Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/750768
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 13 NOVEMBER 2016 26 Letters The supermarket owners whose price- buster chain went belly-up, face a new creditor with Lm50,868 in unpaid dues after Price Club went into liquidation. The company George Borg Ltd told a court that Wallace Fino, one of three of the Price Club shareholders, had bound himself with the company to pay the merchandise sold to Price Club. The court in turn found Fino, and the liquidator of the Price Club supermarket chain Andrew Borg Cardona, debtors of the company. But there are still no great expectations from creditors of the failed Price Club supermarket chain, since banks are still first in line to collect any outstanding debts, which total some Lm8 million. Earlier in May, Price Club's Swatar outlet was purchased by HSBC as part of a EUR7 million (Lm3 million) capital investment for a global call centre. Creditors were hardly likely to see any money from that sale since it will be the banks, as hypothecated creditors, to be first in line to collect their dues. The liquidator, Andrew Borg Cardona, has filed two actions against Priceclub Holdings, requesting the company's liquidation, and asking the court to "lift the veil" and find the whole group of companies responsible for the insolvency of Priceclub Operators. Priceclub Operators was the revenue- generating arm of directors Chris Gauci, Wallace Fino and Birkirkara FC president Victor Zammit, who lost just a Lm101,000 capital base when Price Club crashed. The rest of the capital was spread onto other associated companies, leaving creditors indebted to Priceclub Opera- tors chasing Lm8 million in debts. That way, the liquidation of Priceclub Opera- tors would not affect the assets in the other companies. When creditors were asking Price Club owner Victor Zammit about the precari- ous situation of the discount shopping chain by September 2000, Priceclub Op- erators was running at cumulative losses of Lm1.13 million, increasing to Lm1.55 million six months later. Zammit has claimed his account- ants and consultants had told him the company was heading for breakeven, but the chain was already doomed from the start. It registered pre-tax losses of Lm260,000 as early as 1999 and only registered a Lm21 million turnover by taking over two other supermarkets. When in 2001 creditors stopped ad- vancing credit to the supermarket, direc- tors Zammit, Fino and Gauci produced a 20 per cent investment proposal to credi- tors. Liquidator Andrew Borg Cardona described the proposals as an attempt to "defraud third parties to the tune of Lm1 million through their estimation of the value of Priceclub at Lm5 million, when the company was effectively bankrupt virtually from its birth…" Send your letters to: The Editor, MaltaToday, MediaToday Ltd. Vjal ir-Rihan, San Gwann SGN 9016 | Fax: (356) 21 385075 E-mail: newsroom@mediatoday.com.mt. Letters to the Editor should be concise. No pen names are accepted. Unending saga as Price Club told to pay more debts 12 November 2006 ARMS managers say there's no eco-reduction of 25% On 21 October, 2016, I was listen- ing to RTK's 'Il-Polz tac-Cittadin'. The guests were two members of the top management at ARMS Ltd, senior manager Nikita Zam- mit Alamango and the company's financial controller, Lawrence Cauchi. A listener phoned in, query- ing the method ARMS used in calculating the eco-reduction a consumer may be entitled to. At one point, as he was about to say how he knew that "the 25% eco-reduction was calculated" on the amount allocated as a quota to the particular consumer, Zammit Alamango intervened before the caller could go further, to explain that the 25% reduction had noth- ing to do with an eco-reduction, and that this figure was a pre-2013 electoral promise made good. She continued, with the finan- cial controller reinforcing her comments, that there was no such thing as an "eco-reduction of 25%". Both guests continued with this line for a minute or so, until the caller in exasperation ended the call by saying: "I just don't believe what I'm hearing". I too, unsuccessfully, from the very beginning of the programme had tried to phone-in on a differ- ent matter. So I had my last utility bill from ARMS Ltd, and there before me, stood on the invoice entitled "Your consumption in more detail", under "Applicable Rates" for electricity: "Less eco- reduction: @ 25% on first 233.000 units, @ 15% on next 0.000 units." Can ARMS Ltd explain what these senior management mem- bers kept on asserting, at times in unison, for some two minutes in the programme; and doesn't this run counter to what the same company's bills claim on the eco- reduction? Joe Genovese Birkirkara A serious humorous fantasy The exploits of Suami Sivananda (120 years) and the athletic prow- ess of Sister Madonna Buder (86 years) spur me to rectify some illusions J. Guillaumier peppers regularly in all English language newspapers, like when he refers to apparitions as hallucinations. The latest tirade was his over-zeal to pinpoint a holy gaffe about Mother Teresa's canonization process. (Letter, Mother Teresa's dubious miracles, 25.09.2016). The nun still runs the triathlon and trains spiritually and regu- larly in mind, body and soul. In my limited physical qualities (unlike the nun), I have to take the late train to enter into the melting pot again. I am compelled to point out that it is indeed unimaginative that two witnesses could hoodwink the monumental researches and severe scrutiny of such honest and competent judges. The information I have portrays quite a different story. Suffice to say that in two years 117 wit- nesses were interrogated and 263 questions about episodes in her life and the heroic virtues were asked. If I had to compile all the details, it would certainly become (muddled statistics) and boring reading. That would be the remotest augury for your readers. Instead I would like to present them with a far more pleasant, lighter vein. Time magazine was wrong in asserting that Mother Teresa had her own doubts about the exist- ence of God. On the contrary, though having doubts in faith, she really did believe in the certainty that God would help her in her doubts. This was a fabrication by a tabloid publication which can never understand and fathom the experience all mystics go through when faith collides with the 'dark night' as a preamble to their 'radi- ant glorious dawn'. This deceptive reporting re- minds me of a witty joke: A boy asked his father 'Why does the cock crow at 8pm?' The father's quick reply was that it was the time when Judas betrayed Jesus. The boy had another question for his father 'But the cock some- times crows at 2a.m. as well.' His father quipped 'That's the time when the newspapers go to press'. No offence intended, it's just fantasy! John Azzopardi Zabbar Research on Baroque sketches in Malta As a progression of my studies from my first degree, I have undertaken a postgraduate degree centred on baroque sketches, under the tutorship of Prof. K. Sciberras. The artists mostly significant to this study range from Mattia Preti to Antoine Favray, inclusive of Franc- esco Zahra, Alessandro Erardi, Ste- fano Erardi, and so on. Any knowledge regarding private collections would be truly appreciated. Strict confidentiality will be observed and extended to all par- ties. I can be contacted on 79775797 or camilleri.lex@gmail.com Alexandra Camilleri Via email A curiosity At Victoria bus terminus they have a lovely patch of lush green grass, benches where strollers can stretch out or sit down to rest, and large ficus trees (pic- tured) to provide much needed shade in summer. There is quite a snag to the attractive scene, however. A ribbon is stretched almost right round the large square patch, and signs tell visitors to "keep off the grass". Does this make sense? Visitors cannot access the benches with- out going across the grass. Are the benches meant to be part of the attraction, or to be used? And a fairly considerable patch in the corner of the terminus has been having its soil conditioned since the beginning of summer, almost. At the beginning of July the flowers which had dried out were removed and a sign put up that the soil was being condi- tioned and that new flowering plants would be planted "soon". But the soil is still being con- ditioned and there is nothing growing in the patch yet. George Mifsud, Victoria.