Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/446030
maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 14 JANUARY 2015 2 MEPA is set to approve the addition of an extra fifth floor on the ODZ Riviera hotel, which over the past decades has grown from the 61 rooms approved in the 1990s to the 242 rooms of today. With the proposed extension the hotel will further grow to 293 rooms. The new plans also pave the way for the development of a new car park, the closing of the road in front of the hotel and the widening of an existing road east of it. Vehicles will no longer be allowed to pass in front of the hotel and remov- able bollards will be set on both sides of the road to create a pedestrianised area in front of the hotel. It is also being proposed that the road running along the eastern bound- ary of the hotel will be widened and turned into a two-lane road, which will provide access to the hotel's semi basement parking and the relocated loading bay. An illegal car park located south west of the hotel will be effectively legalised and landscaped through the application, providing space for 63 cars. Both the Environment Protection Directorate and the Planning Direc- torate had initially objected to the new car park and to the addition of another floor. But subsequently the latter approved the plans in view of the extensive terracing used. The Planning Directorate welcomed the pedestrianisation of the road in front of the hotel as this will remove the eyesore of cars that currently park there, while approving the widen- ing of an existing road on the eastern border of the hotel to provide public access to the beach, slipway and farm- ers' rooms. Despite the new car park the project will create a shortfall of 28 parking spaces in the area. The hotel, originally built as a small 16 room hotel in the 1960s, was the centre of a planning controversy in the late 1990s and the early 2000s. Developer Charles Polidano first applied for an extension of the pre- existing Solemar hotel in 1997, but despite a negative recommendation by the Planning Directorate, the ex- tension was approved. In 1998, Polid- ano applied for another extension, but the application was refused in 2000. Despite the refusal, the expansion was still carried out illegally. In 2001, MEPA was asked to sanction the ex- tension retroactively. The case caused wide embarrass- ment within MEPA itself, creating a strong rift between the board and its planning experts. While the Plan- ning Directorate had urged a refusal, arguing that the development was in- compatible with the rural and coastal characteristics of the area and also ran counter to the Structure Plan, the MEPA board proceeded to legalise the development after imposing a Lm200,000 (€460,000) fine on Polid- ano. News One more storey for Riviera hotel Planning Directorate recommends one more storey above ODZ hotel Existing hotel compared to (right) visual impact of proposed new storey D i r e c t o r G e n e r a l ETC Permit 196/2014 About Us The Malta Statistics Authority (MSA) is the regulatory body established under the Malta Statistics Authority Act XXIV of 2000, and is currently seeking to fill the vacant post of Director General at the National Statistics Office (NSO). The position of Director General is the most senior position in the NSO and will attract an appropriate financial package. Job Purpose The Director General will report to the Malta Statistics Authority Board and is responsible for the management of the NSO, as specified in the Malta Statistics Authority Act of 2000. The NSO is responsible for the provision, on an impartial basis, of quantitative and representative information about the economic, demographic, social and environmental situation in Malta. 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The Malta Statistics Act together with a detailed job description, are posted on the MSA website: www.msa.gov.mt MSA Malta Statistics Authority Awtorità tal-Istatistika ta' Malta VAT director called to present proof on Caruana Galizia's €101,000 tax bill THE Malta Independent column- ist Daphne Caruana Galizia has successfully petitioned the courts to have the onus of proving a tax assessment on unpaid VAT, on the director-general for Value Added Tax. Caruana Galizia has been called on by the VAT department to pay €101,194 in outstanding Value Add- ed Tax, after a tax audit on her earn- ings from 2004 to 2012 produced an estimate of €562,191 in undeclared sales from the production of maga- zines for Standard Publications, among other sources of revenue. According to court documents, the columnist is facing tax assess- ments on both income and VAT declarations. She has now challenged the tax as- sessment in court. In a decree handed down yester- day, the court said that Caruana Galizia was facing a very severe pen- alty on the tax assessment, serving as "both deterrent and punitive" and that she therefore was entitled to en- joy the presumption of innocence in the case. A bank deposits test exhibited in court by the VAT department reg- istered a total of €1,013,883 in de- posits into Caruana Galizia's bank accounts over the past decade, of which €320,000 was drawn up as an estimate by the tax audits section for the years 2004-2007. The VAT department has estimat- ed that the excess deposits exclud- ing VAT amount to €562,191 and is calling on the columnist to pay 18% on the sum. The VAT assessment found 13 tax declarations submitted between 1999 and 2013, that had miss- ing earnings. In 2007, the depart- ment threatened Caruana Galizia with criminal action, and in 2012, it called on the Tax Compliance Unit to draw an assessment. On 14 March, 2014, the TCU informed her of the estimate for her unpaid VAT and a review was then carried out in April. The TCU's tax audits section drew up a schedule of revenues from what it said was "undeclared employment income" between 2003 and 2004, Taste Cooking School, and bank de- posits between 2008-2013. Under her contract with Standard Publications, Caruana Galizia – who has traded as Proximus Publishing – paid the publishers of the Malta In- dependent half the net proceeds of advertising revenue for Taste&Flair Magazine, less printing costs. Caruana Galizia has contested the estimates, saying they were not drawn up "properly, reasonably or fairly" and that they are based on "an incorrect appreciation of the facts". She has argued that not all depos- its constitute income, but include money from her husband to pay household bills; transfers from over- seas organisers; libel damages; sale of unwanted furniture; gifts; and also return of monies owed to her by family members. She said that she uses one cur- rent account for both personal and work-related transactions – includ- ing revenue for the production of Taste&Flair magazine for the Malta Independent, as well as payment for her newspaper columns; and for costs incurred in the production of the magazine.