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WWW.MALTATODAY.COM.MT WEDNESDAY EDITION WEDNESDAY • 10 JUNE 2015 • ISSUE 419 • PUBLISHED EVERY WEDNESDAY AND SUNDAY €1.00 EDITORIAL PAGE 10 Newspaper post CONTINUES ON PAGE 8 PN to fight centralisation of local wardens' system MIRIAM DALLI THE Nationalist Party is de- manding the repeal of new rules that will centralise the local en- forcement system and the way wardens are deployed across lo- calities. Opposition whip David Agius yesterday presented a motion calling for the repeal of legal no- tice 153, setting up a new cen- tralised agency, together with PN deputy leader Mario de Marco and shadow justice minister Ja- son Azzopardi. The PN said that the rules allow the appointment of the agency's chairperson without any prior consultation and the former act- ing police commissioner Ray Zammit had been appointed to the role. "This legal notice was tabled without any consultation and re- duces the subsidiarity that should be enjoyed by local councils. In- stead of giving more powers to the local councils and the people, the power is being placed in the hands of a government agency," Agius said. Speaking yesterday evening, parliamentary secretary for local government Stefan Buontempo insisted that the setting up of the agency for the local enforcement system would eradicate a system by which wardens were forced to meet a quota of three tickets per hour, "at all costs". Buontempo insisted that the agency would buy the services of local enforcement from a private company at a fixed price. "The agency will serve as the regulator and result in an eradi- cation of a system by which local wardens, instead of enforcing the law, were pressured to meet a daily quota at all costs, upon which their wage depended. This is leading to practices which is far from transparent," Buontem- po said. The junior minister recounted an experience reported by the mother of a disabled child who was fined by a warden despite efforts by the mother to explain that she had simply needed to stop for a two-minute errand. Buontempo said that the new system will ensure that wardens issue fines solely on regula- tion breaches. "The reform will change wardens from Gestapo officers hiding behind trees to friends of our communities." A customer care office will be set up within the agency while local wardens will receive conti- nous training. Upon taking office, Buontempo said he found a €22 million defi- cit which has been reduced by €1 million in a year. Internationally recognised Libyan parliament rejects UN plan SEE BACKPAGE Government confirms internal inquiry into Gaffarena expropriation will be published MIRIAM DALLI AN investigation by the Internal Audit and Investigations Depart- ment into the Gaffarena expro- priation deal will be made public, the government has confirmed. "It is evident that the govern- ment will publish the inquiry," the Office of the Prime Minister said in a statement, reacting to accusations by the Opposition that an IAID inquiry was ordered "because such reports are not published". In the expropriation, the gov- ernment paid Mark Gaffarena €1.65 million compensation in cash and land for half-ownership of a Valletta building from which the Building Industry Consulta- tive Council operates. The Nationalist Party said that Prime Minister Joseph Muscat was with his back to the wall and, "in a panicked reaction", ordered an IAID investigation. Describing the IAID as "a Cas- tille department", the Opposition said there was a basic difference between the National Audit Of- fice and the IAID. CONTINUES ON PAGE3 Parliamentary secretary Stefan Buontempo said the reform will change wardens from Gestapo officers to friends of the community