Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/467065
Events 29 maltatoday, Sunday, 22 February 2015 Works at Gozo Waste Transfer and Material Recovery Facility on track for end-of-year opening FCM celebrates Valentine's Day FCM Bank celebrated Valentine's Day by presenting bouquets to the clients that visited them on Friday 13 February. This included Mar- ia-Stella Urpani (left) and Carol Walsh, who are pictured here with the Bank's Customer Relationship Manager Fabio Zuccaro. FCM Bank is proud to support Hospice Malta, who kindly provided the bouquets. Emirates, a global connector of people, places and economies, has reached the top 200 of the world's biggest brands for the first time, ac- cording to the 2015 Brand Finance Global 500 report released this week. For the fourth consecutive year, Emirates has steadily climbed the table of the Top 500 most valuable brands in the world. Now sitting at #196, an increase of 38 spots in just 12 months, the airline attributes its success to a strong commitment to product and service excellence, as well as investments in its brand. Emirates' estimated brand value has grown more than 21% from US $5.48 billion to US $6.6 billion. The airline also retains its long standing position as the most valuable brand in the Middle East, and the most valuable airline brand. "Emirates is a global company serving a global audience, and as we grow our business we have to also grow our brand. Our brand strategy does not only involve marketing and sponsorships, but everything we do including product innovation and service delivery. For us, our custom- ers are the ultimate judges and jury. "Being named the most valuable airline brand in the world is great recognition for each and every one of our staff, as they are the ones who live, breathe and deliver the Emir- ates brand every day in the work they do. "The strength of the Emirates brand also underscores the positive impact that we are making on our industry, and we will continue to work hard and invest in our brand. Our aim is to become one of the world's leading lifestyle brands, and to make the Emirates name synony- mous with aspirational travel and experiences," said Sir Tim Clark, President Emirates Airline. Brand Finance CEO David Haigh comments, "Emirates remains the flag carrier brand for the entire Middle East. Its $6.6 billion brand value makes it both the region's most valuable brand and the world's most valuable airline. Its extensive sports sponsorship and global route network make it recognised the world over. However it is Emirates' exceptional service and reliability that truly underpin the brand." In 2014, Emirates marked a record launch of 10 new A380 routes, bringing the network to over 145 destinations, from Guangzhou to Buenos Aires, and spanning six con- tinents. In addition, Emirates added frequencies to 20 existing destina- tions, increasing flight choices for its customers. In 2015, the airline operates, on average, 3,500 flights per week in- creasing the number of city-pair combinations that the airline offers to its leisure, business and cargo cus- tomers across its global network. To service all of these flight offerings, the fleet also grew substantially to over 230 aircraft, with receipt of the company's largest order of Airbus A380s and Boeing 777-300ERs to date, in 2013 and 2014. While investment in progressive technology is paramount to the suc- cess of any brand in such a competi- tive global environment, Emirates believes the customer journey plays a significant role. In line with the "Hello Tomorrow" brand platform, Emirates creates opportunities that connect people and cultures through relevant and meaningful experiences through its portfolio of sponsorship partnerships, which in turn contributes to positive brand association, awareness and affinity. Emirates operates daily scheduled flights between Malta and Dubai via Larnaca, Cyprus. From its interna- tional hub in Dubai, Emirates offers passengers from Malta very con- venient connection times to several destinations in the Far East, Aus- tralasia, Africa and America. "Construction works at the Gozo Waste Transfer and Material Re- covery Facility at Tal-Kus near Xewkija are moving along swiftly for the opening of the facility by the end of 2015. Once completed, the facility will sort and store haz- ardous and non-hazardous waste before it gets transferred to Malta. "The Gozo Waste Transfer and Material Recovery Facility will mainly comprise of a controlled facility for the receipt, sorting, processing, temporary storage and even the transfer of waste originat- ing from Gozo and Comino." The minister for sustainable de- velopment, the environment and climate change Leo Brincat an- nounced this during a visit to the Tal-Kus Transfer Station in Gozo on 18 February 2015. The minister accompanied the minister for Gozo, Anton Refalo, WasteServ's Chair- man, David Borg and Chief Execu- tive Officer, Tonio Montebello. Minister for Gozo Anton Refalo expounded on the significance of this project for Gozo and explained how waste will be packaged un- derground and sent to Malta in the most environmentally friendly manner. "Around €10 million have been allocated for this EU co-financed project which will adopt sustain- able practices and decrease the transportation of waste between Malta and Gozo, thereby also re- ducing costs," Refalo added. Whilst thanking the Ministers for their continuous support to ensure the project's ongoing progress and success, Borg, WasteServ's Chair- man, explained that the Material Recovery Facility within the trans- fer station will offer the necessary pre-treatment for dry recyclables, mainly from bring-in-sites, to be sorted and baled prior to further treatment. While the Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) will be efficiently com- pacted in hermetically sealed con- tainers and transferred to Malta for further treatment, bulky waste will be shredded where possible, com- pacted or baled and transferred to Malta. The vehicles used to trans- fer the waste will be optimised for greater capacity, hence improving the efficiency and reducing the op- erating costs associated with this operation. Jean Luke Zarb, Chief Projects Manager WasteServ elaborated on the project and pointed out that, "The dry recyclables will be sorted into three sections: plastics, paper and cardboard, and metals. These will be sorted using a semi-auto- mated mechanical process. The facility will set up the necessary in- frastructure for sorting the materi- al and increasing its density. Waste fractions intended for further treat- ment in Malta will be delivered directly to the respective destina- tion, without having the need to be transported to St Antnin Waste The Klezmorimalta Foundation, with the support of the Malta Arts Fund, the Malta Society of Arts and the Arts Council Malta, is very proud to present the country's first- ever workshop in Klezmer music, conducted by the London-based fiddler Chris Haigh and the lead of the Yxalag Klezmer Band, Jakob Lakner. 'A Workshop in Klezmer Music', which will run between Monday 20 and Saturday 25 April 2015, aims to introduce one of the old- est genres of music in the world to Maltese musicians, music students and music teachers, and will have practical sessions for all kinds of different instruments, focusing on the intricate musical scales used in the genre. The workshop is being organised by the Klezmorimalta Foundation, a recently-established NGO whose aim is to preserve millennia-old methods of creating music as well as forging new links between Maltese and foreign artists. The workshops will be free to all musical profes- sionals who manage to snatch one of the very limited spaces available. "Since its inception, the Klez- morimalta Foundation's role has been to safeguard the traditional ways of making music and the in- struments and practices required to create it," says Birgit Albreht, one of the Foundation's founders. "We're incredibly happy that, through the help of various entities, we were able to make these work- shops absolutely free, thus enabling musicians who would like to get a hands-on approach to acoustic mu- sic a chance to do so with two huge names in Klezmer," she adds. 'A Workshop in Klezmer Music' will be conducted by fiddler Chris Haigh, who has worked with the likes of Morcheeba, Alison Moyet and Riverdance, and who has ap- peared in the BBC's Timeshift documentary 'Klezmer'. He will be joined by Jakob Lakner, who has performed with his band, the Yxalag Klezmer Band, all over the world, including at Pjazza Teatru Rjal just last August at the highly- acclaimed Klezmorimalta Nights. Anyone who wishes to join the workshops, which will be held at the Malta Society of Arts' building in Valletta, is kindly requested to send a short description of their back- ground in music and why they would like to join, to klezmorimalta@out- look.com. Klezmorimalta to host workshop in Klezmer music Emirates sees brand value grow for 4th consecutive year to US$6.6 billion WasteServ representatives with Ministers Brincat and Refalo during the visit Chris Haigh