Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1545285
2 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 7 JUNE 2026 NEWS CONTINUES FROM PAGE 1 In an interview with Mal- taToday, Borg Manche says one of his long-standing concerns is what he de- scribes as the Labour Par- ty's failure to implement its 2022 electoral commit- ments on family law, in- cluding proposals to crim- inalise parental alienation and introduce equal shared parenting. The PN MP says he will ta- ble a private member's bill once parliament convenes. "If it isn't the first thing I do, it will be the second or third," he says. On whether he has dis- cussed the matter within the PN, Borg Manche says he had raised the issue dur- ing his candidacy process with party leader Alex Borg. Borg Manche says the re- forms he is proposing were a condition of his candida- cy and were reflected in the party's electoral manifesto. "For children, the best environment is access to both parents," he says. "I see these realities every day in court. I can't help seeing this happening and not do- ing anything. I feel guilty." He also speaks of what he calls inconsistencies in court outcomes. "You have cases where your outcome depends on how good your lawyer is, not on the actual facts," he said, adding that just before the MaltaToday interview he had met a father, who had not seen his daughter for a year. Borg Manche criticises Labour Party over failure to implement 2022 family law commitments Judge 'disgusted' over treatment of foreign workers by government agencies A court has expressed "disgust" at the way foreign workers are getting stuck in bureaucratic pro- cesses with disregard to the hu- man aspect. Judge Lawrence Mintoff slammed government agencies Identita and Jobsplus over admin- istrative failures and lack of trans- parency when ruling in an appeals case filed by a third country na- tional. The individual was contesting a decision of the Immigration Ap- peals Board (IAB) after her work permit was refused. The case goes back to December 2024 when Identita refused her work permit application, citing an objection from Jobsplus regarding alleged redundancies and a lack of work at the prospective em- ployer's company. An appeal was then lodged with the IAB, which declared the case null and void in October 2025. The board justified its decision by stating that the ap- pellant had failed to submit spe- cific written grievances or argu- ments to rebut the original refusal, maintaining that it was not legally required to hold physical sittings as long as parties could present evidence in writing. The woman than appealed the IAB ruling. In his deliberations, Judge Mintoff noted that the appeal be- fore the tribunal had been filed by the prospective employer, mean- ing that the person was not direct- ly involved or notified. In his considerations, the judge expressed a sense of disgust re- garding the treatment of individ- uals who travel great distances and invest their savings to seek a better future in Malta, only to face "closed doors" and threats of ex- pulsion upon arrival. The court specifically criticised Identita for blindly relying on ob- jections from Jobsplus without conducting its own independent investigation or verifying Job- splus's claims. The judge then turned his criticism to the IAB for its concerning practice where applicants, upon collecting a neg- ative decision from the registry, find police officers waiting to seize their passports. In its judgment, the Court of Ap- peal revoked the decisions of both the Immigration Appeals Board and Identità , ordering that the ap- pellant be permitted to submit a new application to regularise her status. Speaking to MaltaToday, the employee's lawyer, Gianluca Cap- pitta explained that he had been working cases involving the IAB for some eight years, and that the bulk of his cases involve removal orders, work permit revocations, and rejections. Cappitta acknowledged that the IAB has a number of shortcom- ings that had also been flagged by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) back in 2024. The ECHR noted that the board lacks a transparent appointment proce- dure and criteria for its members with the home affairs minister having wide discretion over the choice of its members. The ECHR had also noted the IAB's lack of guarantees against external pressure. In his comments to MaltaToday, Cappitta admitted that in cases involving children of migrants, the IAB is known to be more lenient as it takes the human aspect into consideration, but he called upon Identita to show the same human decency. MaltaToday has previously re- ported on the precarious nature of the rules that govern appeals in front of the IAB, most notably, the fact that appellants are not al- lowed to legally work throughout the process, forcing them into the shadow economy. MATTHEW FARRUGIA mfarrugia@mediatoday.com.mt Abandoned farm earmarked for ODZ wellbeing AN application (PA 3678/26) has been submitted to demolish a dis- used livestock farm at Ta' Gebel Ghawzara in Bidnija and replace it with a wellbeing centre compris- ing of 11 bungalows housing 28 rooms and 30 bedrooms, together with ancillary facilities including parking, a swimming pool and ex- tensive landscaping. The application, which is still at an initial stage, was present- ed by developer Francis Gauci. The livestock farm is located in the open countryside 450 meters away from San Pawl Milqi chapel. Plans submitted by architect Ray de Micoli show that the new buildings, including the bunga- lows, reception area and wellness facilities, will occupy a footprint of 849sq.m. A further 1,396sq.m will be devoted to hard landscap- ing, including paved areas and the pool area, while 3,172sq.m will be landscaped with trees, including the planting of a new olive grove. The existing livestock farm occupies a built footprint of 1,864sq.m. The plans also include the construction of a tower struc- ture intended as an architectural feature. The proposal faces a significant policy hurdle. As things stand, the development would have to be assessed under the 2014 Rural Policy, which generally prohibits the construction of new dwellings in rural areas unless they replace structures that had previously been used as residences. However, the policy does allow exceptions where proposals result in a "wider environmental bene- fit" and can be adequately serviced by the existing road network. The developer will therefore have to demonstrate that the pro- posed wellbeing centre delivers such environmental benefits and complies with the requirements of the Rural Policy. The case is likely to attract scru- tiny because it involves the rede- velopment of a large abandoned agricultural structure in an Out- side Development Zone into a commercial tourism and wellness facility. The central question will be whether the project represents a genuine rural regeneration initia- tive with environmental benefits or whether the existing livestock farm is effectively being used as a stepping stone for a new commer- cial development normally not al- lowed in the ODZ. JAMES DEBONO jdebono@mediatoday.com.mt The site earmarked in red