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maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 5 MARCH 2014 8 JEROME CARUANA CILIA ONE thousand pairs of shoes seized by the Customs Depart- ment will be donated to migrants in detention centres, Finance Minister Edward Scicluna an- nounced. The shoes are genuine goods, which were used to conceal the importation of illegal products. Addressing a press conference together with the Director Gener- al of Customs Joseph P. Brincat in Valletta, Scicluna said, "The aim is to demonstrate that the Cus- toms Department is working hard to seize illegal goods and justice is really being carried out." Even though many seized prod- ucts are donated to migrants, prison inmates and other charit y organisations, this is not always possible. Depending on whether the seized goods are genuine or counterfeit, they are destroyed or auctioned, providing a source of income to government, Scicluna said. Brincat said citizens have the right to import a considerable amount of goods such as alcohol without paying excise dut y in Malta. "Anyone can import goods from Italy of any other European Union country. This is based on the prin- ciple of the freedom of movement of goods. It is illegal to stop each person from EU countries unless there is a reasonable suspicion," Brincat said. Minister Scicluna said that a de- tailed report on seized goods for 2013 will be published shortly. News Tony Hayward: From BP disaster to Malta One in five chance of striking oil off Malta, ex BP chief says TONY Hayward, current CEO of GENEL – one of the companies drilling for oil off Malta's coast – was the chief executive of oil and energy company BP at the time of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, which is considered the largest accidental marine oil spill in the history of the petroleum industry. He will be addressing upcom- ing Economist Events' Business Roundtable with the Government of Malta, 7 March. In an exclusive interview with MaltaToday, Hay- ward reveals that there is a "one in five chance" of striking oil off Malta's coast and argues that the industry has taken steps to im- prove safety after the Deepwater Horizon incident. Malta's positive oil prospects In 2012 GENEL, of which Hay- ward is now CEO, acquired a 75% interest in Area 4 (Blocks 4, 5, 6 and 7), south of Malta, from Med- iterranean Oil & Gas. "We plan to commence drilling a well on what is named the Hagar Qim prospect, Block 4, around the end of March. The rig itself is operated by an internation- ally renowned contractor, Noble Corporation, and results can be expected in May." In an interview with Oilprice. com, Hayward spoke about the good prospects of striking oil in Malta: "As we have expanded outside Africa, we have targeted opportunities to take material in- terests in high impact prospects, with the potential for field sizes of at least 250 million barrels. Malta and Morocco both fall firmly in these categories and, while expec- We like the look of the geology, but oil and gas exploration is never a sure thing James Debono James Debono Government to donate seized footwear to migrants and prison inmates Finance Minister Edward Scicluna said that the aim of the initiative was to show that the Customs Department is working hard to seize illegal goods Opposition would approve IIP 'if PN amendments are accepted' – Busuttil JAMES J. PISCOPO THE Individual Investor Pro- gramme would enjoy the Opposi- tion's approval if the government were to change the legal notice, according to the PN's proposed amendments, Opposition leader Simon Busuttil said. Addressing the media after a meeting with the Attard Local Council, Busuttil said that al- though the government's IIP was endorsed by the EU Commission, the government was not abiding by the agreement, in particular on the 12-month effective residency. It is still unclear what a 12- month effective residency means, but the amendments proposed by the Opposition seek to ensure that the applicants and their de- pendents give adequate proof that they actually lived in Malta for 12 months. "It is only natural that, should the government address our concerns by adopting the amendments, we are ready to vote in favour of the legal notice in Parliament," Busut- til said. He reiterated that as the IIP is today, the citizenship programme was not in the national interest. "We will continue to oppose it un- less the amendments are carried out," he said. Asked about the presidency, the PN leader said the Prime Minister had not yet consulted him. "It seems that everyone is in- formed except the Opposition," Busuttil said. The Nationalist leader called on the Attard local council, where he met the councillors who on their part voiced their concern on fi- nancial limits that the council had to face. Busuttil acknowledged this and said that local councils will be successful only if they are given adequate financial resources that would enable them to carry out their competences. "A reduction in money allocated to the councils, as was done in the last budget, will only serve to hinder the council's work." Court issues prohibitory injunction against MEPA over Siggiewi chicken farm COURT yesterday approved the Siggiewi local council's request for a prohibitory injunction against MEPA to keep it from processing and deciding over an application for the development of a chicken farm and other facilities in the area known as Tad-Dikkiena. The court issued a temporary in- junction, meaning that MEPA has 10 days to provide a satisfactory answer, with both the council and the authority having to appear in court on 27 March. In a statement issued signed by Siggiewi mayor and PN adminis- trative council president Karol Aq- uilina, the council explained that the prohibitory injunction request followed the MEPA case officer's move to overturn a negative rec- ommendation to a positive one. "This was done behind the local council's back, which was never informed about the decision as is its right as a third party which submitted an objection," Aquilina said. The Siggiewi council had unani- mously decided to object against the project for a number of rea- sons, chief ly the odours, the nega- tive visual impact, the negative impact on the Dar tal-Providenza and the risk of water contamina- tion. PN leader Simon Busuttil

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