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MaltaToday 5 October 2022 MIDWEEK

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NEWS 7 maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 5 OCTOBER 2022 Private security guard charged with defilement after allegedly flashing 12-year-old girl Marsaskala recycling plant to close down earlier than planned, Wasteserv chief says Container containing computer accessories catches fire at Freeport, no one injured MATTHEW AGIUS A 41-year-old man from Fgura has been charged with a number of offences, in- cluding defilement of a minor, after alleg- edly exposing himself to a 12-year-old girl whom he followed into a secluded park- ing lot, after stopping his car to speak to her. The girl's mother had accompanied her traumatised daughter as she filed a report at the Paola police station, short- ly after the incident. The court was told that the police had identified the accused, private security guard Louis Calleja, after analysing CCTV footage. Prosecutor Sean Azzopardi, from the Office of the Attorney General, told the court that the mother and daugh- ter had reported that a man whom the girl did not know had been sitting in his car when he asked her his name and "whether she liked boys or girls." He said Calleja had then followed the girl to a parking lot and at one point exposed his private parts to her, before the terri- fied girl ran away. Together with police inspectors Kylie Borg and Sarah K. Zerafa, Azzopardi ac- cused the man of defiling a minor under the age of 16, subjecting the child to un- wanted acts of a sexual nature, as well as passing on indecent material to the girl. Police arrived at Calleja after identify- ing the vehicle used, which belonged to the accused, the court was told. Defence lawyers Lennox Vella and Daniel Buttigieg attempted to convince the court to order a ban on the publica- tion of the name of the accused, arguing that he was still presumed innocent at this stage and could lose his job, as well as suffer irreparable damage to his rep- utation, even if he were to eventually be acquitted. The prosecution objected to this re- quest, highlighting the fact that Calleja was a recidivist and pointing out that the accused had no links to the alleged victim. The defence countered by alleg- ing that the man's prior conviction was for a traffic offence. The court denied the request for a ban on the publication of the accused's name. During submissions on bail, both de- fence and prosecution agreed that there was no obstacle to bail due to the ab- sence of any connection between the victim and the accused. It was emphasised that Calleja is a Maltese citizen and resident, who was also gainfully employed. His criminal record was also unblemished, submit- ted the defence, stressing that he was aware of the serious consequences of breaching any eventual bail conditions. The court rejected the request for bail at this stage, but ordered the prosecu- tion to summon the girl to testify at the first sitting of the man's compilation of evidence. A protection order was also issued in favour of the alleged victim. MARSASKALA'S recycling plant will be receiving its last recyclable waste consignment at the end of the year be- fore closing down permanently. The closure of the facility will happen earlier than expected, Wasteserv CEO Richard Bilocca said, when asked by MaltaToday on plans to shut down the plant. The plant stopped receiving mixed and organic waste and today only re- ceives household recyclable waste where it is separated and grouped in bales for export. "The last consignment of recyclable waste will be delivered to the plant at the end of the year, after which Was- teserv will be handing back to govern- ment 20,000sq.m of land," Bilocca said. The Labour Party had pledged in its 2017 election manifesto to shut down the Marsaskala recycling plant within seven years and turn the vacated area into a public open space. The existing plant started operating in 2010 when a smaller composting facili- ty was replaced by larger structures that could treat more than 70,000 tonnes of organic and dry recyclable waste. Residents had opposed the redevelop- ment and a subsequent court case had found that the site selection process in preparation for the redevelopment was vitiated. In its 2017 electoral manifesto, the Labour Party had pledged to close the Marsaskala recycling facility within seven years THE Civil Protection Depart- ment yesterday asked Birżeb- buġa residents living in the Tal-Papa and Bengħajsa areas to keep their windows shut follow- ing a fire that developed at the Malta Freeport terminals. At around 2pm workers de- tected smoke emanating from a container after it was unloaded from a vessel and stacked on the yard of Terminal One. The CPD immediately issued a notice, urging "people living in Birżebbuġa, particularly the Tal-Papa and Bengħajsa areas, to keep their windows shut and avoid staying outdoors". It gave no details on the extent of the fire and what caused it but confirmed firefighters were bat- tling a fire inside the Freeport. A statement issued in the evening by Malta Freeport said that once the smoke was not- ed, its health and safety depart- ment immediately informed the Civil Protection Depart- ment and started the process to place the 20-foot container in a specialised containment trailer. The container was declared to be carrying computer accesso- ries and it took firefighters some three hours to bring the smoke under control. No one was injured in the in- cident. A Freeport spokesperson said: "The container vessel was in transit and thanks to the agil- ity of our employees and the firefighters we succeeded in averting what could have been a worse situation. Malta Freeport Terminals would like to thank the CPD and its employees who worked to ensure this operation ran smoothly." The company said it was in contact with the shipping line and the authorities.

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