Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/573382
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 20 SEPTEMBER 2015 8 News JAMES DEBONO A planning application has been presented in an agricultural area in Kercem – in between the areas known as L-Awejna, Ta' Xellul and ta' Wied il-Mans – outside devel- opment boundaries. The Kercem local council is ob- jecting because of the security con- cerns raised by farmers. But developer Sammy Spiteri insists his proposal is in line with the newly approved policy on fire- works. "There is nothing in the law saying that you cannot build a fac- tory in the vicinity of farmers tilling the land," Spiteri told MaltaToday. Spiteri – a former deputy mayor of the locality unattached to any es- tablished fireworks organisation – claims he spent the past four years trying to find an ideal place for a fireworks factory. He referred to another fireworks factory in the same area of Kercem, approved around 20 years ago as justification for his project. "I have heeded the advice of experts in the field and all I expect is that my pro- posal is assessed according to plan- ning policies, which do not forbid factories in agricultural areas as long as safety and planning regula- tions are respected," Spiteri said. But Kercem mayor Joe Grima is unfazed, citing the "unanimous consensus" in the council against the proposed factory, which was discussed at a council meeting in November after farmers tilling land in the area informed the council. The council decided to support the farmers. When asked about the factory that already exists in Kercem, Gri- ma pointed out that farmers had stopped tilling land in the immedi- ate vicinity of this factory and fears the same will happen with the new one. "If a mistake was committed 20 years ago, it makes no sense to commit another one." The new MEPA policy rules out fireworks factories in ODZ areas only in Areas of Ecological Impor- tance and on archeological sites. Development is not barred on good quality agricultural land, sites des- ignated as protected within a local plan, or buffer zones close to a Wa- ter Services Corporation potable borehole. These are decided upon on a case-by-case basis. While in Malta there are pres- ently 34 fireworks factories, only one is located in Gozo where there are over 200 licensed fireworks em- ployees. Public opinion in Gozo is still shaken by an accident which took place in Gharb on September 5, 2012, killing six people. In 2004 a barrel of gunpowder exploded at the present Kercem fireworks fac- tory, damaging a room. No one was hurt in the incident, but luck may have played a part – the police said the factory's licensee and other people were at the site, but not near the room in question. MATTHEW VELLA AFRICA'S richest woman, Isabel dos Santos, has acquired a 65% stake in Portugal's Efacec Pow- er Solutions in a deal worth over €194 million. Santos, 42, made the ac- quisition of the Portuguese company through Winter- fell Industries, a company based in Malta – where many of her other busi- ness interests are housed, 5,000km away from her home country, Angola. Valued at $3 billion by Forbes, African 'princess' dos Santos is a major force in industries such as diamonds, banking and telecom- munications, usually with stakes in her own country's state corpora- tions. Like her father José Eduardo dos Santos, who has ruled Angola for 35 years, she often stands accused of enriching the dos Santos dynasty at the expense of the nation. According to Portuguese busi- ness newspaper Económico, it was José Eduardo dos Santos who only last August signed a state order ap- proving that Angolan state energy company ENDE acquires 40% of Winterfell Industries. The other 60% owner of Winter- fell is Isabel dos Santos's own com- pany, Niara Holding. That makes the state of Angola a 26% owner of Efacec, through the acquisition of the Angolan dicta- tor's daughter's Malta firm. Efacec Power Solutions manufactures power transformers, mobile sub- stations, and distribution trans- formers. It also provides services in the engineering sector and has an annual turnover of more than $500 million. The other directors of Winterfell are Noel Buttigieg Scicluna, the former Nationalist MP who is also a director on several other Santos firms, such as Victoria Holding. Victoria Holding is owned jointly by Angola's state diamond market- ing company Sodiam, and husband Sindika Dokolu. In 2012 it acquired Swiss jeweller De Grisogono. One of De Grisogono's admin- istrators, Vasco Pires Rites, is a director of Espacos Media Group Limited, which also forms part of the dos Santos media empire and has related companies based in Malta. New fireworks factory proposed in Kercem African billionaire's Malta firm acquires €200 million stake in Portuguese utility Isabel dos Santos (centre) with husband Sindika Dokolu (right) and De Grisogono founder Fouaz Gruosi Kercem council is objecting because of farmers' security concerns Dictator: Angola's president José Eduardo dos Santos decreed that the state utility take a 40% stake in his daughter's Malta firm, to acquire Efacec