Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/685992
3 TIM DIACONO THE Nationalist Party insisted that Air Malta shouldn't sell off 49% of its shares to Alitalia, warning that doing so would risk relinquishing control of the air- line's management and direction. "We agree with the concept of a strategic partner for Air Malta that goes beyond code sharing, but this shouldn't necessarily in- clude the sale of so many shares," shadow economy minister Clau- dio Grech told a press confer- ence. He said that Air Malta's memo- randum of understanding with Alitalia – tabled in Parliament on Monday – leaves it unclear as to whether the Italian airline will inject any capital into the Air Malta. He suggested that government explore other means of increas- ing Air Malta's capital, including selling off some of its shares to local investors and institutions. The MOU refers to a "substan- tial cost saving strategy", based on "lean and efficient hub op- erations", "redesigning and au- tomating processes and working arrangements in line with best practices" and "rationalizing re- sources to ensure viability and profitability of the airline". Grech said that the PN will not object to some of Air Malta's staff being transferred to other jobs within the public sector, but suggested that some back office functions at Alitalia and Etihad – which itself owns 49% of the Ital- ian airline – could be transferred to Air Malta. He added that any wage cuts to Air Malta employees should be allowed to invest in the airline's shares to make up for any poten- tial cuts to their salaries. "Air Malta employees were forced to make financial sac- rifices over the years, and they should play a part in the business going forward," he said. "There are a number of interesting models that will allow savings from workers' take-home pay to be commuted into equity in the company." Opposition MP Censu Galea went a step further, stating that the Alitalia deal should be an opportunity to improve the con- ditions of Air Malta's current workforce. "The PN will embark on a con- sultation period with all stake- holders, including workers, un- ions and civil society," he said. Fellow MP Antoine Borg said that the PN will insist with gov- ernment later this week that Air Malta should not surrender any of its routes, route frequencies, or airport slots. 'Don't hive off Air Malta's key functions' Grech also insisted that any final deal should not see Air Malta's key day-to-day functions – such as engineering – hived off to another airline. "Air Malta can trim off some of its more technical parts, but it should never let go of its centres of competence, or it will risk growing dependent on other air- lines," he said. "It's a fine line between reduc- ing costs and ensuring that Air Malta can survive if the partner- ship fails." maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 1 JUNE 2016 News PN warn against Air Malta selling 49% of its shares to Alitalia Vella 'unaware' of scrapped plans to sue Malta over spring hunting TIM DIACONO EUROPEAN environment commissioner Karmenu Vella claimed to be unaware whether plans to open infringement pro- cedures against Malta over this year's spring hunting season were shelved. Sources close to the European Commission have informed MaltaToday that its monthly in- fringement package announced last Thursday was originally supposed to include action against Malta for permitting hunters to shoot the vulnerable turtle dove last April. However, this plan was re- portedly scrapped after the EC got to know of the Maltese gov- ernment's intention to impose a moratorium on the hunting of turtle dove. When questioned by Malta- Today, Vella first asked where the information came from and then said that he is not the right person to speak to b e c a u s e " t h e orig i na l a g e n d a w a s n ' t in my hands". "What I can say is that the Eu- ropean Com- mission is de- l i g h t e d with the way the Maltese government and the hunters reached an agreement to im- pose a moratorium," he said. Following a call by hunting lobby FKNK, government last week announced a moratorium on next spring's hunting season of turtledove, in light of its clas- sification as a vulnerable spe- cies by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. Hunters will however still be al- lowed to hunt quail. It has argued that the num- ber of turtle doves (5,000 last month) killed during Malta's spring hunting season is less than 1% – and hence negligible – of those killed across Europe every year. However, it said that Malta will apply the moratorium vol- untarily "as a precautionary measure to allow for an im- partial and objective scientific assessment to be conducted at European level to establish the causes of the turtledove's popu- lation decline and to provide for measures necessary for the conservation of the species in Europe". BirdLife Malta have urged the government to ban spring hunt- ing outright, rather than sus- pend it and re-open it when it is convenient to them. BirdLife Europe director Angelo Ca- serta said that the moratorium should not factor into the Euro- pean Commission's decision to investigate Malta for potentially breaching EU law by permitting the hunters to shoot the vul- nerable turtle dove during this year's spring hunting season. Bugibba sea polluted… by environment ministry employees THE police have been asked to investigate two environment ministry employees, who were caught in the act of dumping blue paint into the sea by Bu- gibba. The men – employees of the PARKS directorate responsible for the upkeep of national parks and public spaces – had been painting a pavement at the Bu- gibba water park. However, they were caught in the act of rinsing the paint roller in the sea, which could be seen turning a bright shade of blue. "Government men at work on the Bugibba water park this morning," the passer-by who posted the image to a Facebook group for St Paul 's Bay resident said. "The sea is blue, so no harm in rinsing my paint brush with blue paint on the beach, right?" Environment minister Jose Herrera promptly told the Times that he has instructed PARKS director Herman Galea to report the men to the police and sub- ject them to disciplinary action. St Paul 's Bay mayor Graziella Galea similarly said that she reported the incident to the PARKS director, who informed her that the workers were identi- fied and that "necessary action" will be taken. "Though the sea does not fall under the direct responsibility of the local council, I believe that we should all be responsible for the common good," she said. The two PARKS employees caught dipping a paint roller into the sea must be feeling blue Karmenu Vella (From left) Censu Galea, Claudio Grech and Antoine Borg