Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/821520
maltatoday, TUESDAY, 9 MAY 2017 5 News proposes constitutional protection of environment, no new ODZ projects The proposals were the fol- lowing: Environment • Having "the protection of the environment, the right to clear air and to environmental health, as well as the right to action in favour of the environ- ment" enshrined in the constitution. • A commitment not to un- dertake any public ODZ projects. • The closure of the Sant'Antnin recycling facility over a period of seven years, starting with the operation generating bad smells. The facility would be replaced by an open space. Retail Sector • Schemes facilitating ac- cess to credit through the Malta Development Bank working together with commercial banks. • The automatic imple- mentation of the late payments directive, in- cluding interests on late payments for those busi- nesses offering their ser- vices to government enti- ties. • Update rent laws to give "more legal power to ten- ants operating shops". • Increasing the thresh- old beyond which VAT is payable – from €14,000 to €20,000. Increasing the Micro Invest scheme from €30,000 to €50,000 for businesses based in Malta, and up to €70,000 for businesses based in Gozo, and those with a female majority of share- holding. Transport • Offering free school transport across the board. • Free public transport for students, children, pen- sioners and people with a disability. • The option for people to renounce their driver's licence in exchange for free use of public trans- port. • A €2,500 fiscal incentive for those who choose to trade-in their old car for a motor bike. Health • Healthcare to remain free. • Tax refund for anyone voluntarily taking out private health insurance • New psychiatric hospi- tal at Mater Dei and the refurbishment of Mount Carmel hospital • New 'mother and child hospital' that will free-up some 230 beds at Mater Dei • 600-700 additional park- ing spaces at Mater Dei Hospital • More free medicines, in- cluding all those used to treat cancer. • Introduction of a remote patient monitoring sys- tem and the increased use of small regional hos- pitals to reduce the load from Mater Dei. Education • Removal of fees for MAT- SEC and SEC examina- tions • Start talks on increasing school staff wages and the reduction in teachers' workload. • Start talks on switching LSAs to an indefinite con- tract • Apprentices to be paid sal- ary that is not less than the minimum wage. proposals too vague, mixed Sant'Antnin closure GRTU CEO Abigail Mamo wel- comed the proposal to increase ac- cess to finance through the Malta Development Bank (MDB), but in- sisted more details were required. "At face value this is a good pro- posal but we lack details," said Ma- mo. "If the MDB acts as a facilitator, the banks will not reduce interest rates and charges, but they might reduce their need for so much col- lateral." Mamo said that if on the other hand the government were to incen- tivise the creation of banks to lend to small businesses, there would be more competition, and interest rates and charges would go down because there would no longer be a monopoly in the sector. Turning to the government's pro- posal to automatically apply the late payment directive, Mamo pointed out that the government had a legal obligation to abide by the terms of the directive. "This therefore is welcome but this is not a concession to busi- nesses, it has been their right for a while," she said. Mamo welcomed the Labour Par- ty's pledge to increase the value of the Micro Invest Scheme, but pointed out it was unclear how many enterprises would benefit from the measure since only 45% of costs were covered by the scheme and only enterprises employing fewer than 30 people were eligible. "A better improvement would have been a larger percentage re- turn through tax credits and open- ing the scheme up to larger enter- prises," said Mamo. holes that can be exploited. "The planning commission give permits every five minutes," he said. "There's less media coverage, less representation by the Environment and Resources Agency (ERA) and NGOs." He stressed that neither of the two parties was proposing a way of clos- ing present policy loopholes, and that nobody was speaking about re- pealing 2014 ODZ guidelines for ex- ample. Moreover, the biologist questioned whether a Labour Party government would commit itself to freezing the American University project if it was really serious about the proposal. On the pledge to close the Sant'Antnin waste treatment facil- ity, Greenpak CEO Mario Schembri said that the proposal made a "lot of sense". He explained that the current facili- ty was made up of two components – the materials recovery facility (MRF) where plastic, glass, metal and pa- per are sorted in preparation for recycling, and the mechanical and biological treatment (MBT) section where organic waste is composted. "The MBT of the facility is not that old, however diverting organic waste to a much larger and more modern facility at Maghtab makes a lot of sense." Asked whether he feels the transfer of the facility is a priority, Schembri stressed that Maghtab was reaching full capacity. "My question would be, what are the parties proposing to do once we run out of landfill void in some three to four years' time? Find space for a new landfill, build an incinerator, recycle most of our waste, or reduce waste generation to zero?" GRTU welcomes retail measures