Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/534048
Newspaper post YOUR FIRST READ AND FIRST CLICK OF THE DAY WWW.MALTATODAY.COM.MT maltatoday SUNDAY • 28 JUNE 2015 • ISSUE 816 • PUBLISHED EVERY WEDNESDAY AND SUNDAY Lands dished out €400,000 compensation for €60,000 land in 2011 CHRIS MINTOFF INTERVIEW PAGES 14-15 'Unfamiliarity breeds contempt' 16-17 A thread of emails published today sheds light on the political interfer- ence inside the Lands Department – this time on a €60,000 country- side passage in Mtahleb that was expropriated back in 1974, but which returned €400,000 in com- pensation to its original in 2011. The Mtahleb land was expropri- ated for road formation in 1974 – Dom Mintoff 's first legislature after his 1971 electoral win – and for which compensation was paid just four years ago, after much arm- twisting, the emails suggest. The land in question belonged to entrepreneur Emanuel Per- esso, CEO of the Michele Peresso Group of Companies, who received €400,000 cash even though Lands DG Albert Mamo estimated it at just €60,000. 'High-rise puts more pressure on architects to come up with good designs' PAGE 4 Muscat meets Swedish PM over Mater Dei concrete Government seeks to avoid 'years of litigation' over Skanska's liability on Mater Dei concrete THE government is seeking "to avoid years of litigation" and reach a settlement with Swedish con- tractors Skanska over the state of concrete foundations laid back in the mid-1990s at Mater Dei Hospi- tal, MaltaToday has learnt. Skanska, described on its web- site as "a world leading project development and construction group", were the contractors for the design-and-build project for Mater Dei Hospital where, it has now been established, the concrete used was far below the quality needed for such a building. Taking talks to a politi- cal level with Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Löfvén, Prime Minister Joseph Mus- cat has said he wants Skanska to cover a €30 million bill for the repair works that are needed to bring Mater Dei Hospital up to par. Meeting on the fringes of the European Union summit in Brussels, the Maltese govern- ment delivered the message that "it would not budge" from seeking to protect its interests but that it was ready to negoti- ate a deal with Skanska with- out taking the last resort of going to court. It is understood that a meet- ing requested by Health Min- ister Konrad Mizzi with the Swedish contractors has not yet taken place. During the Brussels meeting that took place on Friday morning, Löfvén was briefed on the struc- tural investigations that revealed substantial and serious problems with the construction of the hos- pital and the suspected fraudulent activity sur- rounding the quality of concrete. PAGE 9 PAGE 8 Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Löfvén €1.40 'Unfamiliarity breeds contempt' YOUR FIRST READ AND FIRST CLICK OF THE DAY WWW.MALTATODAY.COM.MT maltatoday PAGE 4 YOUR FIRST READ AND FIRST CLICK OF THE DAY malta OF THEM ALL? OF THEM ALL? Who's the OF THEM ALL? OF THEM ALL? Who's the RICHEST malta YOUR FIRST READ AND FIRST CLICK OF THE DAY malta PAGE 4 PAGE 4 PAGE 4 OF THEM ALL? OF THEM ALL? RICHEST MINISTER Financing MOAS's life-saving mission Is privatised search and rescue for governments and shipping companies the way to sustain the life-savers' Mediterranean operation? PAGE 7 PHOTOGRAPHY MOAS/DARRIN ZAMMIT LUPI MALTATODAY SURVEY shows lack of education and human contact increases hostility to immigration among sections of Maltese