Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/756492
WWW.MALTATODAY.COM.MT WEDNESDAY EDITION €1.00 Newspaper post PG 9 • Editorial WEDNESDAY • 30 NOVEMBER 2016 • ISSUE 498 • PUBLISHED EVERY WEDNESDAY AND SUNDAY Palumbo directors charged over death of diver MATTHEW AGIUS SIX directors of Palumbo Malta Shipyard Ltd have been charged for involuntary homicide in connec- tion with the death of a diver who had been carrying out works at the yard, this newspaper can reveal. Naples-resident company direc- tors Antonio Palumbo, Giuseppe Palumbo, Raffaele Palumbo, Gior- gio Flippi, were charged together with their Maltese colleagues, Jo- seph Calleja and Mark Grech, from Santa Venera and Zabbar respec- tively, who were arraigned by sum- mons – not under arrest – before Magistrate Josette Demicoli yes- terday, charged with involuntarily causing the death of Patrick Joseph Vella. The directors pleaded not guilty to the charges. Vella, a Zejtun father of three, lost his life in February 2015 whilst performing works on the under- water mechanism which is used to empty the drydock. The de- ceased, an experienced diver and a marine biologist, died after being sucked into the gate valve of Dock 4 when this valve was unexpect- edly opened. Magistrate Joseph Mifsud's in- quiry into the accident had rec- ommended that criminal action be taken against the directors for what it said were breaches of occu- pational health and safety law. On the basis of the evidence be- fore it, the court decreed that there was sufficient prima facie evidence for a bill of indictment to be issued against the six defendants, who told the court that they had no ob- jection to this. The compilation of evidence will continue in the new year. Inspector Josric Mifsud led the police investigation. Lawyers Gi- annella de Marco and Matthew Brincat are appearing for the de- fendants, whilst lawyer Carlos Bugeja is representing the Vella family in the proceedings. Unions rake in millions from unemployment schemes MIRIAM DALLI TR ADE unions have been ac- tively taking part in tender- ing processes launched by the government for the provision of services for work related to unemployment and earn up to €2,400 for each person who successfully returns to work. Over the past couple of years, government employment agen- cy JobsPlus launched various schemes aimed at training and helping the long-term unem- ployed and unskilled youths join the labour market. Both the UHM Voice of the Workers and the General Work- ers Union have won different tenders to run these schemes. Among the schemes, the GWU runs a community work scheme – a government scheme for jobless persons. The union beat two other ap- plicants, clinching the tender for €980 per participant from which it deducts administrative fees and social security contri- butions. Archbishop Charles Scicluna, who held a meeting with the government on Monday to dis- cuss the scheme, said the GWU would have a monthly surplus of circa €115 on each worker. A rough estimate places the GWU's administrative fees at €110 per worker. The unions are paid €2.1 mil- lion each for the Work Pro- gramme and €1.4 million for profiling of workers and place- ments. With a record low unemploy- ment rate of 3,000, schemes such as the Youth Guarantee and the Work Programme have proven to be key schemes for the government, along with other measures, to help cut down on unemployment figures. In collaboration with the pri- vate sector, JobsPlus last year launched the Work Programme Initiative (WPI) to help indi- viduals aged 25 years and over by re-integrating them into the labour market. Operating the scheme are the UHM, the GWU and P5+, who are paid to profile and train the individuals and assist in job placement. PAGE 4 UHM chief executive Josef Vella Josef Bugeja, secretary-general of the GWU Patrick Vella, a 36-year-old diver from Zejtun, died in an accident at Palumbo Shipyards in February 2015