transfer scheme closed on 11 February. This was more than the govern- ment was expecting. Air Malta Executive Chairman David Curmi had told MaltaTo- day that the company is in dis- cussions with the unions on the new arrangements. A fortnight ago, 95% of GWU members at the national airline voted in fa- vour of the new agreement that includes the early retirement schemes. The GWU represents administrative staff and ground handlers. 'Nothing's going wrong,' Clyde Caruana says on Air Malta restructuring VACANCY MARCO ASTROLOGO is looking to employ a LABORATORY ASSISTANT and a LABORATORY CLEANER on a full-time basis. Interested persons are invited to send their CV via email to marcoastrologo@hotmail.com by not later than 25 th August 2022. No Agencies Please. MATTHEW AGIUS A homeless man has pleaded not guilty to multiple charges of theft and handling stolen goods, in an arraignment where his State-appointed legal aid lawyer did not show up and could not be contacted. Wayne Hall, 32, was arraigned before magistrate Gabriella Vella on Tuesday afternoon by Inspector Sarah K Zerafa, accused of the aggravated theft of an elec- tric scooter on August 22, stealing a tablet from a shop on August 20, the aggravat- ed theft of a battery from another electric scooter from a showroom and causing damage to it. The offences all took place in various parts of Fgura. Hall was also charged with handling sto- len goods and recidivism. But when the arraignment started, the court was told that the police had been unable to reach the man's legal aid law- yer on the phone. The court remarked that this had also happened in an arraign- ment earlier this morning, and that an- other lawyer from the legal aid pool had stepped in to assist as he had happened to be in court at the time. During the afternoon arraignment, only lawyer Arthur Azzopardi was present. He accepted the court's request to assist the accused on an amicus curiae basis just for the arraignment. Azzopardi entered a plea of not guilty for the accused and did not request bail in view of the fact that the man had no fixed address. Hall was remanded in custody. The police were unable to reach the man's legal aid lawyer, with another lawyer having to step in to assist The finance minister insists that the initial plan to transfer employees from the national airline to the public sector remains in place but early retirement schemes have been added on to the package

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