Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/414558
maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 12 NOVEMBER 2014 News 4 THE Prime Minister's Chief of Staff, Keith Schembri, yesterday sued the PN media for libel over a front page story which he described as "slan- derous." In-Nazzjon ran a report on how Ryan Schembri, the fugitive former co-owner of More supermarkets, has been in telephone contact with a "particular person" and reassured that he and his family are safe. However, the newspaper pub- lished the photo of Keith Schembri alongside that of Ryan Schembri as the two happen to be cousins and the newspaper alleged that the two had common business interests in Libya and that the OPM's Chief of Staff was aware of the phone call his cousin made. However, Keith Schembri denied these allegations and in a statement issued yesterday afternoon, the gov- ernment said the report was "false and made-up." "Mr Schembri never had and does not have any commercial ties with his cousin. Allegations that he was in contact with him and knows his whereabouts are also false." The statement added that charac- ter assassination by the opposition's media has reached the lowest ebb and reflects the negativity and poli- tics which the people voted out in the last general election. Opposition says abrogative referendum on hunting 'is civil right' Opposition leader Simon Busuttil pours cold water on hunters' claims that abrogative referendum would be contrary to EU accession treaty MATTHEW VELLA THE Opposition has told the Con- stitutional Court that a referen- dum abrogating spring hunting was not contrary to Malta's EU ac- cession treaty. In a reply to hunters' representa- tive FKNK which was filed in court, Opposition leader Simon Busuttil said he fully believed in the right of the electorate to use the referendum instrument to vote against a law. "The use of an ab- rogative referendum is a civil right that should not be limited except by the provisions of the Referen- dum Act." Busuttil said that an abrogative referendum would not be contrary to Malta's Treaty of Accession to the European Union, which does not limit the public from making use of an abrogative referendum. Hunters' organisations FKNK and KSU claim that a referendum to abolish spring hunting would impinge upon the rights of a mi- nority. Apart from filing objections in court over a petition signed by over 40,000 calling for a referendum against spring hunting, they have also petitioned MPs to change the Referenda Act so that abrogative referenda would not be held on "minority rights and interests". Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, through the Attorney General's office, has dismissed the hunters' request for the court to reject the anti-spring hunting petition. The government rejected claims that the process used by the Elec- toral Commission to verif y the pe- tition signatures was illegal. It will be the Constitutional Court to decide whether a referen- dum can be held in 2015 to abro- gate the spring hunting law. Over 40,000 signatures were collected in a petition to hold an abrogative referendum on spring hunting Keith Schembri sues PN media for libel Massive equestrian facility proposed in Naxxar Prime Minister's Chief of Staff sues in-Nazzjon for libel over report on runaway businessman JAMES DEBONO A planning application has been pre- sented for the development of an equestrian facility on 11,046 square metres of land at Ta' Bingjala in Maghtab Naxxar. The project proposed by Vincent Borg includes a 4.2 metre high roofed "horse walker" facility on 270 square metres of land and a 972 square metre open air horse track. Stables and paddocks will occupy 514 square metres of land. The proposal includes a 116 square metre pool for horses, an 867 square metre passageway made of grass blocks and even solar panels on stable roofs. Other facilities include a 113 square metre store and a manure clamp. The application comes in the wake of a new policy promoting development in the countryside. Through the new policy, an unspeci- fied amount of similarly sized stables are allowed in other ODZ areas which are far away from any existing dwell- ings. These stables have to be either constructed in timber or in stone clad in timber and must be built at a dis- tance of not less than 100 metres from the development zone boundary to avoid inconvenience to residents. The only limits on the size of new stables imposed by the new policy ap- ply to farms within 200 metes of pub- lic groundwater sources. Only stables hosting two to six horses can be kept in these areas. The more restrictive policy enacted in 2007 limited the number of new stables in ODZ areas to four and banned new stables, which were more than 300 metres away from the development zone boundary. New stables, which were less than 100 metres away from existing build- ings, were also banned. Moreover while the old policy stipulated that ap- plicants must present proof of owner- ship of horses, no such requirement is found in the new policy. Keith Schembri