Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/702975
5 maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 13 JULY 2016 News Operational Programme I – European Structural and Investment Funds 2014-2020 "Fostering a competitive and sustainable economy to meet our challenges" Advert part-financed by the European Regional and Development Fund Co-financing rate: Public Eligible (80% European Union; 20% National Funds) ANNOUNCEMENT – 13 th July 2016 Business Enhance ERDF Grant Schemes Operational Programme I – Cohesion Policy 2014-2020 Fostering a competitive and sustainable economy to meet our challenges The Measures and Support Division within the Ministry for European Affairs and Implementation of the Electoral Manifesto, designated by the Managing Authority as the Intermediate Body responsible for administering aid schemes for enterprises under the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) under the 2014 – 2020 programming period, would like to announce the following calls: • Call 1 – SME Growth Grant Scheme Priority Axis 3 – 'Enhancing Malta's competitiveness through investment in SMEs' Investment Priority (IP) 3d – Supporting the capacity of SMEs to grow in regional, national and international markets, and to engage in innovation processes. • Call 1 – Start-up Investment Grant Scheme Priority Axis 3 – 'Enhancing Malta's competitiveness through investment in SMEs' Investment Priority (IP) 3a – Promoting entrepreneurship in particular by facilitating the economic exploitation of new ideas and fostering the creation of new firms, including through business incubators. These calls will close on Friday, 30 th September 2016 at noon. Information sessions will be organised for prospective applicants. Dates and venues will be notified in the coming days. Further information on these calls including the respective Guidance Notes and the Guidelines for Implementation, as well as on the information sessions may be obtained from https://businessenhance.gov.mt. ALPA denies media reports on pilot pay figures CONTINUES FROM PAGE 1 Earlier on Tuesday, the airline pilots' union ALPA once again denied reports in The Times that pilots' average take-home pay is cur- rently set at some €93,000 a year. In a new statement from the executive committee, the union said the figure was factually in- correct, and accused the sources bandying the figure of malicious intent. "Their sole agenda [is] to put pilots in bad light and jeopard- ise any upcoming negotiations between ALPA and Air Malta. The average take-home pay for Air Malta pilots is less than the claimed figure and anyone spreading such figures is either misinformed or intends to wil- fully mislead the general pub- lic," ALPA said. The union has denied it has demanded a €50,000 salary in- crease as reported this week by The Sunday Times. "ALPA looks forward to the upcoming meetings," it said of negotiations with Air Malta management ahead of a possi- ble deal with Alitalia, the Ital- ian national airline part-owned (49%) by the UAE airline Etihad. "ALPA remained prudent, and contrary to the claims made, ALPA never left the negotiating table and intends to continue negotiating on behalf of all its members." The Sunday Times stood by its story on Monday, saying that the number of pilots was 122 – 118 of whom were active, two on long sick-leave and two on unpaid leave. The financial demands pi- lots are making fall broadly into two categories: a 30% increase in the basic salary and guaranteed minimum bonuses. The increase in the basic sal- ary, which pilots want to be backdated to January 1 this year, would yield an average salary increase per pilot of €28,000 an- nually to the claimed average €93,000 salary. The difference to €50,000 comes from changes to the sys- tem by which pilots are awarded units every time they f ly. These units are translated into mon- etary bonuses at the end of the month. The overall package proposed by Alpa would add €6 million to the €11 million Air Malta al- ready pays its pilots. Pilots have threatened to step up industrial action, including f light delays, if their demands are not met. The Malta Hotels and Restau- rants Association in a statement appealed to the pilots' union to act with prudence and refrain from short-sighted actions or threats that may lead to damag- ing the confidence of the tourist travelling to Malta. CONTINUES FROM PAGE 1 Faced with the prospect of loss of their income, the women jointly de- cided against moving into the fe- male section, against their wish to seek the more protective en- vironment of the female section. They were joined by Grech and Falzon in the male section when the latter two were recently im- prisoned. The women and their lawyers are claiming that by being forced to stay inside the men's section, they are being continuously ex- posed to insults and sexual har- assment by male inmates. "They cannot shower with the other men inside, so they have to wait until the others are ready and one inmate must stand guard for the rest, which means they don't shower for a long period of time," their lawyers said. The inmates said that even in court procedures, they are pro- hibited by the prison authorities from wearing female clothes. "The prison administration calls them by their male names, male warders carry out humiliat- ing body searches on them, they cannot participate in outdoor activities on the excuse that they distract the men and attract vul- gar comments, and they can only shave their heads in the male sec- tion while female inmates have a hairdresser," their lawyers said. The inmates have made several complaints to NGOs as well as the monitoring board of the Cor- radino Correctional Facility. "They are being forced to ex- perience humiliating and de- grading treatment, creating high levels of anxiety for them. The prisons' director and minister do not consider the vulnerability of these inmates as persons with specific physical and psychologi- cal needs, but instead are being formalistic about who these peo- ple are based on their ID cards. "Instead of creating a secure and dignified environment that can contribute to their personal and social reform, the authorities have consciously and repeatedly placed these inmates in situa- tions of high physical, sexual and psychological risk," the lawyers said in their constitutional ap- plication. Transgender inmates forced to stay in the male section to maintain jobs' income Tourism minister Edward Zammit Lewis vowed to safeguard Air Malta and its negotiations with strategic partners The Corradino Correctional Facility