Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/712521
7 maltatoday, SUNDAY, 7 AUGUST 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 Development Fund Co-financing rate: Public Eligible (80% European Union; 20% National Funds) Business Enhance ERDF Grant Schemes Call for Expression of Interest for Service Providers As part of the Business Enhance ERDF Grant Schemes Initiative, the Measures and Support Division within the Ministry for European Affairs and Implementation of the Electoral Manifesto intends to launch: - 1. A Grant Scheme to address the objectives under Priority Axis 2 'Consolidating investment within the ICT sector' of Operational Programme I Cohesion Policy 2014 – 2020, namely increasing the number of enterprises conducting online sales. 2. A Grant Scheme under Priority Axis 3 'Enhancing Malta's Competitiveness through Investment in SMEs' of Operational Programme I Cohesion Policy 2014 – 2020 to support enterprises through the provision of external consultancy services to develop studies to assess the potential of future investment and operational interventions. Service Providers are being invited to submit their application to be included as registered service providers under the Schemes. Information Further information may be requested from the Measures and Support Division by sending an e- mail to msd.meaim@gov.mt. Applications Application forms may be accessed from www.businessenhance.gov.mt. Applications and supporting documentation are to be submitted to the Measures and Support Division, Ministry for European Affairs and Implementation of the Electoral Manifesto, Triq il-Kukkanja Santa Venera, SVR 1411. Developers eye ODZ land in Naxxar for old people's home JAMES DEBONO AN old people's home is being proposed on land lying outside de- velopment boundaries set on a vacant 12,500 square metre plot of agricultural land in tal- Balal, Naxxar in the vi- cinity of Gharghur. Ray Aquilina, owner of Kajjarun Limited and Madliena Developers Limited, is proposing the development. The facility proposed is made up of two wings consisting of 200 rooms set on a ground floor and a first floor with a pool in between and a basement parking area. Aquilina had previ- ously applied to develop a warehouse and a plant yard in the same area but the application was refused in 2009. The appeals tribunal confirmed the decision in 2013. The land in question is designated as a rural conservation area in the lo- cal plans and consists of a rehabilitat- ed quarry, which has been converted back to arable land. The Spatial Plan for the Environ- ment and Development (SPED) foresees the development of health facilities outside the development zone. But the SPED also calls for a se- quential approach, which firstly calls on developers to consider the re-use of existing developed land; secondly to re-develop existing developed land and buildings; and finally, where no other feasible alternatives exist: the use of vacant land. The Planning Authority recently refused an application for an old people's home located in a quarry in the Wied Ghomor valley in San Gwann. But the PA is faced by a number of other ODZ applications for old people's homes. The one at the most advanced stage is that located next to the Santa Lucija secondary school in the vicinity of Wied Garnaw. The developers have been asked to pre- pare an Environment Impact As- sessment. Two separate applications have been submitted envisioning old people's homes in ODZ areas, one replacing a derelict structure along Triq il-Gharghur in Naxxar, and the other in Fgura overlooking Wied Blandun. Both applications are still in a preliminary stage. First report by clinical taskforce on obesity due next month MIRIAM DALLI FOR the past 20 years, Malta has faced a worrying trend of an ever increasing obe- sity rate in its citizens, leading it to become the country with the highest rate of obese man in Europe and the second highest for women. Health Minister Chris Fearne has now confirmed that a report is due next month on how obesity can be medically tackled. The report is being drafted by a clinical task- force set up to provide recommendations on how obesity should be tackled as a medical issue which requires medical solutions. A study published in the Lancet this year reconfirmed the unsurprising and unflat- tering news that Malta retained among the highest levels of obesity in western Europe, together with the United Kingdom and Ice- land. The report, which calls for global action and leadership to help countries to effec- tively intervene more, also sheds light on how no national success stories have been reported in the past 33 years. In Malta, the high rate of obesity is across all ages: 41% of schoolchildren have been classified as obese, with a higher incidence in boys than in girls. The figure emerges from data collected from schools all over Malta, measuring the Body Mass Index (BMI) of children. This was the first time such data collection took place. "The high rate of obesity in Malta is of deep concern," Fearne told MaltaToday, quickly adding that the government had in- troduced a number of programmes in a bid to start dealing with the issue. Malta, he added, had been one of the first EU countries to introduce a food and nutri- tion policy. The country also launched a new action plan to address the negative impact of un- healthy diets. The plan is to reduce overall salt and fat consumption, eliminate trans fats, use price policies to promote healthier foods and reduce unhealthy products, re- strict the marketing of food to children and improve monitoring and surveillance mech- anisms. "The World Health Organisation forecasts Malta will stabilise its rate in the coming five years thanks to the policies we plan on introducing; other countries are expected to increase their rate. But this definitely shouldn't making us happy," Fearne added. The government's first goal was to stop the obesity rate from continuing to increase – a trend which has been going on for the past 20 years. After that, the next step would be targeting a reduction in the rate. Malta retained among the highest levels of obesity in western Europe, together with the United Kingdom and Iceland