Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/266770
maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 26 FEBRUARY 2014 7 News EMPLOYMENT AND TRAINING CORPORATION The Employment and Training Corporation would like to inform its customers that all its Job Centres will be closed for business on Thursday 27th February 2014 from 13:30 onwards due to staff training. All the Corporation's offices will be closed on Friday 28th February 2014 due to the Annual General Meeting. ENERGY Minister Konrad Mizzi has accused the Opposition of trying to "gag" him from reveal- ing the extent of electricity theft from state corporation Enemalta. This evening's parliament meeting was yet another sitting characterised by shouting and constant interruptions as call for point of orders were made. Mizzi complained that he was at least interrupted eight times with- out the Opposition giving him enough time to say what he had to say. Matters worsened when two Opposition MPs said they would 'name' Mizzi – 'naming' an MP is the process through which the Speaker or one of his deputies proposes a vote on the suspen- sion of a member of the House if the Speaker believes that the MP breached the rules of conduct of the House. Mizzi had just updated parlia- ment on the discovery of 665 files that had been " locked away in a room", when the Opposition in- sisted that Mizzi should be clear in his wording. Former finance minister Tonio Fenech, former resources minister George Pullicino and PN deputy leader Mario de Marco, one after the other, called on the minister to substantiate his "allegations or withdraw them". "If the minister knows that there was a political direction for the files to be stowed away, then he should say it. I can assure him there wasn't any. But he should ei- ther substantiate or withdraw his allegations," Fenech insisted. Expressing his "astonishment" with the Opposition's reaction, Mizzi said he was not going to withdraw anything: "You have no shame. The theft exploded under your watch. Under your [PN] ad- ministration Enemalta went bank- rupt. Tariffs exploded. Yes, you should be ashamed." He added that the files – opened because the theft had been regis- tered – showed that the previous government knew about the theft but did not take any action. But the minister reiterated that he stood by what he said. At one point, Mizzi said he could not un- derstand how the matter did not carry political responsibility. Addressing the House at 9.27pm, the deputy Speaker said he would give his final ruling tomorrow. Galea said Mizzi was referring to political responsibility, but at one stage he said, "you threw them [the files] away". This comment prompted the Opposition's inter- vention. The deputy speaker said he would provide the two sides of the House with a copy of the transcript, urg- ing Mizzi to clarif y what he meant to say tomorrow evening. "We are on the right side. I have nothing to be ashamed of. But I was interrupted eight times and if they want to gag me, it's their choice. But I stand resolved on the issue. "We acted as a government that is tackling various scandals. And I don't think the Opposition should have attacked me in that way," Mizzi said. The two sides will now read the transcripts, decide on their posi- tion and the Speaker will then give his ruling. In a further bid to calm the situa- tion, Mario de Marco said the Op- position did not want to suspend anyone from parliament: "We are simply calling for an honest de- bate. We are with government in seeing that anyone responsible for a wrongdoing is investigated." As the three Nationalist MPs condemned the theft of electric- ity, they lambasted government for its decision not to take ac- tion against the acts of bribery. They said they condemned the putting away of the 665 files and urged the government to investi- gate the matter in depth and ar- raign any Enemalta officials found to have been involved. Officials who should have en- sured that the monies should have been recovered but failed to do so should also be questioned, they said. Fenech said he welcomed that a whistleblower had spoken up on the issue. "We are not here to defend theft and corruption and parliament must be united against these ac- tions. Because, contrary to the al- legations being made, we fight cor- ruption," he said. Fenech accused Mizzi of "shift- ing the blame on to the politicians, hiding who had effectively bribed and stole". As they asked whether Enemalta officials had been questioned, the three turned their guns on former Enemalta chairman Louis Giordi- maina. George Pullicino asked whether Giordimaina had any knowledge of the matter "since he was one of the few chairmen to be retained by the Labour administration, and now promoted to Air Malta CEO". Giordimaina was appointed chairman of Enemalta in 2011, whereas the cases date back to be- tween 2006 and 2001. Miriam Dalli 'Opposition trying to gag me from revealing extent of scandal' – Energy Minister 82-year-old fall victim in danger of dying AN 82-year-old man from Zebbug, who yesterday morning fell down a height of two stories from a ware- house at the Ta' Matti quarry, in the limits of Siggiewi, is in danger of los- ing his life. The incident occurred at around 10.30am yesterday morning, when the man was painting the door of the warehouse. It is not yet known wheth- er the man was the owner of the ware- house or not. His condition was initially de- scribed as not being critical, with the man conscious when the ambulance arrived to take him to Mater Dei. However, it has now emerged that his injuries were more serious than initially believed, and at the time of writing, the elderly man was believed to be in danger of dying. The police arrived on the scene shortly after the incident occurred to investigate.