Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/723651
6 CONTINUES FROM PAGE 1 Ministers are paid an adjustment allow- ance for the time they spend out of gainful employment once they are no longer part of the govern- ment executive. Only back in 2010, as Labour whip it was Joe Mizzi himself who had called into question then Transport Malta chairman Mark Portelli's conflict of interest as a shareholder in one of the compa- nies that formed Manoel Island Yacht Yard. At that time, Mizzi's predeces- sor Austin Gatt – replying to a PQ by Mizzi – had denied that Portelli had a conflict of interests when MIYY tendered for and won a Transport Malta concession for the yacht yard at Manoel Island. As maritime regulator, few questions were made of the fact that as chairman of Transport Malta, Portelli was in business with firms directly in industries he himself regulated: such as one of the MIYY partners, Midi plc, which has a marina concession at Manoel Island. Undecim Five set-up James Piscopo's set-up suggests he is already considering his fu- ture moves. Undecim Five In- vestments has as its address that of Robert Borg's audit firm at the A3 Towers in Paola, which also happens to house the transport authority's vehicle and licensing units. Borg, whom Piscopo described as "a personal friend", has also served as the General Workers Union's financial controller while having also until recently served as Transport Malta's board secre- tary. In May 2013, a couple of months after Labour's election victory, Borg was also appointed on the board of the Water Services Cor- poration, ARMS Ltd and the Mal- ta Statistics Authority. A year later, Transport Malta decided to lease the GWU's prop- erty at the A3 Towers – which includes three entire storeys – for almost €500,000 a year. In a simi- lar deal, ARMS Ltd, a firm owned by Enemalta and the WSC, rented out part of the GWU's headquar- ters in Valletta. Denying any conflict of interest, Borg had said that he declared his interest beforehand as the union's financial controller and left the meeting room when Transport Malta took the decision to award the €490,000 contract to the Gen- eral Workers' Union. So far, TM has refused to publish the contract it entered into with the union. Piscopo – a former Air Malta ac- countant who was then seconded to the PL – said his company does not employ anybody since it was only recently set up. Undecim Five Investments – set up in February of this year – al- ready owns a stake in BBF Ltd, a company registered last month. Piscopo's company owns 14% of BBF Ltd, whose other sharehold- ers include Marie Claire Chircop, Analytic Investments Limited and Sap Holdings Limited. The Memorandum of Associa- tion confirms that Piscopo is the sole director and shareholder of the company whose main trading activity is "to act as a holding com- pany and thus hold equities and investments in other companies." Other ancillary activities listed in the document include: to en- ter into agreements with govern- ments, authorities and private companies to obtain contracts, grants, rights, privileges and con- cessions "which the company may consider desirable", management and company advisory services to local and foreign companies, the import and export of a wide rang- ing list of goods including food- stuff, machinery, pharmaceuticals and precious metals and dealing in property. maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 7 SEPTEMBER 2016 News Call for Tenders The Wild Birds Regulation Unit within the Ministry for Sustainable Development, the Environment and Climate Change noties that electronic tenders are being accepted for the following: Collation of primary and secondary data on regular breeding and wintering bird species in the Maltese Islands and compilation of Article 12 report (Birds Directive) for the 2013-2018 reporting period, including Malta breeding Bird Atlas (2018) Tenders will be received until Tuesday 4 October 2016 (closing time: 10:00am). More information can be obtained on etenders.gov.mt. Undecim Five Investments owns 14% stake in other company Sliema council 'inundated' with permit requests as retail owners complain of multiple road closures MIRIAM DALLI SLIEM A residents and retail owners are up in arms over the continuous increase in con- struction work leaving them with multiple closed roads and lack of parking spaces. "We are constantly surround- ed by cranes, with no access to parking for our customers who spend an hour circling Sliema either stuck in traffic with the multiple road closures," one shop owner who wanted to re- main anonymous said. The shop owner's comment resonated with multiple calls made to the MaltaToday news- room of what has been described as "excessive" permits issued by the Sliema council. Such permits would vary be- tween requests for a temporary no-parking sign to a full road closure. Photos being published by MaltaToday show blocked ac- cess to at least five streets yes- terday morning. Sliema mayor Anthony Chir- cop confirmed that the council was "inundated " with permit requests, to the point that the council has employed two full- time clerks whose job is to pro- cess the requests. "Once construction permits are issued by the Planning Au- thority it becomes our duty to assist the requests coming in. This problem has been going on for years but currently there has been a huge increase and there's no sign of slowing down," Chir- cop said. Offering no solution to the complaints, Chircop insisted that the council tries to leave alternative routes open " but it's a struggle". "It's a balancing act as we try to meet the demands of the contractors and the needs of the residents. We have pres- sures from all end," he said. Chircop said it's not the first time that permits are refused but whoever made the request would still go ahead with the plan. "Such abuses are not a rarity and we encourage peo- ple who come across these things to contact us," he add- ed, explaining that one would have a parking permit and in- stead block the road. "What we issue our notifica- tions and are not enforceable by law. So when motorists ignore such notifications, we have no right to force the re- moval of a car with the con- tractor opting to park in the middle of the road and block the road." A rough estimate made by Chircop over the phone showed that the council has, so far this year, issued some 20 to 25 permits for cranes and other construction vehi- cles on a daily basis. "These works take long: you have the excavation works, the demolition, the construction, the finishing, the moving in of furniture and so on. We are trying hard to accommodate everyone," he said. Photos taken by motorists show at least five roads with blocked access yesterday morning