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€0.90 WEDNESDAY EDITION WWW.MALTATODAY.COM.MT Editorial - PAGE 11 WEDNESDAY • 4 DECEMBER 2013 • ISSUE 343 • PUBLISHED EVERY WEDNESDAY AND SUNDAY MEPA CHAIRMAN DEFIES NGOS' CALL TO RESIGN JURGEN BALZAN GREEN NGOs yesterday insisted that the environmental ombudsman's report on the Mistra Heights development, a 770-apartment development atop the Mistra Ridge, confirmed that the outline permit issued in 2008 was not cast in stone and could have been "revoked and challenged". Flimkien ghal-Ambjent Ahjar coordinator Astrid Vella and veteran environmentalist Edward Mallia yesterday followed up on calls by Alternattiva Demokratika, saying the MEPA board and chairman Vince Cassar had to tender their resignation. Environment and Planning Commissioner David Pace said the MEPA board did not have its hands tied by the previous permit issued in 2008 and concluded that the original outline permit could have been revoked. Moreover, the ombudsman said that the current MEPA board chaired by chairman Vince Cassar was in breach of the law when it met in a private session, to discuss the request to revoke the original permit issued for Mistra Heights in 2008. He said secretive meetings were ruled out by Article 6 of the Environment and Planning Act which states that "meetings of the Authority shall be open to the public". Although the law permits the board to deliberate in private, any vote has to be conducted in public. Vella and Mallia subscribed to Alternattiva Demokratika's call for the resignation of the MEPA board and said that whoever was responsible for the decision not to revoke the permit behind closed doors, should shoulder responsibility. However, MEPA chairman Vince Cassar said there was absolutely no reason for him and the rest of the board members to resign. CONTINUES ON PAGE 9 Vince Cassar (centre) Delays that could have cost Safi detention lives in Lampedusa tragedy centre leaves MATTHEW VELLA THE Armed Forces of Malta is not willing to shed any light on a possible two to three-hour delay on the fatal 11 October shipwreck, which may explain why Italian naval rescuers did not effect a faster and timelier rescue mission when it was first alerted to a boat in distress, that would later result in the deaths of 268. Just over 200 lives were saved by the Maltese and the Italians during the shipwreck. It was the AFM that first located the boat at 4pm on 11 October, using its King Air aircraft – but that was three hours after the Italian coast guard informed the Maltese army with the coordinates of the boat in distress. The army yesterday refused to explain at what time its Hawker Beechcraft King Air plane left Malta after Rome's Coordination Centre passed on the rescue mission to Malta at 1:05pm. A chronology of the events of the day as relayed by Admiral Felicio Angrisano to Italian weekly L'Espresso, has revealed that the Italians offloaded the responsibility for the search-and-rescue mission to Malta, when an Italian naval asset – the ITS Libra – was closer to the boat in distress. CONTINUES ON PAGE 5 bishops shocked MIRIAM DALLI BISHOPS and delegates from Europe's Bishops Conference were left "shocked" by the situation at the Safi detention centre, insisting that it was "nothing more than a prison". The Council of European Episcopal Conferences (CCEE) organised a seminar for bishops and delegates with responsibility for the pastoral care of migrants in Malta. Yesterday, the group of around 40 participants visited the detention centre in Safi and the open centre in Balzan, which is managed by the Church. Addressing a news conference, the President of the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants, Cardinal Antonio Maria Vegliò said the detention centre left him "with a bad impression". "It's nothing more than a prison. It's dirty and the migrants are in a disastrous state. What's worse is they have nothing to do all day along... maybe some of them play football," he said. "It's upsetting to see how these centres – and not only in Malta – take away the life and enthusiasm of these young men." Pope Francis – who in September urged countries to welcome and respect migrants and refugees, and not treat them as "pawns on the chessboard of humanity" – said there should be a change in attitude on the part of host countries. "They are children, women and men who leave or who are forced to leave their homes for various reasons, who share a legitimate desire for knowing and having, but above all for being more," the Pontiff had said. CONTINUES ON PAGE 7 May the spirit of the season be with you throughout Christmas and 2014 People you can trust We would like to inform you that our head office will be closed for business on 24th December and in the afternoons of 20th and 31st December. Full opening hours for head office and branches can be found on atlas.com.mt Atlas Insurance PCC Limited is a cell company authorized under the Insurance Business Act, 1998 to carry on general insurance business and is regulated by the Malta Financial Services Authority. The non-cellular assets of the company may be used to meet losses incurred by the cells in excess of their assets. Newspaper post Armed Forces of Malta refuse to explain what happened between the time it received 1pm distress call from Rome, and 4pm when military plane located boat in distress on 11 October Lampedusa shipwreck

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