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maltatoday, SUNDAY, 28 DECEMBER 2014 4 2014 in review Looking back at 2014 CONTINUED FROM PAGE 3 Civil unions law passes (April 14) A bill that granted homosexual couples the legal rights, protections and obligations that were previously only applicable to married hetero- sexual couples was passed in Parlia- ment, with all government MPs vot- ing in favour of it and all Opposition MPs abstaining. Opposition leader Simon Busuttil said that his party had qualms with the bill's clause that gave homosexual couples the right to adopt children jointly and that Malta was 'not ready' for gay adop- tions. Recent records show that 24 gay couples have entered into civil unions since the law was passed and that a further 11 gay couples who had married or entered into civil unions outside of Malta have now registered their marriages and unions in Malta. Another huge win for Labour in European Parliament elections (May 28) Just over a year after thrashing the Nationalist Party in the general elections, the Labour Party came up trumps again, its candidates for the European Parliament winning 53% of votes compared with the Nationalist Party's 40%. Alfred Sant, Miriam Dal- li, and Marlene Mizzi were elected to the EP on behalf of Labour while Roberta Metsola, David Casa, and Therese Comodini Cachia were elected on behalf of the PN. For the first time in a Maltese elec- tion, the majority of the elected candidates were women. 50 years of Independence (September 21) 2014 was truly a year of na- tional anniversaries. Most no- tably, Malta celebrated 50 years of independence from British rule by inviting Prince William over as a guest of honour. The Duke of Cambridge spent a packed 24 hours on the island, visiting the National Library, the Upper Barra- kka Gardens, St John's Co-Cathedral and the Vittoriosa Access Centre. The trip to Malta was originally sup- posed to be William's wife Kate's first official solo overseas visit as a royal, but the Duchess of Cambridge had to withdraw because of severe morning sickness due to her second pregnancy. Malta also celebrated 40 years since becoming a republic and 10 years since joining the European Union. Paul Cremona resigns as Archbishop (October 17) Archbishop Paul Cremona stunned the Maltese Catholic body by asking the Vatican to accept his resignation from the headship of the Maltese church, following months of specu- lation over his leadership abilities. Cremona, a Dominican, was heavily criticised by members of the clergy for keeping the Church out of public discussions, such as the civil unions debate. In one of his homilies, Gozo Bishop Mario Grech brashly said that the Church was in dire need of a blood transfusion to eradicate the feeling of sloth, which was so bad that it was accompanied by the smell of death. When the Vatican accepted his request, Cremona became the first Maltese Archbishop to resign from his post. He later said that he had succumbed to exhaustion fol- lowing the Church's much-criticised anti-divorce campaign in 2011. Lino Spiteri passes away (November 14) Former Labour minister and author Lino Spiteri passed away, aged 76, af- ter a long battle with terminal illness. Spiteri was elected to the House at 23, and served as a Labour MP for the next 21 years. He resigned as finance minister in 1998 due to his disagree- ment with the Sant administration's stance on VAT and the European Union. Malta hosts Junior Eurovision Song Contest (November 15) It's been a long, long wait but Malta finally got to host a Eurovision Song Contest, the Junior version, after Gaia Cauchi's victory last year. The Malta Shipbuilding in Marsa was trans- formed into a theatre that accom- modated around 4,500 people. Italy's Vincenzo Cantiello emerged victori- ous, with Malta's young opera queen Federica Falzon finishing in 4th place with her song 'Diamonds'. PBS took advantage of the Shipbuilding stage and organised the Malta Eurovision Song Contest a week after the Junior Eurovision. Amber comfortably won with her song 'Warrior' and will rep- resent Malta in the Eurovision Song Contest in Vienna next year. Malliagate (November 19) Joseph Muscat was faced with his toughest challenge as Prime Minister yet after PC Paul Sheehan, the driver of Home Affairs Minister Manuel Mallia fired his gun at the car of Scotsman Stephen Smith. Police ar- rested Smith and Smith's car was placed on a low-loader before the magisterial inquiry had begun. Despite the available photo evi- dence, the government released a statement saying that Sheehan had fired warning shots in the air follow- ing a hit and run incident. The Op- position presented a no-confidence motion in Mallia over allegations of a political cover-up and 'Malliagate' quickly went viral on social media. Leaked phone-calls later revealed that Sheehan had repeatedly told Acting Police Commissioner Ray Zammit that he had shot at Smith but that Zammit had told OPM communica- tions chief Kurt Farrugia that Shee- han had fired warning shots. Faced with this information and increasing public pressure, Muscat asked Mal- lia to resign. Mallia refused to do so, leaving Muscat with no option but to sack him the next day. Over 1,200 MEPA enforcements deleted (January 26) Over 1,200 MEPA enforcement or- ders were deleted from a computer server before the 2013 general elec- tions. MEPA is estimated to have lost hundreds of thousands of euros in the collection of enforcement-relat- ed fines. Farrugia Sacco saved from impeachment (January 29) Speaker Anglu Farrugia killed an impeachment motion against Judge Lino Farrugia Sacco presented by Lawrence Gonzi in 2012 on the grounds that the former Prime Min- ister was no longer an MP and that the motion hadn't been discussed be- fore parliament dissolved under the previous administration. A second impeachment motion was filed but Farrugia Sacco avoided it when he reached retirement age in August. Enemalta employees suspended over smart meter tampering (12 February) Three Enemalta employees were suspended after they were suspected of tampering 1,000 electricity smart meters. A highly sophisticated sys- tem installed in the smart meters enabled the meters to record less energy units than what was actually being consumed. Café Premier owners awarded €4.2 million 'bailout' (2 March) MaltaToday revealed that the gov- ernment had allowed the Lands De- partment to spend €4.2 million to buy back the 65-year lease for Café Premier, a closed-down cafeteria in Valletta. The café owners were fac- ing a crippling €2.6 million bank loan and the Lands Department had charged them in court over €200,000 in unpaid arrears. SEP purchases BWSC plant (11 March) Chinese state-owned company Shanghai Electric Power purchased the Delimara power station exten- sion – the BWSC plant – from Ene- malta for €220 million, a deal that in- cluded the conversion of the plant to gas. SEP also agreed to directly inject €100 million into Enemalta, easing its crippling debt problems. The deal was finalised this month, effectively giving SEP a 33% stake in Enemalta. Mosta cat killer arraigned (March 20) Enemalta engineer Nicholas Grech was arraigned in court for having crucified a number of cats and dogs in his hometown Mosta over a span of more than two years. Grech was later sent to Mount Carmel Hospital for an indefinite period. Conservation order for Ta' Hagrat temple (27 April) Joseph Muscat said that he was considering an emergency conser- vation order so as to revoke MEPA- sanctioned development of an apart- ment complex a few metres away from the Ta' Hagrat Neolithic temple in Mgarr, a UNESCO World Herit- age site. Biker boss stranded in Malta (16 June) Alex Vella, the Maltese president of the Rebels Motorcycles Club in Australia, found himself stranded in Malta after the Australian government cancelled his visa while he was holidaying on the island. The Australian govern- ment considers Vella's biker gang to be one of the country's highest criminal threats. Divers die in Gozo (17 June) A British couple and an Austrian man lost their lives in two separate scuba-diving incidents in Gozo. The British couple were diving in the vicinity of Dwejra, while the Austrian was div- ing in Xwejni, limits of Zebbug. Parties owe €2.5 million in water and energy bills (22 June) MaltaToday revealed that the Na- tionalist Party had unpaid water and electricity bills of €1.9 million while the Labour Party owed €600,000 to the Automated Revenue Manage- ment Service. ARMS had denied MaltaToday's Freedom of Informa- tion request to disclose information on the monies owed by the political parties to Enemalta and the Water Services Corporation. Abductee reveals brutal treatment at the hands of Libyan captors (31 July) Martin Galea, a former Armed Forces captain, claimed that Libyan militias had kept him in captivity for 10 days and that they had forced him to attack himself using a stick with rusty nails in it. However, a Libyan militia leader told MaltaToday that Galea was not abducted but that mi- litias had taken him in after fighting had broken out on the road he was travelling. Newspapers take joint stance against spring hunting (28 September) MaltaToday joined the Times of Malta and the Malta Independent in taking an unprecedented joint stance against spring hunting. The three independent newspapers pledged to support the holding of a referendum in 2015 to abolish the spring hunting season. Amnesty blames Malta and Italy for death of 200 migrants (30 September) Around 200 migrants presumed to have died in the 2013 Lampedusa shipwreck could have been saved had the Maltese and Italian authorities not dithered over rescue operations, Amnesty International claimed. The AFM twice turned down Mal- taToday's Freedom of Information requests for a detailed chronology of events on the day of the rescue mission. In December, the Informa- tion and Data Protection Commis- sioner upheld the army's refusal on the grounds that the information's disclosure could affect Malta's national security and its relations with Italy. LNG plant deadline delayed (12 October) The Prime Minister confirmed that the government would miss the original March 2015 deadline for the construction of a new gas power station in Delimara. Energy Minister Konrad Mizzi later said that the new gas power station, which would be built by the Electrogas consortium, would start delivering gas-generated electricity to homes by June 2016. Karmenu Vella approved as EU Commissioner (22 October) Karmenu Vella was officially ap- proved as the EU Commissioner for the environment, maritime affairs and fisheries. Green- peace EU had criticised Vel- la's performance during his grilling by MEPs, claiming that he did not fully understand the complexity of environmental issues. Air Malta registers €16.2 million loss (29 October) Audited figures showed that the national airline posted a €16.2 mil- lion loss for the year ending March 2014, compared to the €31 million loss for the year ending March 2013. It therefore failed to meet the origi- nal targets for a €15 million loss in 2013 and a profit in 2014. MaltaToday reveals miserly wages paid to foreigners (9 November) MaltaToday revealed that foreign workers are being made to work over 62 hours a week for a miserly hourly net wage of just over €3.60. Apart from working for longer hours with- out being paid overtime according to the law, some of these workers were threatened and warned not to report the matter. Kamara death inquiry report (10 December) Joseph Muscat published the re- port of a government inquiry into the 2012 death of Malian asylum seeker Mamadou Kamara while in the custody of Detention Services and AFM personnel. The report re- vealed that former Home Affairs Minister Carm Mifsud Bonnici had prevented former Detention Serv- ices head Col. Brian Gatt from taking disciplinary action against detention services officers involved in the death of another asylum seeker. The report also revealed that soldiers refused by the army were sent to work as detention service officers and that a sergeant had sexually preyed on mi- grant women.