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8 maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 3 FEbruArY 2016 News IN ALL LEADING BOOK SHOPS HISTORY OF ORNITHOLOGY IN MALTA Simone Borg to chair climate action board – eNGOs boycott meeting MartiNa BOrG AmbAssAdor for climate change simone borg has been appointed as chairwoman of the Climate Action board, launched yesterday by Environment min- ister Leo brincat. borg, considered an ex- pert in the field, obtained her Ph.d. on the con- servation of marine natural resources at the International maritime Law In- stitute. she was also responsible for negotiating malta's position in Interna- tional Environmental multilateral Agree- ments, including the negotiations to the Cli- mate Change Convention and the Kyoto Protocol, the barcelona Convention on the Protection of the mediterra- nean sea and its Protocols, the drafting of legislation and legal policy-making in environmen- tal and energy law. The board came into being as part of the law on climate ac- tion, enacted last year. The law, unanimously approved, enjoys wide political consensus. board members include econ- omist Philip von brockdorff, as its deputy chairman, architect david Xuereb and meteorologi- cal sciences expert Charles Gal- des. Five eNGos boycotted the climate action board in protest at the proposed law to facili- tate the possession of protected birds. However, birdLife has refused to join in the boy- cott, arguing that it wanted to take a pro-active stance to fight climate change. The minister said that representation from every minis- try was essential and necessary to ensure that rep- resentation was as wide as possi- ble. "The invitation to green NGos is still open and it's up to them whether or not to be repre- sented on the board," brincat added. "The individuals here rep- resent the environment, en- ergy and health, transport, fi- nance, economic development and competiveness, waste man- agement, farming, and educa- tion," brincat told a press con- ference. He said that awareness cam- paigns were necessary to create more capacity building in ac- tion against climate change, and he added that the board would also look at the direct impact of tourism on climate change. "If the heat becomes excessive, then people might start looking for cooler destinations, so it be- fits the sector to look into ways to face such challenges and deal with them effectively." He further announced that a Climate Action Fund, chaired by von brockdorff, would also be set up in the near future, and which would have a board made up of people from the economic and finan- cial sectors. He explained that the two institutions would mean that the country would be able to fulfil its multilat- eral obligations and du- ties, and that the board's objectives and obligations had been agreed with the Prime minister. Calling the group a "unique strategic board", brincat said malta was one of the first coun- tries in the European Union to legislate on climate change. PN's Siggiewi party club debt 'question of disagreements on valuation of works' MartiNa BOrG THE Nationalist Party's failure to pay over €187,000 to banif bank, for works carried out by the bank at the PN's party club in siggiewi, is a question of "differences in the valuations and costings of some of the works carried out," PN deputy leader beppe Fenech Adami said at the end of a press conference yesterday. "The issue all lies in a somewhat complex agreement made be- tween the section committee and the bank itself," Fenech Adami said, adding that some disagree- ments had arisen in terms of pay- ments and how they were being made. "I have no doubt in my mind that the issue is being addressed by the PN and the bank itself," he said. Four years ago, in may 2012, the bank and the PN entered into a contractual arrangement involv- ing the siggiewi club. The agreement provided that the bank would purchase the club's ground f loor from the PN, demolish the whole building and then rebuild it, on condition that the first f loor would be returned to the PN – against payment. on 2 september last year, the Nationalist Party was presented with a judicial letter calling on it to pay the outstanding amount of €187,454.90 or else face court procedures. The letter referred to various instances in the past three years when the party was requested to settle the debt. The matter has however seen some form of clemency from the bank, because legal proceedings instituted by the Portuguese- owned bank are temporarily fro- zen. Asked about the legal proceed- ings, Fenech Adami said that disagreements in the valuation of the works could only be resolved properly through legal means. "It all boils down to the arrange- ments made and to a discrepancy in the way the valuations of some of the works were carried out," he added. PN says deaths in custody are a sign of 'incompetence and mismanagement' Turning to the most recent death of a prison inmate at mater dei Hospital, Fenech Adami said that the government's misman- agement and incompetence were being paid for by the public. He said that the death of an in- mate was the fifth death of some- one under police custody in three and a half months. "This is not normal or accept- able – it is serious and grievous, and the government ought to shoulder responsibility for it," he said. Fenech Adami said that the public could not understand how these events were happening and that they deserved a reply to their questions. "We are certain that this is hap- pening due to incompetence and bad choices made by the govern- ment," he said, stressing that the police and the Corradino Correc- tional facility had been embroiled in numerous scandals. Fenech Adami listed the cases of deaths under custody that had plagued the police force in recent months, starting with a 'monu- mental' drug find, where the sus- pect ultimately took his own life in the police lock-up. "The magisterial inquiry is still not complete and people still do not know what happened exact- ly," he said, adding that the case had died out despite the person involved in it having lost his life. referring to the second case, Fenech Adami said that the peo- ple were still waiting for the re- sults of the magisterial inquiry with the reasons for the death still remaining unclear at this time. Fenech Adami pointed out that the third death, involving a brit- ish national in the mount Car- mel hospital forensic unit, was followed by an internal inquiry, which was not published follow- ing 'advice' from the Attorney General. "The most recent case was the f lu outbreak, which left a number of people hospitalized and one fatality," he said, adding that home affairs minister Carmelo Abela had initially gone so far as to deny that an inmate was in the ITU. Calling the situation 'unprec- edented', Fenech Adami stressed that the minister continued to shirk responsibility in avoiding to publish the magisterial inquiry. "This is a sign of incompetence and mismanagement. It is a sign that he is not fit for purpose and it is also deeply insensitive to the relatives of so many inmates," he said. Asked how the PN would tackle the deterioration, Fenech Adami said that the party would in- crease investment in the facility and that the current government had its priorities wrong. Minister Leo Brincat Ambassador Simone Borg