Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/442526
WWW.MALTATODAY.COM.MT WEDNESDAY EDITION WEDNESDAY • 7 JANUARY 2015 • ISSUE 397 • PUBLISHED EVERY WEDNESDAY AND SUNDAY €1.00 Newspaper post Michael Zammit Tabona - PAGE 3 Human traffickers offer a trip for €5,500 Wealthier migrants targeted in Syria on social media Hibs president Anthony Bezzina says his club will not sign Evans JURGEN BALZAN THEY offer their nefarious services as glitzily as can be: Do you want to sail to Italy aboard a well-equipped ship offering all necessary comforts starting from €5,500? it may go. But it is not an advert for a cruise – it's how human traffickers are ad- vertising trips to Europe on the so- cial media. People traffickers, especially crimi- nal organisations in Turkey, are mak- ing use of old freighters and cargo vessels to transport large numbers of migrants to Europe, and crew-aban- doned ships carrying hundreds of Syrian asylum seekers have recently been intercepted by Italian authori- ties. The scenes were reminiscent of the exodus of Albanian asylum seekers who tried to reach Italy and Malta aboard ships in 1991, and indicative of the new methods being used by people smugglers. CONTINUES PAGE 3 CONTINUES PAGE 4 €1.6 million in payments to local councils not covered by fiscal receipts JAMES DEBONO PAYMENTS totalling €1.6 million paid to Malta's 68 local councils were not accompanied by a proper fiscal re- ceipt, according to a report issued by the Auditor General. The localit y accepting the highest number of payments not accompanied by a fiscal receipt was one of the small- est in the country – San Lawrenz in Gozo. According to the AG's report pay- ments to the San Lawrenz council not accompanied by a proper fiscal receipt amounted to €233,619. "The council tries to receive VAT receipts for all expenditure made; however, due to staff shortages, ur- gent matters often take priorit y," the council said in its reply to the audi- tor's report. The Kalkara council, which ac- cording to the report accepted pay- ments amounting to €135,256 which were not covered by a proper fiscal receipt, expressed surprise at the amount mentioned, claiming that fis- cal receipts were misplaced and not enough time was provided to look for the documents. Hibs say they have no intention of signing Ched Evans MATTHEW VELLA THE president of Hibernians FC, Anthony Bez- zina, has declared that the Paola club has no in- tention of signing convicted rapist Ched Evans, the former Sheffield United goal-scorer who has served two and a half years of a five-year prison sentence. Evans's agent last week had already denied the Malta move, after the news started making the rounds in Malta and the United Kingdom, even prompting a tweet from prime minister Joseph Muscat calling on Hibs to reconsider the deal. In a statement, Bezzina said that it was club sponsor VaughanBoxing.TV – owned by foot- ball and boxing impresario Stephen Vaughan in the UK – who approached team manager Jeffrey Farrugia with the possibility of signing Evans. "Hibs declares that it has no intention of en- gaging Mr Ched Evans," Bezzina said. "Under my presidency for the past 36 years, our club has always greatly valued the social aspect and impact on every decision taken, be it the engage- ment of football players and the daily running of the club. "The members and supporters of Hibernians FC and the general public can be assured that consideration of the social aspect and impact on decisions are of the highest values and shall always continue to be paramount and of utmost priority to our club," Bezzina said. The club president said that no club decision would be based solely on financial considera- tions or the quest for club honours. Evans, 26, was released from prison in October after serving half of a five-year sentence for rap- ing a 19-year-old woman in a hotel room back in 2011. Following his release, he maintained his inno- cence, saying the sex was consensual. The UK Ministry of Justice said that Evans, as a convicted sex of- fender who was on li- cence, was barred from working outside the UK. SEE MORE ON PAGES 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 The 10 most defaulting local councils: San Lawrenz €233,619 Kalkara €135,256 Msida €121,623 St Paul's Bay €92,543 Zebbug €87,134 Bormla €74,645 Valletta €71,092 Siggiewi €67,317 Sliema €64,786 Victoria €56,243 The Moldovan-fl agged Blue Sky M which was abandoned with 768 asylum seekers on board