Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/810144
maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 12 APRIL 2017 News 8 MIRIAM DALLI SIGGIEWI mayor Karol Aquilina yesterday held an urgent meeting with the management of the Lo- cal Enforcement System Agency (LESA) over speeding tickets is- sued to motorists driving up to 66km/h on the locality's bypass. A recently installed speed camera in Siggiewi has seen drivers being fined for speed- ing violations despite exceeding the 60km/h by less than 10%. A 10% speed tolerance mechanism would mean that those driving up to 66km/h would not be fined. LESA yesterday said that the re- maining 20 speed cameras on the island allowed speed tolerance, with the exception of the one in Siggiewi. Motorists have contacted the MaltaToday newsroom com- plaining of fines on other routes despite exceeding the limit by less than 10%. Motorists would then have to petition the fine. The Siggiewi mayor has insisted that the council never asked for such a mechanism to be disabled. Aquilina this morning held a meeting with the local enforce- ment agency arguing that the speed tolerance is implemented. "This change should be imple- mented with immediate effect," Aquilina said, adding that fines issued to drivers driving up to 66km/h should be withdrawn. Aquilina said that motorists who have already paid their fines should be reimbursed. The mayor said LESA will be considering the council's re- quests and decide accordingly. Aquilina explained that during a meeting held in January, LESA officials informed the council that the government had decided to withdraw the ministerial di- rective which enabled the speed tolerance measure. The ministerial directive was introduced by former PN trans- port minister, Austin Gatt. "I was also informed that there existed no law regulating speed tolerance and the mechanism would be disabled from all speed cameras across Malta and Gozo," he said. Aquilina insisted that the lo- cal council had never requested for the tolerance mechanism to be disabled: "To the contrary, I asked for it to be applied in Sig- giewi as well but I was informed this would not be possible be- cause of the government's deci- sion." Environment minister recommends Wied Ghomor as public domain site JEANELLE MIFSUD ENVIRONMENT minister Josè Herrera yesterday recommended Wied Ghomor, as well as the Inwa- dar Nature Park, to be considered as public domain sites. The Public Domain Act permits citizens and NGOs to recommend land and property to be listed as public domain, meaning that it can- not be used for commercial reasons while also guaranteeing unrestrict- ed access to the public. The Wied Ghomor ODZ site in Swieqi includes a disused cow farm, on which the owners had proposed a tourist village spread over 13,000 square metres of land. Following an outcry by residents and environmentalists in 2016, Rodrick Fenech, owner of Mensija Real Estate Ltd, withdrew his plans for the 116-room tourist village, but announced that he will be making another proposal which does not go beyond the footprint of the existing abandoned livestock farm. An application for a 133-room old people's home instead of a quarry in another part of Wied Ghomor was also refused by a unanimous deci- sion by the Planning Authority last year. The valley has also attracted a number of application for the rede- velopment of existing rural build- ings prompting various objections from residents and environmental groups. Inwadar, on the other hand, is the area already identified as a national park, neighbouring the proposed campus for American University of Malta (AUM), which is earmarked over 18,000 square metres of pres- ently undeveloped ODZ land. The government had at first pro- posed to build the AUM over a campus stretching across 90,000 square metres of virgin land, but later downscaled the area to 18,000 square metres after being met with protests. In making his recommendations, Herrera described the Public Do- main Act as "a landmark" that will better-protect the environment, sig- nalling that more recommendation could be in the pipeline. "At the moment, the ministry is studying the possibility of delineat- ing certain old countryside passage ways which could also be similarly declared, and which would therefore guarantee better access to the gen- eral public," Herrera said. eNGOs Flimkien ghal Ambjent Ahjar and Friends of the Earth also put forward a number of proposals, many of which are presently ear- marked for development. These sites include Manoel Island, which is earmarked for construc- tion of villas, hotels and a public park around Fort Manoel by MIDI, and Wied Garnaw, which includes an area identified for an ODZ old people's home. Other sites also include Hondoq in Qala, which was the site previ- ously earmarked for a tourist village turned down last year by the PA, Kalanka in Delimara where the site of a derelict hotel was proposed for development, and St George's Bay, which is being proposed for mas- sive high-rise development on the coastline as well as a beach for the ITS development. The inclusion of these sites in the public domain could have an im- pact on pending planning applica- tions. These applications will now be vetted by the Planning Authority, and those approved will be up for discussion before Parliament. Other sites recommended by the eNGOs include: • Three historic landmark trees, Ta' Xbiex • The Valletta coastline and Fort St Elmo • St Thomas Bay (Marsascala) to Xrobb l-Għaġin (Marsax- lokk) • Sites from Siġġiewi to Żurrieq • Sites: Pinetum beyond Flo- riana fortification walls and Argotti, St Philips and Sa Masion Public Gardens • A stretch of land from Ġnejna to Mtaħleb • Villa Guardamangia, Pietà • Simblija (including Wied ir- Rum, Ta' Baldu and Wied Ħażrun) • Comino • Ċittadella, Victoria, Gozo • Ta' Ċenċ, Sannat • Ħas-Saptan and Wied Żembaq • Il-Ballut tal-Wardija • Il-Ballut tal-Imgiebaħ • Ras ir-Raheb and Qlejgħa • Fomm ir-Riħ The Wied Ghomor ODZ site in Swieqi includes the disused cow farm MRSA infections at Mater Dei hospital down by 90% THE minister for health Chris Fearne said that when com- pared to 2009, last year the bac- terial infection known as MRSA was reduced by 90% in Mater Dei. "In 2009 Malta had registered one of the highest percentages with regards to the MRSA bac- teria in hospitals, in Europe," Fearne said. In 2009, two people were found infected per 1,000 days, and in 2016 - 0.2 people were found infected per 1,000 days. The MRSA infection is caused by bacteria that are resistant to many of the antibiotics used to- wards ordinary infection treat- ment, and most cases of infec- tion occur in people who have stayed in hospitals. Malta is now one of the few countries, which has controlled these bacteria in hospitals. The hospital's infection con- trol unit chief Michael Borg said that a number of measures have been taken at Mater Dei hospi- tal, such as patient testing and an aggressive campaign on the importance of hand washing, especially to those who visit the hospital. He said this was done in or- der not to pass on any bacteria which may have been picked up to the patients in question, who would be in a more vulnerable state. Drivers 'shouldn't be fined' if driving up to 66km/h Motorists on the Siggiewi bypass should drive at 60km/h