Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/234240
8 2013 in review maltatoday, SUNDAY, 29 DECEMBER 2013 CONTINUED FROM PAGE 7 COURT NOTICE The Registrar, Civil Courts and Tribunals notifies that the First Hall of the Civil Court ordered the sale by judicial auction of the following property to be held in the corridors of the Courts of Justice, Republic Street, Valletta. Date, Property Judicial Sale No. and Time The tenement numbered 21, 'Charmaine', St. Anthony Street, Fgura, including 9 January, 2014 89/10 – 10:30am its airspace, with the drains and drainage system in common with the underlying tenement, subject to the active and passive servitudes resulting from its relative position, with all its rights and appurtenances, valued at one hundred and forty-two thousand euro (!142,000). 14 January, 2014 47/13 – 11:30am The property officially numbered two hundred eleven (211) on Triq ix-Xatt rner i Triq Man el e il ena, G�ira T e ai r er i n e rner with access from Triq ix-Xatt and described as following: First and second level which are identical and each level consists of a corner room with a triangular balcony, board room, another office and a bathroom and shower, each level valued at three hundred and fifty thousand Euro (!350,000 each level). Joseph Muscat shaking hands with Auxiliary Bishop Mgr Charles Scicluna. Pictured at the back: Archbishop Paul Cremona In Opposition, the Labour Party had criticised the Nationalist government for commissioning Germanowned Lahmeyer International as an energy consultant after being blacklisted by the World Bank until 2013 after it was found guilty of corruption. The government's credentials received another fatal blow following revelations the World Bank had also blacklisted that consultant Shiv Nair, who had accompanied Energy Minister Konrad Mizzi in a visit to Qatar. Equally dangerous is the new government's policy of appointing poachers as gamekeepers, a policy which sees businessman, lobbyists and active professionals appointed in regulatory posts. Examples include practicing architect Robert Musumeci (the same architect who presented the planning applications for Victor Scerri's Bahrija development) who is paid €24,000 a year to advise government on planning policies, contractor Sandro Chetcuti who was appointed on the Building Regulation board and former Labour candidate and hunter Bertu Pace as advisor to parliamentary secretary Roderick Galdes. Moreover, Labour MP Michael Falzon, who acts as the lawyer of the Pyrotechnics Association, was appointed to chair a board drafting a new policy aimed at facilitating permits for fireworks factories in ODZ areas. Taghna Lkoll? Perhaps its Labour's promise of meritocracy contrasted with several appointments of Labour candidates and ex-Nationalists who actively supported Labour during the electoral campaign, on government boards, that has rankled the most. The most controversial appointments included that of the wife of Energy Minister Konrad Mizzi as an envoy for Malta Enterprise, the appointment of former PL general secretary Jason Micallef as chairman of the V18 committee and the appointment of the Labour Party's former CEO James Piscopo as executive chairman of Transport Malta. Other controversial appointments was Labour mayor Clifton Grima, a lawyer, as Mount Carmel Hospital chief executive, instead of Dolores Gauci, the founder of the mental health NGO Richmond Foundation. Some direct appointments were given a semblance of formal meritocracy simply to avoid a public backlash. One such case was that of new MEPA chief executive Johann Buttigieg, who earlier on 20 April was described as parliamentary secretary Michael Farrugia's "point of reference in MEPA". Farrugia had described Buttigieg as someone he could trust who provided him with precise information on what was going on. Subsequently an internal call for applications was issued for the new post, with only two people applying. Some of Muscat's proposals – like the appointment of government backbenchers on public boards – not only fly in the face of meritocracy but could also be considered as a way to silence the backbench. Such appointments included that of Silvio Parnis as chairman of a committee responsible for the south of Malta. The Muscat administration has certainly made a number of worthy appointments which do in fact meet the criteria of a meritocracy. The most notable of these were Reno Bugeja as Head of PBS News, the appointment of respected architect Vince Cassar as the new MEPA chairman, and the appointment of Giovanni Bonello as the chairman of the Justice Reform Commission. Still, both Bugeja and Cassar have so far failed to dispel the perception of political interference in the sensitive broadcasting and planning sectors. Third level duplex apartment underlying the penthouse, consisting of a sitting room with a triangular balcony, bathroom, two bedrooms with an ensuite shower; from the sitting room a staircase leads to the penthouse being used as a kitchen and dining room overlooking a terrace of about one meter wide leading to another terrace, valued at five hundred and fifty thousand Euro (!550,000) 16 January, 2014 34/13 – 10:30am The tenement numbered 144, 'Aloha', in Triq Benedittu, Hal-Kirkop, with the garage, valued at ! 244,584.21. 16 January, 2014 48/13 – 11:30am The tenement numbered ninety three (93), 'Nido D'Amour', in Triq �u�e D'Amato, Paola, without any ground rent valued at one hundred and fifty thousand euro (!150,000). 21 January, 2014 51/13 – 11:00am The tenement numbered two (2) alley number two (2), in Triq San Katald, Rabat free and unencumbered valued at six thousand nine hundred and eighty eight euro and twelve cents (!6988.12). The temporary direct dominju of the remaining period from the 10th November, 1995 of !163.06 (Lm70) yearly of the tenement numbered thirty eight (38), Triq Doni, Rabat valued at twenty three thousand, two hundred and ninety three euro and seventy three cents (!23,293.73). The temporary direct dominju of the remaining period around four years of the tenement numbered three (3), alley numbered one (1), Triq San Frangisk, Rabat valued at six thousand nine hundred and eighty eight euro and twelve cents (!6988.12). Malta's new hegemon? Muscat has won the 2013 general election by campaigning in poetry. In the subsequent nine months, Muscat has added a dose of theatre to his arsenal by indulging in a series symbolic acts and gestures. The choice of the next President will provide another opportunity for Muscat to use his power of incumbency to reach out to the wider electorate on the eve of MEP elections, in a similar way as Gonzi did – without much success – in 2009 when he chose former PL deputy leader George Abela for the post. But he will have to counterbalance tribal expectations with his post partisan agenda. If his majority is confirmed or strengthened in MEP elections due next May, it will be Muscat's style of government which would emerge victorious. For while 2013 was a verdict on Muscat's promise of change, apart from choosing their six MEPS, 2014 will offer the Maltese the first chance to express their verdict on Muscat's first nine months in power. Probably boosted by lower utility bills, Muscat will seek to turn the election into a verdict on the Nationalist Party. His task will made easier by the PN's track record in government which is still fresh in people's memories and serves as a convenient punching bag for Muscat. What is certain is that if last March's 55% majority is confirmed in May, one may well start speaking about Labour's new hegemony in Maltese society: something never seen since the mid-1970s when Dom Mintoff was at his peak. Ironically, he is doing so by imitating the post-1987 Fenech Adami administration through businessfriendly policies, which will only serve to leave the present Nationalist leadership even more disoriented. 23 January, 2014 44/12 – 12:00pm Apartment number one (1) in a block of apartments numbered ninety (90), na e Gale ne la , in Triq an ie ru, �al ir , n i ting of a sitting room, a combined dining room and kitchen, bathroom and two double bedrooms. The apartment measures around eighty square metres (80m 2) which is free and unencumbered and has been valued at seventy thousand Euros (!70,000). 28 January, 2014 64/13 – 11:30am Maisonette, number eighty-one (81), named 'Thuema House', formerly numbered six (6), in Triq il- ar nu, �abbar, a in l r i an un erl in ara e ir ar ie , an a in i n air a e, i i ree l an alue a one hundred thousand Euros (!100,000). 28 January, 2014 21/13 – 12:00pm The tenement number 26, 'Geomar', Triq is- e ieqa, �a run, ree an unen u bere an i all ri an en en alue a un re an nine thousand, six hundred and forty t ree eur an i ne en (!209,643.61) 30 January, 2014 27/13 – 10:30am T e ene en nu ber ne un re an alue a ne un re an e en i e buil in i e r in ar an a l il- a�ar, i ri u er i iall ea ure en e er quare r i , Triq an a l, u an eur !175,000). lan n n a Ta l- bra li i u�ibba, a e er e in a ra ne u an ree un re an i alue a ne eur !1). alle a a ra, a , i in ir 30 January, 2014 66/13 – 11:00am The property 'Sun', Triq il-�i en, aul a , un erl in ree re a ar en , i i ree an unen u bere , an alue a ne un re an sixty thousand Euros (!160,000). 30 January, 2014 102/12 – 11:30am Gara e i u i air a e in ernall ar e ree , l er ba e en le el, Oak Leaf Apartments, Triq il- bira, M a, ree an enun u bere r an r un ren an bur en alue a ir i u an eur !36,000). ur er e ail an be b aine r e eb i e u i e er i e ur er i e u i ial ale ear a The bidders taking part in the auction must present their identity card. Bruno !ahra For the Registrar of Civil Courts and Tribunals