Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1482987
TRUTH IS OF NO COLOUR WWW.MALTATODAY.COM.MT SUNDAY • 23 OCTOBER 2022 • ISSUE 1989 • PUBLISHED EVERY WEDNESDAY AND SUNDAY maltatoday ATTRACTION Labour has failed to submit its party accounts for 2020 PAGE 3 Labour cash MATTHEW VELLA AN ambitious plan to have the two islands of Malta and Gozo connected by a subsea tunnel has been shelved, government sources close to the controversial project have told MaltaToday. The sources, privy to the con- sultation and plans that took place on the bipartisan project launched right before 2013, said the billion-euro tunnel project would not be taking place in the foreseeable future. "Beyond the talks held by a committee appointed to over- see the studies and tenders on the project, there is absolutely no commitment on the project – COVID-19 and the war in Ukraine have only helped seal further the fate of the tunnel," the source told MaltaToday. The tunnel, championed squarely by the Muscat admin- istration but also by the Na- tionalist Party, which had first proposed it, but in recent years suggested that a final decision should be taken with a referen- dum among Gozitans, had al- ready attracted four construc- tion bids. €1.95 Verification of imported Japanese cars: action taken on fraud loophole KARL AZZOPARDI TRANSPORT Malta has increased its scru- tiny of documentation presented by car deal- ers who import used vehicles from Japan. The regulator has stepped in to supplant a process previous- ly manned by police officers, to verify the mileage declared in documentation from importers, with data available in JEVIC da- tabases. The procedure was adopted after a Malt- aToday investigation. Last June, Malta- Today revealed hun- dreds of consumers have been sold sec- ond-hand Japanese cars with tampered mileage gauges, in a racket involving at least two car dealer- ships - Rokku Auto- dealer of Għaxaq and Tal-Qasab Autosales of Qormi. Cars bought from Japanese bidding markets on the cheap because of their high mileage, would then be sold in Malta – however these had their odometers tam- pered to show low mileages. PAGE 6 Tunnel to Gozo shelved PAGES 14-15 How tuna ranching lobby has joined the circular revolution PAGES 14-15 No-waste tuna investors Malta: Ronald Attard INTERVIEW PAGE 2 MaltaToday Investigation Cardinal duel In Vatican, Grech's Synod attracts conservative critics among top ranks over concessions to divorcées and LGBTQI community PAGES 8-9 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 23 OCTOBER 2022 COMMENT What are we skinning? The Nationalist Party's apparent- ly chronic inability to make inroads among voters and/ or present a coherent united front against the ruling Labour Party on key issues of the day, as personified by the persis- tent and embarrassing infight- ing between current leader Bernard Grech and his former counterpart Adrian Delia… and an embarrassingly error-rid- den pre-budget document. Why are we skinning it? Be- cause it's a two-pronged dis- play of concerning ineptitude, that's also kind of sweet, as a chaser. That's a juicily loaded sen- tence, right there. Could you unpack it? On the one hand, what we have here is a leading Opposition party that's in no shape to coherently 'oppose', because the metaphoric bat- tering ram they're expected to produce is currently being put together by spit, papi- er-mache and what seems to be the half-frozen Prinjolata leftovers from carnivals past. Yes, that would be of some concern as it means that the Labour Party's rock-solid mandate can keep on truck- in' on, with any number of questionable policy decisions swooshing by unchecked. Ex- actly. But on the other hand… to think. You may the fact is, condition it is now. Few things are more deli- cious than self-righteous over-earnestness being ba- nana-peeled into humiliation, yes. It's a cruel comeuppance that was, alas, somewhat inev- itable. You'd think that their re- peated electoral drubbings of late would be punishment enough, though. There is an argument to be made about not being overly sadistic to- wards an already-embattled PN, yes. But surely the party itself shouldn't keel over and whine like that? Yes, adding self-pity to their crop of vulnerabilities will hardly drum up the con- fidence that they desperately need in this prolonged hour of need. Are they actually making an active effort in contradict- ing the prevailing narrative, though? Persisting on mak- ing their infighting public and publishing an error-ridden pre-budget document is cer- tainly not the way to go. Do say: "Malta needs a stable opposition party, fast. Either that, or civil society needs to truly come together to create the necessary battering ram that can pave the way back to a truly democratic space for the country." Don't say: "It was really crum- MaltaToday to publish detailing the Glaciers in the Alps are melting faster NEIL ENTWHISTLE PAGE 12 The Skinny Malta, shrunk down MICHAEL FALZON It's Budget day again PAGE 7 No 162 – Malta's Bumbling Opposition Block JOSANNE CASSAR Lack of parental discipline has led to the 'no children allowed' rule PAGE 6 EDITORIAL Government's contempt for Parliament knows no bounds PAGE 2 SAVIOUR BALZAN Praise me – when I am gone PAGE 5 The last time glaciers had an extreme melt season was in 2003 when temperatures were very high across Europe, and a heatwave killed at least 30,000 people maltatoday | SUNDAY • 23 OCTOBER 2022 CLASSIFIEDS & COMMERCIALS ARTS • TV • WHAT'S ON Darren Tanti Artist maltatoday Get the critical perspective on politics, culture and society Be the first to enjoy our print newspaper with a subscription When you need to decode what politicians are saying, when you want to understand why Malta's crazy construction industry is impacting upon your life, when you need to step out of the social media and understand the world from a different perspective, our journalists and columnists will provide you with expert reporting, analysis and commentary. 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