Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/647574
8 maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 2 MARCH 2016 News IN ALL LEADING BOOK SHOPS HISTORY OF ORNITHOLOGY IN MALTA NGOs running Majjistral Park call for 'sensible, serious hunting restrictions' in parks THE hours for hunting at the Maj- jistral Nature and History Park were established by a legal notice in April 2013 so that such activities are lim- ited for two hours before sunrise up till 10am daily, but the NGOs run- ning the park – Gaia Foundation, Din l-Art Helwa and Nature Trust – said that trapping activities are not at all consonant within a park that is promoting the enjoyment of nature, the regeneration of the species and the land it takes up. The Heritage Parks Federation, as park manager, had refused to issue activity permits for trapping in the park. "The federation is disappointed to hear that new nature parks may be subject to concessions to the hunting and trapping lobbies," fed- eration president Rodolfo Ragonesi said. The federation urged the govern- ment to take a firm stand "rather than attempt to keep all stakehold- ers happy". Ragonesi said that despite the concession to hunt in the Majjistral Park until 10am, the management has received complaints from the public that the hours were not res- pected. "People are not happy with this state of affairs in the nature park and early walkers cannot roam about freely with hunting or trap- ping activities going on in the early hours." According to the federation, good governance dictates that nature parks shouldn't be "the subject of compromise with activities that are not compatible with nature protec- tion". Police warn against scam text message THE Police have warned against a spam text message which sev- eral Maltese residents report- ed to have received yesterday morning. The text message was sent from +371 655 25294, and us- ers are being advised against re- plying to the text or calling the number. "Please be wary of any text messages asking you to immedi- ately call a foreign number. This appears to be none other than another scam," the Police said. The text message is in Maltese and urges receivers to call the foreign number. Electric car scheme grant re-opened FOLLOWING the success of the scrappage scheme launched in December 2015, Transport Mal- ta will be extending the scheme. A further €400,000 has been al- located. Transport Malta will be receiv- ing further applications for the grant which will be processed on a first come first served ba- sis. The initiative is aimed to encourage people to dispose of their old vehicles and invest in new cars with lower emissions. 508 vehicles have already bene- fitted from the original €400,000 allocated during the last month of 2015. Vehicle owners who applied for the scheme were entitled to between €700 and €900 upon the purchase of a new M1 mo- tor vehicle (used for the carriage of persons and which may carry no more than eight passengers in addition to the driver, the CO2 emissions of which do not exceed 130g/km and its length does not exceed 4,460mm, and is licensed for private use only. Applications for the scheme are available from Transport Malta, Vehicle Licensing Unit, Hornsworks Ditch, Floriana or downloaded from http://www. transport.gov.mt/land-trans- port The scheme, in the form of a grant to incentivise the purchase of battery electric vehicles, hy- brid vehicles and battery electric quadricycles is still applicable. No one injured in small fire at elderly residence NO one was injured when a bathroom heater in St Vincent De Paul home for the elderly caught fire yesterday at around 7.15am. The residence's management said Mother Teresa 2 hall was evacuated as a preventive measure. The fire was con- trolled within sec- onds and before the arrival of fire fight- ers. The only damage reported was to the wall where the heater was installed. The administration said that at no time were the elderly resi- dents in any danger. Members of the civil protection depart- ment carried out an in-depth inspection.