Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1500237
10 NEWS maltatoday | SUNDAY • 28 MAY 2023 INVITATION TO TENDER For civil engineering works for the construction of three sub-stations and the laying of medium voltage cables at Malta International Airport (MIA/08/23) Malta International Airport plc invites submissions from suitably qualified organisations for civil engineering works for the construction of three sub-stations and the laying of medium voltage cables at Malta International Airport. Invitation to tender documents can be collected from the Malta International Airport plc Head Office during office hours against payment of €250. Complete submissions must be deposited within the tender box provided at the MIA Head Office, 2nd Floor, Air Terminal Building, Luqa, LQA 4000 Malta, by not later than 1100hrs of Friday, 7th July 2023. Offers received after this date will not be considered. Malta International Airport plc Head Oce Malta International Airport 2nd Floor, Luqa LQA 4000 Tel: +356 21249600 Fax: +356 21249563 Email: tender@maltairport.com MATTHEW VELLA THE National Blood Trans- fusion Service is planning to implement a comprehensive donor management system for blood, tissues and cells. The web-based system will allow donors to register them- selves by providing their per- sonal details, contact infor- mation, in addition to users managing registrations them- selves. The system will inte- grate with the government myHealth portal and accept donor self-registration re- quests. The system should allow the NBTS to search for donors based on various criteria such as blood group, specific an- tigen profiles, location, and availability. The blood inventory will be used so that the NTBTS can include several blood prod- ucts that can be transformed into secondary derived prod- ucts, manage plasma for in- dustry and patient use, im- ported blood units, and have a real-time system that updates the status of blood units and inventory levels. Donors will also be able to be contacted by email or SMS to keep them updated about blood donation drives, inven- tory levels, and other relevant information. Importantly, the system will allow the NBTS to track the donation history of donors, in- cluding the date and location of their last donation, their blood type, and the number of donations made. About 20,000 donations are collected every year, where blood samples are screened, processed and tested so that conforming products are re- leased and distributed for clin- ical use. The NBTS is currently also doing cornea banking. The NBTS has plans to ex- pand the tissue portfolio with bone and other tissues. Online blood system to help medics keep track of 20,000 donations MALTA experimented with a new gender parity mechanism for parliament in the last gener- al election and could very well repeat the process in next year's local elections. The proposal was included in government's strategic vision for local government that was pub- lished earlier this month and will require legal changes. The proposal was included in the Labour Party's election man- ifesto and government wants to introduce the mechanism in time for the 2024 local elections. The Nationalist Party welcomes the gender parity mechanism to promote female involvement in local level politics, spokesperson Darren Carabott said, albeit with a few reservations. He insisted that the PN remains dedicated to supporting any measure that would boost polit- ical participation, but Carabott noted that introducing a mecha- nism at local level could impact third parties and independent candidates. "It would decrease any inde- pendent candidate's influence in local governance since any addi- tional electoral seats will be giv- en equally between the parties," Carabott surmised. The government's document did not give any detail on how the mechanism will apply at a local level and a request for comment to Local Councils Parliamentary Secretary Alison Zerafa Civelli, who is spearheading the reform, was met by a dry reply. "The improvements you are referring to are proposed in the 2022 Electoral Manifesto (items numbered 970 and 971). The newly launched Na- tional Strate- gic Vision for Local Gov- e r n m e n t offers a s e v e n - y e a r work plan for the imple- mentation of the propos- als," a spokes- person for Zerafa Civelli said. The intrica- cies of how the mech- anism will work at a local level will likely have to be ironed out following discussions with stake- holders and the Opposition. But Carabott told MaltaToday that despite the PN's request for consultation on all local council reforms, the party has not yet re- ceived replies to its call. 'Unintended consequences' and 'simply a top-up' ADPD's reaction to the pro- posed mechanism is no different to the party's reaction to the gen- Mayors at 16 elections bag Government plans to introduce the gender parity mechanism in local council elections and allow 16-year-olds to become mayors. MATTHEW FARRUGIA asked stakeholders for their reaction Parliamentary Secretary Alison Zerafa Civelli and PN's Darren Carabott Local elections are due in 2024