Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/240181
3 News maltatoday, SUNDAY, 12 JANUARY 2014 CONTINUES FROM PAGE 1 The project includes green areas, a square, a childcare centre, and underground parking. The project would require new link roads from Triq San Pawl and Triq il-Markiz Scicluna, and a pedestrian link to Triq Santa Lucija. A low-lying boutique hotel and a number of one-storey villas, will occupy the easternmost area which is closest to Palazzo Parisio, the stately home that is run by the heirs of the Marquis John Scicluna – Christiane Ramsay Pergola and Marcus Marshall – who presented the application. For decades, Scicluna's grounds hosted the annual trade fair before the corporation that organised it dissolved and moved the fair to Ta' Qali. The local plan approved in 2006 states that in the event that the trade fair activity ceases in the area, the area can be redeveloped for "high quality" residential devel- opment. The policy stipulates that a local centre must be also developed on the westernmost part of the site. The policy excludes "over-sized monolithic or high building blocks" and that the development should consist "of small built volumes with inter-connected, well landscaped terraces and passageways that will, in time, soften the mass of the blocks". The local plan stipulates a height limitation of four floors above the level of any proposed route. But MEPA will also consider fivestorey buildings in the northwestern part of the site, only if this is required in order to retain a total developable residential floor space of 116,250 sqm. A penthouse level shall be permitted above roof level of these buildings, provided that this will not impinge on important views and vistas into and out of the Naxxar urban conservation area. PHOTOGRAPHY BY RAY ATTARD Trade Fair grounds earmarked for mega-project Artists' impressions of western part and eastern part of the project Employers told not to be insular about parents' sick leave MIRIAM DALLI EMPLOYERS must not be "in- sular" and giving parents sick leave when their children fall ill is "not a concession", Family Minister MarieLouise Coleiro Preca said yesterday. Controversy has raged over whether parents or caregivers should be granted sick leave when their children and dependants fall ill, a proposal which enjoys the support of both the Labour and Nationalist Parties, and was first floated by then prime minister Lawrence Gonzi during the 2013 electoral campaign. It later emerged during the campaign that Labour had included the same proposal in its electoral manifesto. But the proposed measure did not go down well with employers, who claim that it would encourage absenteeism. Both the Malta Employers Association and the Chamber of Commerce are strongly opposing what they believe is a "concession". Social Policy and Family Minister Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca "This proposal serves to institutionalise an injustice against employers. The introduction of such work practices will serve to erode further Malta's competitiveness and potential for growth," the Chamber said. Questioned by the press, yesterday Coleiro Preca refuted the description of the sick-leave proposal as a "concession", insisting it was a realistic measure for anybody who believed in family-friendly measures. "We would be taking a step back- wards if we do not develop more measures for parents to be productive. We have to help able persons who can work, to join the workforce," Coleiro Preca said. "I urge employers not to be insular, but to look at the whole economic picture. We have to fit in the social aspects in the bigger picture." Asked whether the government would be ready to help employers when workers apply for sick leave to take care of their children, the minister said the government was open to proposals. "We are always open to proposals and ideas and we urge everyone with proposals to come forward." The Chamber claims sick leave for parents will come at a cost to employers. "It is available for employees to avail of when they are genuinely unfit to attend for work. Ample annual leave is available and should be used in order to attend to family responsibilities." The Chamber also claimed that the measure would encourage workers to report to work when they are READ MORE Claudine Cassar page 23 sick in an effort to 'save' their own sick-leave entitlement for when their children are unwell. "Companies with a small number of employees will feel the effect disproportionately. Besides, the proposal can serve as a dangerous precedent as attempts could then follow to extend the scope of the measure." Download the MaltaToday App now