Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/306555
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 4 MAY 2014 5 THE Nationalist Party has hit out at the appointment of an "ambassador- designate" who is currently running for MEP. The PN said the appointment of architect Lino Bianco to ambassa- dor-designate to Romania, was yet another "appointment of a person close to Labour's core". Bianco was presented with his let- ters of credence by the President of Malta on Friday. When asked by MaltaToday about the appointment, Bianco claimed the appointment had been decided "months ago". The Opposition accused Prime Minister Joseph Muscat of isolating himself in an "ivory tower" and "re- fusing to listen to what the people are saying". "On the same day that our country fell one place in the EU's unemploy- ment index, Muscat chose to ap- point another person who is close to the Labour's core," the PN said in a statement. "While his close friends are doing well, citizens have to make do with a 2c decrease in petrol prices," the PN said. In spite of the diplomatic post, Bi- anco has insisted with MaltaToday that he was "fully" committed to the MEP elections. "I am 100% commit- ted to my candidature and my work reflects this." The PN also hit out at the appoint- ment of Labour MP Silvio Schembri, who also receives a salary as a con- sultant for the ministry for the econ- omy, as chairman for the Responsi- ble Gaming Foundation. Schembri said he will not receive remuneration for this post. "Schembri and his wife have eight jobs with the government," the PN said, referring to Schembri's role as MP, chairman of a parliamentary committee, consultant to the econ- omy ministry, part-time lecturer at the University and chairman of the Responsible Gaming Founda- tion. His wife Deandra Schembri is a chairperson of a Refugee Appeals Board and a member of the Police Board. "The Prime Minister has set out to please the colonels and side-line his own soldiers," the PN said, in a jibe at Muscat's call on 1 May for the "soldiers of steel" to get the vote out during the forthcoming European elections. Schembri is already a paid consult- ant for Chris Cardona, the minister for the economy, under whose min- istry falls Herrera's secretariat. He is paid a €38,512 salary to supervise the implementation of electoral meas- ures falling under the responsibility of the ministry for the economy, and close to €63,000 together with his parliamentary honorarium. CONTINUES FROM PAGE 1 Under the agreement, Alpha Briggs accepted to warehouse the equipment owned by the CPD and offer oil spill response on a 24-hour basis. The CPD allowed Alpha Briggs to utilise, free of charge, all its oil spill pollution equipment for its own commercial services. Indeed, the Briggs Group prides itself on its web- site of being "the only international response organisation with a con- tinuous operational presence in the Mediterranean." In the bizarre agreement, Alpha Briggs could use the CPD's equip- ment subject to a "profit sharing" agreement, that gave the CPD 30% of any revenues net of expenses. It also required Alpha Briggs to make the equipment available to Malta in case of a national emer- gency. But as a government source ex- plained, no revenues were ever re- ceived by the government of Malta in the last seven years. The government also believes that most of the equipment in Alpha Briggs's possession appears to be located in Piraeus, Greece, where the group co-operates with OSRA Greece, a company providing oil spill response services. The Greece office however has a Maltese cellu- lar phone number. In Malta, Alpha Briggs operates a base in Corradino, were its operations control centre is located and where the company says it holds "a stockpile well in excess of the standard Tier 2 inventory, since it acts as a first line of support to all other regional bases in case of escala- tion to Tier 3." But a government source claimed with MaltaToday that in case of an oil spillage, the company might not be able to arrive in Malta in time to fight any pollution disaster because of its operations in Greece. The government is now asking At- torney General Peter Grech to inves- tigate the nature of the agreement and to advise on what action needs to be taken. The agreement between the Mal- tese government and Alpha Briggs spans over a period of 15 years. The stockpiles at the Alpha Briggs base in Malta include over 19,000m of containment boom, skimmers for recovering oil, high capacity pumps, power packs and other equipment. In the agreement seen by MaltaTo- day, the agreement stipulates that an adequate stockpile should always be retained in Malta to meet national emergencies. It also states that Alpha Briggs will have to provide all project accounts and supporting documents to the CPD. Additionally, the contract entrust- ed all oil spill response commercial activities undertaken by the CPD, to Alpha Briggs, for the duration of the agreement. It placed at the disposal of Alpha Briggs free berthing facilities for its vessels, and established "pre-agreed rates" for the CPD to utilise the ex- pertise of Alpha Briggs while provid- ing off-duty CPD personnel to per- form work for the company. Alpha Briggs Mediterranean Lim- ited is composed of three compa- nies, Alpha Oil Services trading Lim- ited, PI holdings Limited and Briggs Overseas Limited. The company was represented in Malta by Paul Pisani. News NON CONVENTIONAL WATER RESOURCES MANAGEMENT: Thematic Consultation in the Framework of the National Water Management Plan for the Maltese Islands Tuesday, 6 May 2014, 9.00 a.m. Mediterranean Conference Centre, Valletta The National Consultation on Non Conventional Water Resources (NCWR) Management is a Thematic Consultation in the framework of the National Water Management Plan for the Maltese Islands, organised by the Ministry for Energy and Health, the Global Water Partnership – Mediterranean, The Coca-Cola Foundation and The General Soft Drinks Co. Ltd., in the context of the Alter Aqua – Non Conventional Water Resources Programme in Malta. The purpose of this Thematic Consultation is to contribute to the development of the National Water Management Plan, aimed at an integrated water management framework, by providing a platform for multi-stakeholder dialogue on the way to advance the use of NCWR in order to address the country's water deficit. Moreover, innovative NCWR solutions implemented locally, as well as case studies from other water scarce Mediterranean countries, will be presented, while the barriers to their planning and implementation, as well as measures to address them, will be discussed. The Consultation results will feed the National Water Management Plan. The Consultation is open for participation to all interested stakeholders and citizens. Participation is free of charge. Please send your registration to: secretariat@gwpmed.org. For more information please visit: www.gwpmed.org TO LET: SWATAR COMMERCIAL/OFFICE/RETAIL Elevated ground floor consisting of open space of 300 sq metres with high ceiling, large windows and plenty of natural light. Can be divided in two premises. Also available for sale. Phone 7946 7376 PN hits out at cosy diplomatic post for MEP candidate Ambassador Lino Bianco is running for MEP – he claims he is "serious" about his candidature Attorney General asked to inquire on return of oil spillage equipment Malta was funded €20 million in oil pollution fighting equipment only to pass it on to a private company