Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1495665
9 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 26 MARCH 2023 NEWS Manoel Island: MIDI plans 323 apartments JAMES DEBONO THE Tigné Point and Manoel Is- land developers MIDI presented final plans for 323 apartments on Manoel Island, which will be mainly located in two clusters in the vicnity of the bridge and an- other further inland. A four-storey housing unit will have 227 apartments off the bridge entry point, while anoth- er five-storey housing of 83 units will be located further inland. The full planning application largely conforms to an already approved masterplan, with some variations which according to the Superintendence for Cul- tural Heritage "will improve the context of the architectural as- sets" that will be preserved in the area. As approved in 2021, the masterplan foresaw the erection of 300 apartments. The application also foresees the rehabilitation of the remnant of the original Old Plague Hos- pital next to the 83-apartment complex as a food and drinks es- tablishment, and the restoration of the Manoel Destroyer Depot with the adjacent D.S.E.A. build- ing, to form another four resi- dential units. The Manoel Hospital Build- ing, which also served as a Cus- toms House, will be restored and transformed into a restaurant. And an existing building adja- cent to St George's Chapel will be restored and converted into a Lapidarium for the storage and display of architectural remains recovered during the archaeo- logical evaluation of the site. The plans for this museum have been welcomed by the SCH. Archaeological investigations by the Superintendence had confirmed the presence of ex- tensive historical cemeteries, as well as of archaeologically signif- icant rock-cut pits in the seabed near the Manoel Island bridge. Another commercial area will include a multilevel car-park facility and overlying clubhouse hosting a gymnasium, swim- ming pool, padel courts, and a restaurant. Public open spaces of 10,000 square metres will in- clude an indigenous garden and the recreation of the historic Bo- vine Street, the dedicated walled route that originally connected the cattle shed to the waterfront quay and docks, which allowed livestock to be safely transported for quarantine. MATTHEW VELLA MALTA'S national police system is cur- rently unable to generate automatic statistics, and data on 'actions taken' in- putted by police are uninterpretable to computer systems because it is entered in plain English. The police force is now seeking a new records management system to replace its 2007 system, which was last over- hauled in 2012. The police force said in a preliminary market consultation that the new system has to digitise and streamline its current paper-based system, and streamline its crime incidents management, intelli- gence, case and evidence management into one single, unified policing system. The current national police system is also incapable of providing officers intel- ligence and information through a central depository. "Report-taking would be directly linked to Custody Management, Evidence Man- agement, Court Case Management, War- rant Management, Witness & Victim Management and much more. Officers will no longer have to query a dozen different sources in order to gather da- ta about the full account of a particular case," the police said in the consultation document. The flow of information will also be rad- ically transformed through the elimina- tion of physical work files, eliminating the need for complicated registry systems. "All files will be instantly available to any- one with the right privileges, allowing for simultaneous execution of tasks without the need of transferring through internal and external mail." Information will also seamlessly flow from the Malta Police Force to the prose- cutors and the law courts. "Officers will no longer be required to spend hours at the station in order to retrieve or input data. They will be em- powered to carry out their duties, with constant assistance provided by the uni- fied, operational policing system, avail- able through a range of mobile devices. Witness and victim statements can be collected from the comfort of their own homes or from the scene of a crime, re- ducing inconveniences for the citizens and in turn increasing officers' visibility on the streets." Currently the Maltese police force is al- so sourcing researchers who can consult top brass on a study that will assess the force's ideal staffing, right-size its units, and establish the right staffing of police districts. The force said the study would help al- low its workforce to respond in a more ef- fective and efficient way to the demands placed upon it. "Following the necessary research, it is expected that a list of recommendations will be submitted to the Malta Police Force for a more effective and efficient management of human resources whilst ensuring a good work-life balance of our officers." Lapidarium exhibiting archeological remains found in thorough archeological investigations of the site included in latest Manoel Island plans Maltese police seeking market solution to create centralised national police system Outdated police records system unable to generate automatic statistics