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Newspaper post WWW.MALTATODAY.COM.MT WEDNESDAY EDITION WEDNESDAY • 3 SEPTEMBER 2014 • ISSUE 380 • PUBLISHED EVERY WEDNESDAY AND SUNDAY €0.90 Editorial - PAGE 9 JURGEN BALZAN UP to 10 members of the Administrative Law Enforcement (ALE) police unit have been transferred, MaltaToday has learned. Sources told this newspaper that over the past year or so, up to 10 members of the ALE unit have been transferred within the corps for a number of reasons. MaltaToday is informed that while a number of officers were transferred "for political rea- sons," others were transferred for their even- handedness when dealing with hunters. However, a home affairs ministry spokesper- son denied this and said the information was "incorrect." In reply to a number of questions about the transfers, the spokesperson said that only two ALE members were transferred "because the exigencies of the Police Corps dictated that they were needed elsewhere. However previ- ously the ALE complement was increased." The core ALE unit is made up of around 20 officers but during the hunting seasons the number is incremented by district officers. Sources said that a number of officers were transferred because of their manifest political allegiances, but some others were moved to other departments for resisting pressures in carrying out their duties. The move has come as a surprise to many, especially since most of the transferred mem- bers are veterans in the field and carried out their duties impartially. Since taking power in 2013, the Labour gov- ernment has been criticised for appeasing the hunting lobby by easing restrictions and re- opening the trapping season this autumn fol- lowing a five-year gap. Moreover, the government's decision to postpone the local elections planned for 2015 has been viewed by many environmentalists as an attempt to placate the strong lobby ahead of the referendum on spring hunting. A lower turnout is expected if the referen- dum on spring hunting is not held in conjunc- tion with local elections. A low turnout could lead to the result being annulled if a 50%+1 voter turnout is not achieved. Hunting enforcement officers transferred 10 police offi cers transferred from Administrative Law Enforcement unit. Ministry denies Sources said up to 10 ALE members were transferred since March 2013 Former PN minister 'unaware' of faults with A&E concrete structure Government after political, technical and commercial responsibility MIRIAM DALLI FORMER Nationalist health minister Louis Galea has ex- pressed surprise at news that the concrete structures at Mater Dei Hospital's accident and emer- gency department are weak to the point that they cannot hold the weight of two planned medical wards. A third set of tests carried out in the UK have confirmed that con- crete used on certain pillars at the A&E was not strong enough, due to the use of material of inferior quality. Galea, who was responsible for the health sector when the Skan- ska contract was signed in 1995, said the reports that emerged in the media were "news" to him. The news was soon confirmed by the government and it has now announced that temporary structures will be put in place this week to solidify the columns. "[The reports] are news to me and there were never any prob- lems of a similar nature that were brought to my attention. The construction was regulated by a contract and there are legal pro- visions to provide the contractors and architects," Galea told Malta- Today. He insisted that responsibility should be shouldered by the con- tractors and architects as stipu- lated by the contracts. CONTINUES ON PAGE 3 Samples of concrete from pillars tested in the UK

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