Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/713415
WWW.MALTATODAY.COM.MT WEDNESDAY EDITION €1.00 Newspaper post PG 9 • Editorial WEDNESDAY • 10 AUGUST 2016 • ISSUE 481 • PUBLISHED EVERY WEDNESDAY AND SUNDAY Axiak's views on Sliema tower obscured at PA meeting Environment and Resources Authority chairman Victor Axiak refuses to reveal the contents of the comments sent to the Planning Authority board on the Townsquare project JAMES DEBONO AN email sent to the Planning Board by Environment and Resources Authority chairman Victor Axiak, in which he laid out his views on the impact of the 38-sto- rey tower proposed in Sliema, was not read out at the public hearing on Thurs- day when the project was approved by a wafer thin majority of one vote. Axiak was indisposed and did not at- tend the meeting. This meant that Axiak, as representative of the Environment and Resources Authority (ERA), could not vote on both the four towers proposed for Mriehel by the Tumas and Gasan groups and the 38-storey tower proposed for Sliema by the Gasan group. Axiak had expressed concern in an email on the visual impact of the four towers proposed at Mriehel, which was read by board member Timothy Gam- bin during the morning session, when this development was being discussed. Gambin, an expert in underwater archaeology, was a vociferous supporter of both projects dur- ing Thursday's public hearing. In this email Axiak questioned the quality of the photomontages presented by the d e v e l o p e r . The devel- o p m e n t was ap- proved by 10 votes against 2. But in the evening session, no reference was made in the meeting to any com- ments sent by Axiak. Asked by MaltaToday why he felt the need to comment on the development proposed at Mriehel and not on the one proposed in Sliema, Axiak made it clear that his email included com- ments on both projects. When asked why these comments were not read, Axiak simply insisted that he made his views clear on both projects. Axiak refused to re- veal the drift of the comments sent to the board. PAGE 7 Galdes left FIAU to become partner at legal firm PAUL COCKS MANFRED Galdes, who headed Malta's Finan- cial Intelligence and Analysis Unit (FIAU) until his resignation was revealed last week, will be joining the legal advisory firm Fenech Farrugia Fiott Legal on 12 September, MaltaToday has learned. Galdes had been the director of the FIAU since 2008, following a stint with the MFSA and a pri- vate services firm before that. When asked, he said he had resigned as FIAU head to "take up a post in private practice". Dr Tonio Fenech (not the former finance minis- ter), who is partner at FFF Legal, confirmed that Galdes would be joining the firm as a partner on 12 September. "He will also be appointed as a director of ARQ Group's specialised Anti-Money Laundering and Compliance Advisory unit with effect from the same date," he said. FFF Legal is a full-service firm offering legal solutions, established in 2009 by its partners, Dr Tonio Fenech, Dr Christian Farrugia and Dr Antoine Fiott. It is focused on six broad practice areas: corporate & commercial law, asset finance & transport law, taxation, financial services, pri- vate clients, and litigation & alternative dispute resolution. Galdes' move raises questions on how ethical it is for him to join one of the very companies the FIAU was sure to have monitored, as a provider of financial and legal services to high-net-worth individuals and corporations, when he led the agency up to a few days ago. The FIAU, first set up in October 2002 by virtue of Legal Notice 297 of 2002, which brought into force the comprehensive amendments to the Pre- vention of Money Laundering Act, was set up as an agency within the finance ministry. The minister appoints the board members, but it has a separate judicial personality and operates autonomously from its own offices, with its own staff. In April, at the height of the media frenzy on the Prime Minister's chief of Staff Keith Schembri's and energy minister Konrad Mizzi's involvement in the Panama Papers leaks, finance minister Ed- ward Scicluna had confirmed in parliament that the FIAU was investigating the matter. The responsibilities related to the governance of the FIAU are divided among the board of gover- nors and the director, with the board establishing the policy and the director being tasked with the execution of that policy. PAGE 5 DINNER IN THE SKY LIFTS GOURMET DINING TO NEW HEIGHTS MARTINA BORG had a taste of 'Dinner in the Sky', a platform hanging over the Upper Barrakka gardens in Valletta where guests can dine at a table suspended from a crane at a height of 40 metres • PAGE 8 AERIAL PHOTOGRAPHY BY CHRIS MANGION / CLIFFORD CAMILLERI Victor Axiak