Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/444527
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 11 JANUARY 2015 3 News WWW.MALTATODAY.COM.MT WEDNESDAY EDITION WEDNESDAYt+"/6"3:t*446&t16#-*4)&%&7&3:8&%/&4%":"/%46/%": €1.00 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-flagged Blue Sky M which was abandoned with 768 asylum seekers on board When Wednesday feels like Sunday Muscat sets 11 April date for spring hunting referendum JURGEN BALZAN MIRIAM DALLI AN abrogative referendum on spring hunting is to be held on 11 April, just before the opening of the scheduled spring hunting season for this year, simultaneously with the local coun- cil elections in parts of Malta. But while the question of setting a date has now been settled, the issue remains as to the question that the electorate will be presented with in the referendum, in view of the con- flicting English and Maltese texts of the question submitted by the Coali- tion Against Spring Hunting (CASH) for the petition that was signed by over 40,000 people. The Constitutional Court's ruling is based on the Maltese version that asks whether "the following provi- sion of the law, that is to say Frame- work for Allowing a Derogation Opening a Spring Hunting Season for Turtledove and Quail Regula- tions should remain in place". The English version asks whether "the following provision of the law, that is to say Framework for Allow- ing a Derogation Opening a Spring Hunting Season for Turtledove and Quail Regulations should not con- tinue in force". Addressing a news conference at Auberge de Castille, Prime Minis- ter Joseph Muscat said a legal proc- ess was underway to determine the question. Pointing out that CASH activists were photographed holding 'Yes' signs, he said that the question in Maltese implies that a 'No' an- swer should be given if one is against spring hunting. "The question to be put at the ref- erendum will be derived from the petition," he said. In his address, Muscat pre-empted questions by journalists and reiterat- ed his pre-electoral pledge to main- tain the spring hunting season and the Maltese government's "right" to derogate from the Birds Directive. Muscat said his position was clear: "I will be voting to retain the right for the Maltese government to derogate and open spring hunt- ing. This forms part of our electoral mandate. Everyone is in the liberty to decide what they want, even in my parliamentary group, and I will be respecting the people's choice. I will not sit on the fence: my posi- tion is already well known. The lead should be taken by the civil society and not by the political parties." Asked whether he was already influencing the electorate with his statement, Muscat said he was be- ing consistent with his position. "It is my right as a citizen to state my position. I won't sit on the fence. It is my role as prime minister to see the effect of this petition translates into a referendum. It is my first duty to see democracy working in its to- tality." The Nationalist Party, which has yet to discuss the issue internally, accused Muscat of picking a date which suited his political expedi- ence rather than allowing the Presi- dent to choose a date as dictated by law. "The people should be allowed to take a decision freely without hav- ing the issue politicised more than it already is," the PN said. Muscat defended his shrewd deci- sion to hold a referendum just be- fore the scheduled opening of the spring hunting season, by saying that the country was showing signs of electoral fatigue. "The other two options were that we could have held the referendum after the hunting season – June or July – but that would have resulted in some six months of campaigning and we can't afford half a year lost in elections. "The other option would have been in the middle of the hunting season, a choice which would not have been fortunate for either side." Muscat said he hoped for a tran- quil debate and while admitting his position "may not be a popular one", he wanted to act according to his beliefs. He also said that his MPs will be allowed to express them- selves freely during the campaign. "If the referendum passes, and spring hunting is abolished, the spring hunting season will not open," Muscat said. A week of the campaign will coin- cide with Easter week and Muscat urged the parties not to hold any campaigns during that week. "I hope that interested parties also take the common sense stand when it comes to campaigning during Easter week," he said. Muscat said the debate should be dominated by the protagonists but as leader of the government he should be in a position to express himself. He also said that the campaign should be led by the movements representing hunters and conserva- tionists. Hunters claim referendum is 'undemocratic' In its first reaction since the Con- stitutional Court green lit the ab- rogative referendum against spring hunting, the hunters' federation FKNK claimed the referendum was "undemocratic" and one which at- tacked "minority groups". "The Maltese people, all of whom form part of a minority group or other within the Maltese society, should be warned that following the hunter, it will be their turn," FKNK claimed. FKNK said it would confront this "challenge in order to protect the legal rights, the interests and the privileges, not just of its members, but also those of all the Maltese and Gozitans who believe that democ- racy means, that while it is the ma- jority that governs, such governance should, however, be made with full respect towards minorities." FKNK expressed its disappoint- ment over the actions of the MPs – with the exception of hunting enthusiast junior minister Michael Falzon – who did not feel "the ne- cessity to consider the petition of over 104,000 signatures" of Maltese citizens, that the FKNK submitted to the same parliamentarians in op- position to the principle of the said referendum. It also argued that the result of the referendum can only abrogate the Framework Legal Notice that was enacted to facilitate the enactment of a further Legal Notice that has to be enacted each time that derogation is applied to permit spring hunting. "Thus, whatever the result of the referendum, no one can take away the right that the State of Malta and any Maltese Government enjoys as a Member State of the European Un- ion, that whenever it wants, it can apply derogation to permit spring hunting, the same right enjoyed by all other EU Member States." What is an abrogative referendum? An abrogative referendum im- plies that a law should be removed from the statute books, so the legal process gets underway to define the question for the referendum. The referendum will place power in the hands of the Maltese elec- torate to express themselves on an important national issue that the CASH has claimed will put an end to the concessions and backroom deals made between politicians and the hunting lobby at the cost of migra- tory birds. Malta's derogation of the Birds' Di- rective has been applied since 2010, and has allowed the country's hunt- ers the possibility of a limited spring hunting season for turtle dove and quail. A total of 41,194 signatures in favour of a referendum were collect- ed – easily surpassing the Electoral Commission's threshold of 33,418 votes. After verifying the signatures, the Electoral Commission passed them on the Constitutional Court, requesting a referendum. MTA inquiry into leaked plan to cut 30% of UK marketing budget THE Malta Tourism Authority has drawn up an astonishing plan to cut 20%-30% of its marketing budget for its promotion in the UK, Malta's main tourism market. The proposal, leaked to a UK tourist agency, is likely to lead to a 'verbal' backlash in some quarters against the MTA, whose first reac- tion was to launch an internal in- vestigation on how the confidential proposal was leaked to third par- ties. For one, hotelier Michael Zammit Tabona did not mince his words. "This is marketing madness. We have 10 more flights to the UK a week. This will lead to a direct hit at our core market," he told Malta- Today. Known for his vociferous stand on core tourism, a market he jealously covets for the business it brings to his Fortina Hotel in Sliema, Zammit Tabona has already made his views known to the tourism authority of- ficials. "I told the MTA that with Jet 2 starting with 10 flights a week, we need to keep Air Malta, British Air- ways, Ryanair, Easy Jet, Thompson and Thomas Cook all flying." Zammit Tabona is a believer in advertising, spending thousands every week from his own resources in British tabloids. "This is madness," he repeated. "With the difference in the euro and sterling, and costs being 5% higher, airlines will be struggling to have that magical occupancy rate of 89 to 92 per cent. We should aim for two million arrivals in three years' time and this will only come from these markets," he said. Once again he hit out at the mil- lion-euro funding for the Joseph Calleja concert and the Isle of MTV concert that the tourism ministry forks out. "The €1.4 million vote should come from the culture fund, not from the MTA's budget. They do nothing for tourism. "Malta's tourism in the year 2000 was stagnant, and tourism only started to improve when the coun- try took two very important deci- sions after a two-year battle with the government of the day. The first was to allow low-fares airlines to operate and the second was to to- tally change our marketing policy. "These decisions increased tour- ism from a stagnant 1 million for many years to nearly 1.7 million in just seven years. Our competitors are Mediterranean destinations – Greece, Turkey, Egypt, Tunisia, Cy- prus, Spain, Italy, France and many more. They are all geared towards mass tourism." Hotelier Michael Zammit Tabona said: "This is marketing madness, we have ten more flights to the UK a week" Every Wednesday at all stationers