Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/753405
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 20 NOVEMBER 2016 News BANIF BUSINESS ACCELERATE MY TRUSTED PARTNER IN BUSINESS BANKING my ambition as Fashion Retailer Fund my business. Choose beautiful fabrics. Wow my customers. SME Initiative 2014-2020 "Stimulating private sector investment for economic growth" Financed by the European Union European Regional Development Fund Terms and conditions apply. Loans are subject to the Bank's lending criteria. The Bank reserves the right to withdraw the product from the market at its own discretion. Banif Bank (Malta) plc is a credit institution licensed to undertake the business of banking by the MFSA in terms of the Banking Act 1994. Registered in Malta C41030 - 203, Level 2, Rue D' Argens, Gzira, GZR 1368. The SME Transactions benefit from support from the European Union pursuant to the SME Initiative, with funding by the European Union under the ERDF and Horizon 2020 and by the European Investment Fund and the European Investment Bank. Banif Business Accelerate offers me the possibility of financing my business with minimal security and advantageous terms. Talk to us today. Hunters' claim of 'spy equipment' turns out to be seismic monitoring apparatus PAUL COCKS THE 'spying equipment' that the FKNK Federation for Hunt- ing and Conservation – Malta, said was being used by BirdLife Malta and German-based Com- mittee Against Bird Slaughter (CABS) 'to eavesdrop on private mobile phone conversations' was actually apparatus being used by foreign experts and University of Malta staff for a seismic study, MaltaToday has learnt. FKNK on Friday said that Bird- Life Malta was "possibly des- perately resorting to illegal and corrupt methods to abolish the traditional socio-cultural prac- tice of live-finch capturing from the Maltese islands," claiming that BirdLife had been using electronic devices to eavesdrop on private mobile phone conver- sations. "Possibly, a false GSM base sta- tion known as 'IMSI catcher' or similar was used to intercept the trappers' mobile traffic in the immediate area," the hunting federation said. It added that the reason behind these alleged actions was to in- f luence the European Court of Justice, which at present is pre- siding a case against Malta. But MaltaToday has learnt that the would-be "eavesdropping equipment" are actually anten- nae set up for 15 to 20 minutes in different locations to establish accurate GPS positioning data as part of a research study on coast- al land-sliding being carried out by an Italian team of experts on behalf of the University of Malta and with the full cooperation of local authorities. The study has been going on for the past 10 years, during which time the team has also inserted a number of rods in the ground at certain strategic locations to use as reference points when ex- trapolating the GPS data used to identif y possible movement in rock masses. MaltaToday tracked down the leader of the Italian team, Prof Mauro Soldati, who said that the study focused mostly on coastal movement in the Northwest of Malta and that the equipment was used to gather data for map- ping, monitoring and modelling. "I can guarantee that the equip- ment we use does not interfere, and cannot be used to interfere, with radio or mobile transmis- sions," he insisted, addressing the FKNK's claims that the equip- ment was being used by BirdLife Malta and CABS to eavesdrop on mobile phone conversations. Soldati said that one of the team's ground rods had been damaged since the team had last been in Malta in April, resulting in a great loss of reference data for the entire project. He said that the lost data could not be recovered or replaced, but insisted that the study would continue, especially since it was already funded through 2017 under the Council of Europe's Major Hazards Agreement. Soldati said that whenever his team had come across hunters while gathering geological data, they had always been treated well by them, even openly wel- comed in many cases. "They are usually cautious when approaching us, but once we explain what we are doing, many express a keen interest in our work and some even recom- mend which trails would be easi- est to follow," he said. Apparatus which is used for seismic studies – hunters' federation thought similar equipment used in Malta was for eavesdropping on mobile phone conversations