Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/726681
6 maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 14 SEPTEMBER 2016 News ϮϬϭϳD>d^WZ^/EzK&d,KhE/>K&d,hZKWE hE/KE WZKs/^/KEK&K&&/&hZE/dhZDKsZ^ E^dKZ'&/>/dz^Zs/^ dŚĞWĂƌůŝĂŵĞŶƚĂƌLJ^ĞĐƌĞƚĂƌŝĂƚĨŽƌhWƌĞƐŝĚĞŶĐLJϮϬϭϳĂŶĚh&ƵŶĚƐ͕ǁŝƚŚŝŶ ƚŚĞDŝŶŝƐƚƌLJĨŽƌƵƌŽƉĞĂŶĨĨĂŝƌƐĂŶĚ/ŵƉůĞŵĞŶƚĂƚŝŽŶŽĨƚŚĞůĞĐƚŽƌĂů DĂŶŝĨĞƐƚŽ͕ŶŽƚŝĨŝĞƐƚŚĂƚĂƉĞƌŝŽĚĐŽŶƚƌĂĐƚĨŽƌƚŚĞƉƌŽǀŝƐŝŽŶŽĨŽĨĨŝĐĞ ĨƵƌŶŝƚƵƌĞŵŽǀĞƌƐĂŶĚƐƚŽƌĂŐĞĨĂĐŝůŝƚLJƐĞƌǀŝĐĞƐin relation to Malta's WƌĞƐŝĚĞŶĐLJŽĨƚŚĞŽƵŶĐŝůŽĨƚŚĞhϮϬϭϳŚĂƐďĞĞŶŝƐƐƵĞĚ͘ dŚĞĚŽĐƵŵĞŶƚƐĂƌĞĂǀĂŝůĂďůĞƚŽĚŽǁŶůŽĂĚŽŶůŝŶĞĨƌŽŵ ǁǁǁ͘ĞƚĞŶĚĞƌƐ͘ŐŽǀ͘ŵƚ Mizzi Liang heading to private business after Shanghai consulate stint MIRIAM DALLI MALTA Enterprise's special en- voy Sai Mizzi Liang will be head- ing back to private business af- ter a three-year stint as Malta's consul general in Shanghai, a government spokesperson has confirmed. Whilst her three-year contract ended in August, over the com- ing months Mizzi Liang "will be working on a transition and handover on the various aspects of her role which include Invest- ment and Trade Envoy and Con- sul General". Mizzi Liang, wife of former en- ergy minister Konrad Mizzi, was controversially appointed to the post by the Labour administra- tion raising questions over the adequacy of her appointment in view of her husband's position as a member of the cabinet of min- isters. Whilst the Ministry for For- eign Affairs has reportedly ap- pointed diplomat Ruth Mary Farrugia as the new consul gen- eral, a spokesperson for the gov- ernment confirmed that Malta Enterprise will be issuing a call for applications for the role of in- vestment promotion. "The person selected will take over the investment promotion functions fulfilled by Ms Mizzi Liang," the government said. MaltaToday is informed that the transition for the Shanghai Consulate General and Invest- ment Promotion Office will be undertaken over the coming months. "The Shanghai Consulate is fully operational both as a con- sular office as well as on invest- ment promotion matters," the spokesperson added. Meanwhile, the Ministry for Foreign Affairs has assigned a diplomatic officer who will be working with Sai Mizzi Liang on the transition and handover pro- cess over the coming months. Mizzi Liang's handover in- cludes finalising aspects of "two important strategic projects" which will be announced shortly. "The strategic projects relate to financial services and tourism," the spokesperson said. Ever since her appointment, Mizzi Liang has been under the media's spotlight over her €13,000-a-month salary – al- though this had been disputed by the Prime Minister Joseph Muscat when he tabled in parlia- ment a copy of her August 2014 payslip showing that she earned just over €3,700. The figure shoots up when the whole finan- cial package is taken into consid- eration. She had been hailed by Muscat after Chinese electronics giant Huawei chose Malta for a com- bined investment of €4.5 million: Huawei signed a memorandum of understanding paving the way for a €3 million investment in the 4.5G mobile coverage prior to the introduction of 5G. The agreement also covers the €1.5 million research and de- velopment under the Safe Malta cap. Sai Mizzi Liang will be moving back to the private sector but government did not specify if this will be in Malta or abroad Busuttil calls for train connecting Malta and Gozo TIM DIACANO OPPOSITION leader Simon Bu- suttil has proposed the establish- ment of a train system to connect key nodes across Malta and Gozo. Addressing the annual Youth Par- liament event yesterday afternoon, he said that the train should form part of a tunnel link that has been proposed between the two islands. "If traffic continues increasing at this rate, we will soon be unable to move in this country. We must start thinking of new alternative means if transport from now," he said. He lambasted the Labour gov- ernment for shelving preliminary studies commissioned by former PN justice minister Chris Said on a tunnel link between Malta and Gozo, instead opting to study the possibility of a bridge link, before eventually returning back to the original tunnel idea. "That bridge turned out to be a bridge to nowhere," he quipped. "The likelihood now is that there will be no progress on the tunnel project before the next election, which would mean that we would have lost five years for Gozitan youths to be able to reach Paceville in under half an hour, or for Mal- tese youth to go to Gozo without using their cars." Opposition leader Simon Busuttil said the proposed Gozo-Malta tunnel should form part of national train project Health ministry launches inquiry into Mount Carmel patient's death AN internal inquiry has been launched into the death of a man, a patient at Mount Carmel Hospital. MaltaToday understands that the man, a 48-year-old, committed suicide. The inquiry was appointed by the Health Ministry, on orders of Health Minister Chris Fearne. A separate inves- tigation by the police is underway. In a brief statement released yesterday morning, the ministry said that a patient required urgent assistance and first aid was administered until an ambulance made it to Mount Carmel to transport the man to Mater Dei. The man passed away shortly after- wards