Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/398422
maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 15 OctObEr 2014 News 5 The MePA board will tomorrow be meeting to discuss a request for the revocation of a controversial permit issued for the development of a huge communication tower on the Dwe- jra ridge next to the Victoria Lines in Rabat, Malta. A request for the revocation of the permit had been presented by archi- tect Lino Bianco in July 2013. In June 2013 MePA had approved a 30-metre communications tower and three transmitting rooms, a small toilet and a generator room. Board members Alex Vella, Victor Axiaq and Timmy Gambin voted against while seven board members voted in favour. An Outline application for this tower was approved in September 2006. Board members used this as a justification for voting for this development, claiming that their hands were tied by the outline per- mit. The legal argument made for the revocation is that the application should have been withdrawn by law as it stood idle for five years between 2008 and 2013. A retail impact assessment should be made to assess the impact on busi- nesses and town centres in Gudja and neighbouring towns of the expansion of the Malta International Airport, which includes a 2,000 square metre super- market. This is one of the demands made by the Gudja local council in a report pre- pared by architect Carmel Cacopardo. Cacopardo was asked by the council to assess the environmental Impact Statement recently presented by the de- velopers' consultants. The architect criticises the MePA for not ordering the developers to conduct such a retail impact assessment. The interim retail planning guidelines approved in 2014 oblige developers to conduct a retail impact assessment whenever large-scale retail projects are proposed. A retail impact assessment has to es- tablish whether the opening of a new retail establishment like a supermarket has an adverse impact on town centres. It should also assess any impact on the social and economic life of local com- munities. "Put simply: what is the impact which the retail and commercial outlets pro- posed in the Malta International Air- port Masterplan will have on the small business community in Gudja, and consequently on the social fabric of the Gudja community?" the report asks. The impact on other localities sur- rounding the Malta International Airport, like Ħal-Luqa, Ħal-Safi and Ħal-Kirkop should also be assessed, ac- cording to the report. The report also claims that the en- visaged increase in traffic will impact Gudja residents. "The impacts on Gudja residents are substantial as for long stretches of time, parking spaces earmarked for Gudja residents are taken up by Malta Inter- national Airport clients and/or employ- ees". Studies on the airport's noise im- pact should also assess the impact of increased passenger movement in the airport itself, according to the council's report. "One major shortcoming of the ePS is its failure to identify the airport's tar- gets for passengers and flights handled in the near future", the report claims. So far the studies have been limited to the impact of the new commercial infrastructure and not to the airport's core operations. But according to Cacopardo under- lying the whole project is the idea of transforming the airport into a busi- ness hub and an assumption that core operations will also expand. One key impact is the increase of flights during night hours, especially after a decision taken in 2012 to waive "the night surcharge all year round". The report welcomes the proposed construction of a new water reservoir. "This is a welcome development as currently large quantities of storm wa- ter are channeled into an open reser- voir in Gudja". As a result of heavy storms the Gudja reservoir overflows into Wied Garnaw and on various occasions it is known to have caused substantial damage in the area. But the proposed reservoir is con- sidered inadequate for the quantity of storm water flowing in the area. "The whole matter should be revisited and Malta International Airport should aim to retain on site a higher propor- tion of the storm water. It could be put to good use". James Debono FeMALe hospital staff tend to smoke more than the average Mal- tese woman, a study published in the Malta Medical Journal shows. A questionnaire sent in by 1,984 hospital employees reveals that 27.1% of male staff and 24.8% of fe- male staff are active smokers. In a european health Interview Survey carried out on the general population in 2008, 25.9% admitted to being daily or occasional smokers. These included 31% of men and 21% of women. The only difference between the two studies is that while males ex- ceed female smokers by 10% in the general population, in hospital fe- male smokers only lag behind males by 2.3%. The survey reveals that while 23.6% of nurses smoke, only 10.4% of doctors do so. The percentage of smokers increases to 31.2% among other hospital employees who are neither doctors nor nurses. Among those aged 18 to 25, 30% smoke. Malta still has a lower smoking rate than a number of other countries. In Italy, the rate of smokers among health professionals is twice the rate of smoking in the general popula- tion (44%). A high prevalence rate was also estimated in workers in a Portuguese hospital (40.5%), which contrasts with the low population prevalence of 20.9%. The study for Malta shows that the prevalence of smoking among hospi- tal staff mirrors that of the general population. 22.2% of smokers refrain from smoking in hospital. The high- est percentage of smokers was in the youngest age group (18-25 years). Interestingly 25.7% of current non- smokers had previously smoked. The majority of these had successfully stopped more than 10 years ago, the greatest incentive being health rea- sons. Almost half (43.8%) of the sur- veyed population find difficulty in refraining from smoking in forbid- den areas and a further 43.3% would find it most difficult to give up their first cigarette of the day. A quarter of these smokers (23.6%) require their initial cigarette in the first 15 minutes after waking up. however, 71.2% will refrain from smoking in bed if unwell. Willingess to quit smoking ap- pears to be high at 46.2% of the total smoker population, 30.2% having at- tempted to quit at least once, closely followed by 32.6% who have had two to five attempts. 7.4% have tried to quit more than five times. According to the authors of the study this indicates that further initiatives are required to lessen the number of health professionals who smoke, as these should "ideally be role models for patients, and hence be able to effectively support pa- tients in quitting smoking". The study controversially suggests denying smokers their cigarette break. "The fact that smokers are often granted unofficial cigarette breaks may serve as a deterrent to smoking cessation, in that smokers have more breaks from work than do their non- smoking counterparts". There are only three available ar- eas for smoking within the hospital grounds where smokers congregate to smoke. The study suggests that this may have a psychological affect on smok- ers who "may view themselves as a rebel clan "who defy hospital author- ities that are attempting to decrease the number of smokers within the hospital". The study, entitled 'barriers to im- plement a smoke free hospital. What action should be taken" was writ- ten by health Promotion Director Charmaine Gauci, Joelle Azzopardi, Sarah De Giovanni, Luisa Farrugia, Neville Calleja, Anne Buttigieg and Stephen Montefort. Female hospital workers smoke more than other women MEPA to decide on revocation of Rabat communications hub Airport expansion: Gudja council calls for retail impact study No tax increase to finance utility bills reduction, government says ConTInUes FRom PaGe 1 Bu- suttil said the government has bound itself to buy electricity and gas from electroGas for 18 years, and the price at which en- emalta will buy electricity will be fixed for five. "The government is cur- rently in negotiations with Shanghai electric Power, which has requested as- surances that enemalta will be buying electricity produced by the 'BWSC' plant," Busuttil said. "The Opposition's position is clear: we don't want the government to purchase electricity it doesn't need at prices which could be higher than market pric- es." he said that if this were go- ing to be the case, the Op- position would not be sup- porting the government's plan. Busuttil also insisted that the Prime Minister was "no longer credible" on the power station: "his time- frame was March 2015 and this deadline is not going to be met. how can you now believe that it will be de- layed by just a few months? The Prime Minister is no longer credible". In a reaction, the govern- ment said that "no one was understanding" what Bu- suttil was trying to say. "The only thing that we can understand is that [Busuttil] can't admit that utility bills for families have been reduced and that this government is go- ing to maintain its pledge with businesses," the gov- ernment said. It added that the reduc- tion in energy bills will be carried out without any in- crease in taxes. Airport car park to be roofed