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5 News Villa Bonici front gate maltatoday, SUNDAY, 5 JANUARY 2014 Google Earth image (top) and aerial shot (right) of the Villa Bonici Gardens Villa Bonici development 'premature', owners invited to present new brief JAMES DEBONO THE planning directorate of the Malta Environment and Planning Authority is calling on the authority's board – the highest decisionmaking body – to refuse an application for the redevelopment of the Villa Bonici gardens, in Parisio Street, Sliema. The proposed development consists of 188 apartments in four residential blocks ranging in height between two and 12 floors. A public hearing on this application is set to take place next Thursday. The application attracted controversy for its radical redevelopment of the green space, a garden belonging to the stately Villa Bonici and a unique house in the over-developed Sliema and Gzira area. But the future of this area could still be in the balance after next Thursday's decision, as the case officer's report reveals that discussions have already started with the owners to devise a new development brief. In fact the developers have been asked by the Planning Directorate to withdraw the present application. Strangely, the owners have pressed on with the application, which is most likely set to be rejected as it is in breach of a local plan. The main reason given in the case officer's report for refusing the development is that no development brief, as stipulated by the North Harbour Local Plan, has been devised for this zone. That means the proposed development falls outside the parameters of acceptable devel- opment in the area. According to the case officer's report the project will result in the complete destruction of the gardens. A proposed eight-storey block would also have an adverse impact on the scheduled villa, due to the short distance between the two buildings. Villa Bonici was built before 1872 as a country residence for Emmanuele Testaferrata Bonici Ghaxaq. Parts of Villa Bonici in Sliema were scheduled as a Grade 2 property in 2010. Its present owner, Alfred Gera de Petri, has insisted that Villa Bonici is his family's private property and that the villa's location in the middle of urban development gave its owners rights to its monetary value. "Some people, in their unbridled enthusiasm, seem to forget that owners do have rights and that these are also protected by the Constitution and the European Court," Gera de Petri had told the Times. The Sliema Residents Association had insisted that the area should be developed for community purposes. Prenup taboo shows Maltese couples Small firms no longer still favour equality in marriage need 'experience' for public tenders DANIEL MIZZI SOME things are still sacred it seems. Despite the social effects on marriage that were expected from the introduction of divorce in 2011, one taboo item for Maltese couples appears to be the prenuptial agreement – a staple, premarital contract for wealthy Americans portrayed in television soaps. 'Prenups' as they are better known, are still a rare occurrence despite the constant rate of marital break-ups in Maltese society, according to lawyers and notaries this newspaper spoke to. "A prenuptial agreement is a binding contract entered into by two spouses before they tie the knot. It's a contract that regulates the pre-owned assets of the spouses, and dictates how and by whom it is managed and most importantly, how the assets acquired during marriage, would be divided in the event of marital breakdown," Labour MP Deborah Schembri explains. Before being elected MP in 2013, Schembri, a family lawyer, campaigned for the introduction of divorce as the face of the pro-divorce movement. But as she says, the perception amongst a predominantly Roman Catholic society that prenups are taboo, means that Maltese couples believe the equal division of the assets acquired during marriage, is still a fair settlement. Overseas, prenups have flourished as couples try to safeguard their assets or secure their guardianship of children from previous marriages, segregating debts and bank accounts, and protect their properties in case of separation of divorce. A smaller trend of prenups in Malta is apparently restricted only to a select, wealthy group of individuals, with MATTHEW VELLA A few eyebrows have been raised society at large still applying the community of acquests, or the equal division of assets, as the main matrimonial regime in the event of separation of divorce. "Prenups might be beneficial to certain couples, particularly spouses who are economically independent and those looking to safeguard their assets," family lawyer Ramona Frendo told MaltaToday. This is evident in the increase of prenuptial agreements amongst selfemployed businesspersons, Frendo says, enabling them to exempt their equal half from incurring liability in the case of bankruptcy. "At times, particularly in the case of self-employed, the community of acquests can be unfair as the husband or wife would have to pay for the expenses racked up by the other spouse. Conversely, it can be unfair in the case of a husband paying a home loan on his own. "If the assets were to be equally divided between the spouses, it would be extremely unfair on the husband which in the event of having a prenuptial agreement would avoid consequences," Frendo argued. "On the other hand, for housewives or financially-dependent spouses, prenuptial agreements are not ideal as they risk ending up with nothing," she said. Notary Stephen Thake echoes this feeling, saying that spouses who opt to stay at home to take care of children, tend to get the short end of the stick if their marriage is regulated by a prenuptial agreement. "In the event of marital breakdown, the prenuptial agreements do not acknowledge the value of such spouses, as they take into account earlier contracts," Thake explains. "On the other hand, the community of acquests – which is widely deemed as fair by Maltese couples – acknowledges the contribution of housewives which is nevertheless deemed as fundamental for the wellbeing of the family. "Instead spouses may protect their assets by registering them on an independent company, which would in turn mean that the other spouse would not qualify for them." dmizzi@mediatoday.com.mt in business circles over a government decision to eliminate the use of "experience" as part of the selection criteria in the procurement for government contracts valued below €500,000. Elsewhere, budding small and medium enterprises have welcomed the decision: no more automatic elimination for small firms seeking lucrative public tenders issued by the government. "It cancels out the leverage previously exerted by established firms, who not only had their experience as an advantage, but also their experience in tendering and putting forward competitive pricing," an official from a business association told MaltaToday. Hundreds of millions in taxpayers' money is annually dispensed in public competitive tenders, with government work representing a crucial source of income for several business firms. But tendering is a process that requires scrupulous attention to detail and non-refundable bid bonds to be invited to tender. Now, a government circular has announced that in a bid to "in- crease opportunities in the public procurement market" to new and emerging companies, the government has eliminated the use of "experience" as part of the selection criteria in the procurement process. "Experience is only one of the criteria used in the evaluation process as evidence of technical capacity of economic operators. In fact, it is being brought to the attention of all contracting authorities that there exist a number of other criteria that may be utilised to ascertain the technical capacity of economic operators," director-general of contracts Anthony Cachia said. Under the new rules, evidence of a tenderer's technical abilities may be furnished by one or more criteria, amongst them quality of work, technical facilities, production capacity, educational and professional qualifications, and environmental management measures. Earlier in 2013, SMEs were exempted from presenting prohibitive bid bonds when submitting an offer for government tenders below €120,000. Additionally, performance guarantee is now needed for tenders whose value does not exceed €10,000. The new conditions came into force on 1 October. YOUR FIRST CLICK OF THE DAY www.maltatoday.com.mt