Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/798939
maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 15 MARCH 2017 News 7 Big retail projects in the pipeline CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 In re- cent months, the PG Group appointed former Bank of Val- letta chief Charles Borg as chief executive officer, former PricewaterhouseCoopers part- ner John Zarb as non-executive chairman and tax lawyer Ra- mona Piscopo as director. The company said the appointments were aimed at strengthening the corporate governance of the board by creating the correct balance between the execu- tive and non-executive di- rectorships. The company has a num- ber of projects in the pipe- line, including expanding the Zara outlet in Sliema by some 900 square metres, mak- ing it one of the largest in Eu- rope. One of Gauci's companies, Big Bon, will also be the lead operator of what is being described as Malta's big- gest shopping mall in St Julian's. The shopping mall will be part of the con- troversial San Gorg pro- ject on the ITS site, which will be leased to the DB Group for 99 years. The shopping mall will cover almost 24,000 square metres on three levels and will be "solely dedicated to the most luxurious designer brands, in line with the recurrent upmar- ket theme of the project". The Big Bon Group will be the lead operator for the mall, to attract brands which are currently not present in Malta. Mechanic demands €26,000 from Enemalta after faulty meter reduces garage to ash MATTHEW AGIUS A father and son whose garage was gutted by a fire caused by a mains fault are demand- ing at least €26,000 in compensation from Enemalta. The demand was made in a judicial letter filed in the First Hall of the Civil Court by lawyer Emmy Bezzina on behalf of 62-year- old Augustine Bonnici and his son Roderick, 32, against Enemalta, the Commissioner of Police, the Attorney General, the Minister for Justice and ARMS. The letter explains that on 5 October last year, their garage in Triq Ġuże Ellul Mer- cer, Iklin suffered structural damage and its contents – a Hyundai and specialised mechanic's tools – were destroyed. A court- appointed expert had informed them that the fire had been started by a defective elec- tricity meter. The garage belonged to the father and had been used by the son who also worked as a mechanic on the side. The car destroyed in the blaze belonged to a friend of the son, as did an engine, which also perished in the fire. Before the fire, the garage had been worth €38,000 and the tools stored inside it €43,000, they claimed. Today its value was "zero," as nothing could be done with it any- more. Besides the cost of rebuilding the now structurally unsound garage, the plaintiffs said they would have to incur the expense of cleaning, transporting and disposing of the contents. They demanded compensation for the loss they have suffered and the future expenses they are going to suffer as well as for being prevented from using the garage. The garage suffered structural damage and its contents were destroyed 77% of Maltese make regular use of internet AROUND 77% of the Mal- tese population (258,415 peo- ple) make regular use of the internet, a survey has found. The survey, conducted by the National Statistics Office, shows that practically every youth aged between 16 and 24 accessed the internet within the three months prior to the surveying period. In sharp contrast, only 37.9% of elderly people aged 65 to 74 made use of the in- ternet during that period. The survey also found that 76.4% of regular internet us- ers accessed the internet via a smartphone throughout 2016, a slight 2.1% increase when compared with 2015. 95% of mobile internet us- ers accessed the internet via a WIFI connection, while 80.9% accessed the internet via a 3G or 4G connection. The internet is mostly used for communication purposes (95.1%), to access information (91.8%) and for entertain- ment purposes (89.9%). Some 56.7% of internet us- ers made use of e-Govern- ment services, a 2% increase over the previous year. Usage of e-Government services mainly increased (6.2 per- centage points) among per- sons aged between 25 and 34. The survey also indicated that cloud computing has become less popular – 35.6% of internet users made use of cloud technology in 2016, a decrease of 3.8 percentage points when compared with 2015 levels. Also, 60% of individuals who used the internet three months prior to the survey- ing period purchased goods or services online in the pre- vious year. Similar to 2015, the most common goods or services acquired online were clothes, sports goods, holiday accommodation and other transport arrangements.