Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/620988
6 maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 30 DECEMBER 2015 News 6 Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulations e Malta Environment and Planning Authority hereby reminds all producers of packaging or packaging material to apply for registration between 1 st January and 31 st March 2016 this pursuant to the Waste Management (Packaging and Packaging Waste) Regulations (SL 504.72). e electronic or manual registration forms can be downloaded from the dedicated Packaging and Packaging Waste Page on MEPA's website: www.mepa.org.mt/waste-pack Applications aer the 31 st March 2016 will not be accepted. Failure to abide by this date will result in non-compliance. Should you require assistance in completing your registration form you may contact us on 2290 7240 or by email: packaging@mepa.org.mt www.mepa.org.mt Maltco loses bid to stop gaming authority from issuing similar licences Lottery operator had filed case against the regulator, arguing that it held an exclusive, 10-year licence to operate the national lottery and other gambling activities MATTHEW AGIUS AN attempt by Maltco Lotteries to stop the Malta Gaming Au- thority from allowing other bet- ting shops to offer similar games was thwarted earlier this month, after the courts held that the lo- cal lottery supplier had failed to prove that it held an exclusive licence. The local gambling operator had filed the case against the regulator back in November, when it had argued that it held an exclusive, 10-year licence to operate the national lottery and other such activities, euphe- mistically termed as "additional games," granted by the author- ity in 2012. The court granted a temporary injunction until the matter could be conclusively de- cided. The company expressed con- cern at the fact that a number of betting shops had opened since June 2015 and had been offer- ing similar games. It accused the regulator of creating uncertainty in the market, due to the pres- ence of new operators working under different legal regimes. The authority however, pointed out that according to law, it was entitled to issue other licences under the Lotteries and Other Games Act. In his judgement on the matter, Mr Justice Silvio Meli noted that warrants of prohibitory injunc- tions required the existence of a right, protected by law, which would suffer prejudice should the injunction not be issued. It was up to the party requesting the injunction to provide prima facie evidence that it actually held this right. The court had not been re- quested to examine the rights of the complaining party, but only to objectively confirm whether this right existed, he said. It noted that the authority had indeed breached the conces- sion agreement to Maltco, how- ever it also pointed out that the agreement also bound Maltco to submit to any subsequent changes in the licensing regime introduced by the government or the authority. Those changes included a disposition regulat- ing "licences conceded to third party competitors". The court found for the MGA, ruling that there was no evi- dence supporting Maltco's claim of exclusivity or that the author- ity had bound itself not to issue licences for additional games. Prof. Ian Refalo, Dr Stefan Frendo and Dr Antoine Cre- mona appeared on behalf of Maltco, while lawyers Cece Vella and Karl Briffa represented the Malta Gaming Authority. 2.8% rise in employment in third quarter 2015 MATTHEW VELLA DURING the third quarter of 2015, Labour Force Survey esti- mates indicate an increase of 2.8 per cent in employment when compared to the corresponding quarter of 2014. Labour Force Survey estimates indicate that, during the third quarter, total employment stood at 189,565, accounting for more than half the population aged 15 and over. Unemployed persons stood at 10,485 (2.9 per cent) while in- active persons totalled 160,978 (44.6 per cent). The activity rate for the quarter under review was estimated at 68.9 per cent. The highest activ- ity rate was recorded among per- sons aged 25-54 (81.9 per cent). When compared to the previous year, the total activity rate in- creased by 1.4 percentage points. The employed population On average, out of every 100 persons aged 15 to 64, 65 were employed. The highest employ- ment rate was recorded among persons aged between 25 and 54 and stood at 78.7 per cent. The male employment rate for this age bracket was 92.2 per cent while that for females stood at 64.4 per cent. Employed men were mostly engaged in the wholesale and retail trade, transportation and storage, accommodation and food service activities (29.4 per cent). On the other hand, at 40.8 per cent, employed women were mostly engaged in public admin- istration, defence, education, human health and social work activities. Self-employed persons ac- counted for 13.7 per cent of the total employed population. The majority of employed persons worked on a full-time basis and totalled 158,761. An estimated 24,756 (13.1 per cent) had a part-time job as their primary employment. A further 6,048 were working full-time on a reduced hours basis. The average annual basic sal- ary of employees for the third quarter of 2015 was estimated at €16,634. This amount refers to the annual basic salary and excludes extra payments such as overtime, bonuses and allow- ances, as explained in the meth- odological notes. The highest average annual basic salary for employees was recorded in the information and communication sector. Aver- age annual salaries varied from €29,576 among managers to €10,840 among persons engaged in elementary occupations. The unemployed population Survey results estimate that the unemployment rate for the third quarter of 2015 stood at 5.3 per cent. The largest share of unem- ployed persons was recorded among persons aged 25 and over. Among the unemployed, 45.3 per cent stated that they had been seeking work for at least 12 months. PN welcomes Malta's participation in European food aid programme SHADOW European affairs spokesperson Roberta Metsola and shadow social policy minister Paula Mifsud Bonnici have wel- comed the news that Malta will again participate in the EU's 'Eu- ropean Aid to the Most Deprived' (FEAD) scheme. "The scheme seeks to help the thousands of Maltese citizens on the breadline who had been wait- ing for this for some time," a state- ment said. "With the increased levels of poverty in Malta and Gozo, it is welcome that such a programme that will see the distribution of material assistance, such as food, will again be applied in Malta." The statement goes on to explain that for the 2014-2020 period, Malta has been allocated close to €4,000,000 for the programme and it is imperative that those in need are able to access this assist- ance. "The last programme using EU funds was operational under a PN-led administration and was forced to come to a halt in Febru- ary – 11 months ago," they said, adding that the Maltese FEAD programme, approved on 11 De- cember 2014, was delayed due to technical problems encountered during the tender for the provi- sion, packaging and delivery of food and the call for partner or- ganisations, as none of the bids fulfilled the eligibility criteria. A new procedure then had to be re-launched on 11 June, 2015 and the government had then prom- ised that the aid would begin to be distributed by September, only to be delayed again," the PN spokes- persons said, adding that this showed that the Labour govern- ment is strong with the weak and weak with the strong. The PN further expressed its hopes that given the nature of the FEAD intervention aiming at the most deprived EU citizens, the de- lays in the implementation of the Fund would not be repeated, and urged a fast implementation of the programme in order to ensure that the aid reaches those at risk of poverty without further delay. The party also further pointed out that the government had cho- sen to stop NGOs from distribut- ing the material and that it had re- stricted the task to the Foundation for Social Welfare Services. "The distribution of such food served as a direct contact between the NGOs and families which are on the breadline and which depend on such assistance," the statement said. Roberta Metsola