Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/803478
Newspaper post Don't forget 2 Diverging opinions amongst heads of Church schools despite Archbishop's call YOUR FIRST READ AND FIRST CLICK OF THE DAY WWW.MALTATODAY.COM.MT V18 clinches €1 million Melina Mercouri prize Islam in schools Minister's extravagant $400,000 spend for Preti JURGEN BALZAN A second catering firm which does not advertise on local media was invoiced by the Nationalist Party's commercial arm for tens of thousands of euros in return for an alleged donation to pay off party executives' salaries. MaltaToday was told by sources who have seen the com- mercial documentation, that the PN's media company Me- dia.Link has received close to €600,000 since 2013 from two catering companies part-owned by the hotelier Silvio Debono – the airline catering company Sky Gourmet and Malta Healthcare Caterers, which provide catering to homes for the elderly and hospitals. A confirmation of the total sum of donations that could have been 'paid' to the PN's company comes after this news- paper last week said Media.Link had invoiced airline catering firm Sky Gourmet for €70,800 for "programming" on its me- dia. The PN did not deny the reports, insisting it would not disclose the identity of companies which entered into "com- mercial agreements" with its media company Media.Link. Sky Gourmet Malta exclusively provides catering services to airlines and does not normally take out advertising. PARTY FINANCING Both Silvio Debono's airline catering and hospital catering firms paid Media.Link The foundation takes UNESCO prize for its upcoming capital of culture adventure Mattia Preti's 'Daniel Interpreting Nebuchadnezzar's Dream' was bought for a staggering $401,211, outstripping Heritage Malta's own acquisition spend over the last three years SAVIOUR BALZAN GOZO minister Anton Refalo has purchased a Mattia Preti painting in a Sotheby's auction for the princ- ley sum of $401,211 (€371,233), de- spite Heritage Malta – the national agency responsible for national heritage and works of art – express- ing its opinion that it would not have considered purchasing it. The spend, which includes the de- livery to the as-yet unopened Gozo Museum in Rabat, almost totals the entire value of acquisitions by Heritage Malta made since 2014. The funds for the purchase were however sourced from the Gozo ministry budget. MaltaToday learnt that the price tag for Preti's Daniel Interpreting Nebuchadnezzar's Dream raised eyebrows at both Heritage Malta and the finance ministry, which had to evaluate the necessity and value of the artwork before the purchase. PAGE 2 Second 'publicity-shy' company was invoiced by PN media company PAGE 7 16 17 Art of combustion "The Flame is nonsensical, it says nothing and bears no meaning despite the attempts to impose a subject on it" Clocks move forward one hour as summertime begins 4 5 €1.40 SUNDAY • 26 MARCH 2017 • ISSUE 907 • PUBLISHED EVERY WEDNESDAY AND SUNDAY YOUR FIRST READ AND FIRST CLICK OF THE DAY WWW.MALTATODAY.COM.MT SUNDAY • SUNDAY • SUNDAY • 26 MARCH 2017 • ISSUE 907 26 MARCH 2017 • ISSUE 907 • PUBLISHED EVERY WEDNESDAY AND SUNDAY • PUBLISHED EVERY WEDNESDAY AND SUNDAY maltatoday