Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/358967
maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 6 AuguSt 2014 News 5 Tim Diacono Virtu Ferries has opened a com- mercial line service between Malta and tripoli, with the first voyage scheduled to depart Malta next tuesday at 1am, departing tripoli at noon of the same day. On Saturday, the Virtu Holdings- operated catamaran 'San Gwann' was chartered by a South Korean company to evacuate company employees in Libya. the vessel de- parted tripoli with 251 passengers, including 25 Maltese nationals. All Maltese travelled free of charge. On Monday, Opposition leader Simon Busuttil criticised the gov- ernment for not having ordered the evacuation of Maltese citizens from Libya, as other countries have done. the government accused Busuttil of trying to bring partisan politics into the government's plans to en- sure the safety of Maltese citizens still in Libya. Also on Monday, Saviour Brincat, a Maltese oil worker who has been working in Libya for the past 25 years, criticised the government for not taking concrete action in helping him evacuate the war-torn country. "Since 15th July, i have been in constant contact with the Maltese authorities, i have sent several emails and have called them numerous times," he said in comments to the media. "However, i was not offered any concrete solutions as to how i am going to get out of the desert." "When you are in the desert, you have to book a flight at least three days in advance, but because of Eid, the flights were cancelled. i only managed to arrive in Malta out of my own resources, and after catching three flights," he said. Olaph terribile, private secretary for the foreign affairs ministry, said that the government is in "constant" contact with all the Maltese in Libya but declined to comment specifically on Brincat's claims. More countries evacuating the Philippine government is spending millions of dollars to re- patriate Filipinos in Libya amid a re- fusal by many Filipinos to leave the country, Foreign Affairs secretary Albert del rosario said tuesday. "the cost of the rented ship from Malta is €1.4 million," del rosario told reporters in an interview. "We are still negotiating for a chartered f light and usually the cost of a full plane is $6,000 to $7,000 per head," he said. "if you figure out your cost, it's on the ba- sis of a full plane load. We have no idea how many we are going to get on that plane." Del rosario said that they are also paying for the accommodation of Filipinos who have left Libya by land into neighbouring tunisia to escape the conf lict. the Maltese ship is expected to arrive in Libya by the end of the week to accommodate 300 Filipinos in Benghazi and 400 in Misurata who have expressed their desire to be repatriated. there were also 800 Filipinos who expressed their desire to be repat- riated from tripoli but since the tunisian border had reopened on Sunday, they could be taken out of Libya overland. "it's like dejà vu. in 2011, we en- gaged a 2,000-capacity ship for more than a million dollars and that was two years ago. Why did we get 2,000? Because the sign-up list was 2,300," he said. "When the ship got there, it was a beautiful day, we only got 700 on board that ship. But a couple of days later things went bad again and the Filipinos wanted another ship to get them out," he said. So far, only 938 Filipinos out of the 13,000 in Libya have returned to the Philippines through the gov- ernment's mandatory repatriation programme. miriam Dalli tHE Maltese government must push for a peacekeeping mission with the intervention of the international community if stability in Libya is to be established, PN secretary-gener- al Chris Said said. "the government must take the initia- tive and push for a peacekeeping mission in European union and united Nations fora. there are Maltese citizens and Maltese busi- ness interests in Libya… how is the govern- ment helping for stability in the neighbouring country?" Acknowledging that Malta on its own can- not do much, Said added that the government must call on the international community to intervene. Said took the government to task for what he described as a lack of government cooperation in keeping the Opposition informed of the Libya situation and news of Maltese citizens in the oil-rich country. "Contrary to the PN administration in 2011, the government is not keeping the Opposition informed of what's going on. We offered our help from the very beginning and it was only thanks to the PN insistence that a motion on Libya was discussed before parliament ad- journed for the summer recess," he said. Said added that the Prime Minister should keep the Leader of the Opposition informed of the government's work in Libya. "this is not a capricious request as the situ- ation in Libya is critical and the Opposition cannot be left in the dark." Said accused the government of "incompe- tence" and of not knowing how to handle the situation. A Maltese oil worker who arrived in Malta on Monday night from tripoli on a Medavia flight accused the government of ignoring his pleas for help over three weeks. Saviour Brincat, an oil worker who has been working in Libya for the past 25 years, insisted that he received no support or concrete solu- tions from the Maltese government, and in- stead he only received "moral support." According to Said, this was not the first Maltese who has criticised the government over its handling of the Libya situation. the situation in Libya remains critical as the country's lawmakers gathered far from the country's chaos and warring militias, have elected a judge as the new parliament speak- er. Weeks of fighting in the capital, tripoli, and the nation's second-largest city, Beng- hazi, have killed more than 230 people and forced most foreigners and diplomats to leave Libya. Because of the violence in tripoli and Benghazi, the parliament session was held in tobruk, an anti-islamist stronghold and a militia-free zone. Ageila Saleh Eissa is Libya's third parliament speaker since the downfall and killing of long- time dictator Muammar Gaddafi in the 2011 uprising and civil war. 'EU, Un must send peacekeeping mission to libya' – opposition Chris Said reiterates government's lack of cooperation in keeping Opposition informed of the Libya situation Philippines spends €1.4 million on Malta ship for evacuations Virtu Ferries to run Malta-Tripoli line as evacuations continue Chris Said calls for peacekeeping mission