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Newspaper post YOUR FIRST READ AND FIRST CLICK OF THE DAY WWW.MALTATODAY.COM.MT CONTINUES PAGE 11 INTERVIEW • 12-13 'Life is beyond desperation in Gaza' says Palestinian activist Sanaa el Nahhal MEPA halts illegal Polidano works SUNDAY • 3 AUGUST 2014 • ISSUE 769 • PUBLISHED EVERY WEDNESDAY AND SUNDAY CONSTRUCTION magnate Charles Polidano's company had illegal works being carried out on his Montekristo Estates in Safi halted by the Malta Environment and Planning Authority in yet another mile- stone of planning abuse for the company. The works halted on Friday were, according to Polidano Bros spokesperson and law- yer Jean Paul Sammut, em- bellishment and landscaping works and fencing and bound- ary works for an area in which Polidano Group houses a small zoo. The company is to face crim- inal charges over its illegal animal park at Montekristo Estates, the Animal Rights Par- liamentary Secretariat said last week. The Montekristo Estates Animal Park had already been served with at least two letters of warning by the Veterinary Directorate over the condi- tions in which its animals are kept. Some 61 species at the illegal zoo benefit from international protection under Cites, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, and include pumas, jungle cats, Eurasian lynxes, Barbary macaques (monkeys), ring- tailed lemurs, a caracal (wild cat), a lion and an ocelot. The animal park is on an ille- gally developed site subject to an enforcement notice issued in 2008. The mishandled Martin Galea case Shining a light for Gaza Do you wear your heart on your sleeve? THE Office of the Prime Minister was unaware that Maltese national Martin Galea had gone missing in Libya and was made aware of his disappearance by the press late in the week on Friday 25 July, contrary to what was stated in parliament. The foreign affairs ministry had been handling Galea's disappear- ance independently and had actively involved Tripoli-based ambassador Mannie Galea and Arab-speaking consul Marisa Farrugia. But somehow, news of Galea's disappearance was not relayed to the Prime Minister's Office. Privately, OPM staffers said they were shocked to learn the news of his disap- pearance from the press. Case closed on visa 'scam' allegations on consul Marisa Farrugia, and the rift between the Offi ce of the Prime Minister and the foreign ministry CONTINUES PAGE 3 FREE COLLECT YOUR COPY OF VIDA MAGAZINE WITH MALTATODAY VOICES FROM A FORGOTTEN LAND PAGES 6-7 Has the popularity of tattoos broken an employers' taboo? PG 15 €1.20 maltatoday Joseph Muscat and Foreign Minister George Vella on the apron at MIA waiting for Martin Galea PHOTO BY CHRIS MANGION