Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/732282
8 maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 28 SEPTEMBER 2016 News IN ALL LEADING BOOK SHOPS HISTORY OF ORNITHOLOGY IN MALTA Boxing champ claims Swedish promoter ran off with event money PAUL COCKS A boxing extravaganza scheduled for Friday was cancelled yesterday after Scott Dixon, champion box- er and promoter of the event, ac- cused a Swedish agent – who was organising the event with him – of running off with €35,000 in cash, tickets and ticket money. Dixon, a well-known Glaswe- gian boxer who moved to Malta 10 years ago, called a press con- ference yesterday at the Dean Hamlet Hotel in St Julian's – above the gym he owns and manages – in which he revealed that Jerry Vahasalo, known as Jerry Salo, had approached Dixon Promotions earlier in the year, when he was in Malta with a client, Hollywood actor and model Samuel Seung Chan Ericsson. Salo had suggested to Dixon that they get to- gether to organise a gala boxing night that would feature many big names of the sport. Dixon himself was sup- posed to feature on Friday in a fight against Steffen Spar- borth for the World Boxing Union (WBU) Middleweight Championship, in what was supposed to be the last match of his long and successful box- ing career. He said Salo had been staying in an apartment in Sliema while in Malta. "He sent me a message at 9.45 this morning, telling me he was going to collect his girlfriend from the airport, and that he would see me 45 minutes later," Dixon said. "But by a couple of hours later, he was not replying to my mes- sages, was not answering calls and we later found out he had moved out of the apartment. I im- mediately filed a report at the St Julians police station." Dixon said that his team, Dixon's Promotions, had put in €10,000 as seed money for the event and that Salo was supposed to do the same. "We agreed that he would look after the business end of the event and that we would take care of the rest, such as the fighters, sponsor- ships, PA system and the venue," he said. He said he had given the €10,000 to Salo, who was in charge of the event's accounts, and that they had split the tickets between them since Salo had told them that he knew a lot of people who would be interested in such an event. Dixon said that fighters had been given tickets in lieu of an ap- pearance fee, and that they would then collect the money them- selves. Tickets were selling at between €25 and €100 and that any money he or his team had collected from ticket sales had been passed on to Salo since he was looking after the business side of the event. The event was to feature two title fights and many semi-pro fights featuring local and foreign talent; Malta's Billy Corito was scheduled to go up against Hasan Olaki for the WBU European championship. "Unfortunately for us, we do not have a signed contract since Jerry never seemed to have time to sit down and sign an agreement that we had prepared," Dixon said. "Mind you, before we agreed to anything, my team had done some research on Salo and we had found nothing negative about him anywhere." Ramona McArthur, Dixon's Promotions business manager, said they believed Salo had al- ready fled the country with the event money, leaving the local team in the lurch. "We cannot deliver the event we promised, and that is why we decided to cancel Friday's event," she said. Dixon insisted, however, that he would not go down without a fight and that he would not let anyone down. "I have been in this sport since I was seven years old and I am a fighter's fighter," he said. "I aim to organise the event at a later date – soon – and I will honour every ticket we have already sold." "I will not let anyone ruin my reputation and the hard work I have done over so many years to bring this sport to the level it is now at." Dixon said he had promoted 29 previous events and that nothing of the sort had ever happened. "This is very serious for me and my reputation is at risk here," he said. "I will reschedule the event for another day soon, I will do it at all costs, and I will honour all the commitments we have made. It's got to be done." Scott Dixon claims that Swedish Jerry Salo, who was organising and promoting a gala event with him scheduled for Friday, 'disappeared' with all the event's cash and ticket money New 18-storey development proposed on Xemxija hill JAMES DEBONO RESIDENTS in Xemxija have expressed concern about recent plans submitted to the Planning Authority by Charles Polidano re- viving a long dormant application filed in 2006. The concern comes in the wake of the approval of a nearby devel- opment dating back to 1994 and foreseeing a 12-storey develop- ment set on the slope between Triq is-Simar and Xemxija hill. Polidano's decade-long applica- tion foresaw two levels of base- ment garages, 10 maisonettes, 118 overlying apartments and six penthouses on a site set between Triq is-Simar, Triq Raddet ir-Roti and Triq Gdida f 'San Pawl Il-Ba- har. But the latest plans foresee 154 apart- ments set in three high-rise blocks and 73 hotel rooms. The plans, s u b m i t t e d last Janu- ary, foresee de ve lopment over 18 levels, which takes ad- vantage of the 16.5 metre difference in height between Triq Rad- det ir-Roti and Triq Simar. In July the PA asked Polidano to submit further information regarding this application. Moreover the latest plans also foresee the utilization of the "floor area ratio" mechanism through which the developers will gain extra storeys by limiting the footprint of the building to 50% of the 3,860 square metre site. The previous plans presented in 2006 envisioned a 12-storey de- velopment over a larger footprint. The 2014 policy on the applica- tion of the floor area ratio mecha- nism allows medium-sized devel- opments (twice local plan heights but lower than 10 storeys) in the entire urban conurbation from St Julian's and Sliema in the north to Gzira, Msida and Pieta, in Marsa and Marsascala in the south, and in Bugibba, Qawra, St Paul's Bay also in the north. In this case the development takes advantage of both the difference in levels be- tween the streets in which it is located and the policy. One of the ambiguities of the policy regulating heights is that it identified the localities where high- and medium-rise develop- ment can take place, without in- cluding a map precisely showing where such development can take place in these localities. When discussing the identifi- cation of "medium-rise" zones in March 2014 the Planning Author- ity's CEO, Johann Buttigieg, told the board that the "government has indicated that no maps should be included so as to avoid specu- lation on land prices", adding that if the board "felt that speculation was not a concern, it could recom- mend the introduction of maps." Only former deputy chairperson Franco Montesin, present ERA chairman Prof. Axiak and PN MP Ryan Callus voted for the inclu- sion of "detailed maps" identify- ing acceptable locations for both high-rise and medium-rise development. The Floor Area Ratio is presently limited to sites with a m i n i m u m site area of 3,000 square metres. The new rules ef- fectively do away with this require- ment in those localities identified for medium sized developments while raising this minimum requirement from 3,000 to 5,000 square metres in all other localities. Last week the PA approved a huge 103-apartment real estate project first proposed 21 years ago for Xemxija. It was approved not by the Planning Board, which normally takes major planning decisions under the scrutiny of the media, but by the Environ- ment Planning Commission. The project, proposed by An- thony Abdilla, includes two base- ment levels providing 133 park- ing spaces, 23 lock up garages and four catering establishments on ground floor, 103 apartments on the first 11 storeys and six penthouses on the 11th and 12th floors. "We were not aware of this de- velopment as only those objecting to it 20 years ago knew about it," a resident told Maltatoday. The resident expressed concern that other developments proposed in the area would be approved by stealth.