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MW 14 June 2017

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maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 14 JUNE 2017 News 8 Thursday TVM 20:50 MUMN calls for full investigation after nurse goes four weeks without salary MIRIAM DALLI THE Malta Union of Mid- wives and Nurses (MUMN) is calling for a full investigation after a nurse went four weeks without a salary. MaltaToday is informed that the nurse should have re- ceived her salary on May 19, along with the other public service employees. But for un- known reasons, the transfer of money was not effected and a secretary from the treasury out on sick leave continued to complicate matters for the 53-year-old mother. The nurse will receive her salary in the coming days. In comments to MaltaTo- day, MUMN secretary gen- eral Colin Galea explained how the primary healthcare worker should have received her salary 26 days ago, like the rest of her colleagues. Come payday, the woman checked her bank account only to find that the transfer had not been effected. After waiting for two days in the hope that the matter would be resolved without any compli- cations, the nurse found that she still had not been paid. The woman proceeded to call the department of pri- mary healthcare in Floriana, who would in turn inform her that the only person who could answer her queries was a secretary at the treasury de- partment in Gozo responsible for the health salaries. Up in arms and 15 days later, the nurse turned to the MUMN for help. After the nurses' union contacted the salaries section and demand- ed that the nurse be presented with a cheque as soon as pos- sible, a department official reassured the union that the woman would be paid. "We are today in the fourth week and the nurse has not been paid. This situation is unacceptable and shameful. How can a worker go all these weeks without receiving a penny?" Galea told MaltaTo- day. In reply to questions by this newspaper, a spokesperson for the Ministry for Health con- firmed that the case is going to be investigated. "As soon as the employee in question informed her su- periors of the mishap, the Primary Healthcare Depart- ment took immediate action with the Gozo Salaries Sec- tion to rectify the situation," the spokesperson said, adding that the nurse will receive the amount due with the next sal- ary later this week. Galea said that workers had personal commitments to honour, bills to pay and fami- lies to maintain. He said that while the union understood that mistakes can be made, it was unacceptable for these not to be remedied as soon as possible. He went on to add that it was not the first time that disagreements arose between the different departments in Malta and Gozo, with officials pointing fingers at each other. "There's no form of account- ability," he added. Galea reiterated that the MUMN was demanding a full investigation into the case. Head of the House of Romanov in Malta for official visit THE Grand Duchess Maria of Russia is in Malta for an official visit marking the 140th anni- versary of the birth, in Malta, of her grandmother, the Grand Duchess Victoria of Russia, who was in turn, the grand- daughter of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom and Em- peror Alexander II of Russia. Victoria was born in Malta in November 1876 at San Anton Palace. The Duchess Maria is a direct descendant of Peter the Great, Catherine the Great and Alex- ander II and the current head of the Romanov House, although this has been disputed since 1992. The official delegation in- cludes Alexander Zakatov, di- rector of the Chancellery of the Head of the Russian Im- perial House, Prince Vadim Lopukhin, director of the Ex- ternal Relations Department of the Chancellery, Princess Ekaterina Lopukhin, lady in waiting, Stanislav Dumin, head of the Heraldry of the Chancellery and Hieromonk Nikon (Belavenets), director of the Department of Historical and Memorial Activities of the Chancellery. During her stay in Malta, the Duchess Maria will be meet- ing the President of the Re- public Marie Louise Coleiro Preca, Archbishop Charles Scicluna, Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary ambassador of the Russian Federation to Malta Vladimir Malygin, and Marchesino Daniel de Petri Testaferrata, president of the Maltese Association of the Sov- ereign Military Order. Bolshevik revolution refugees The Grand Duchess Victoria was born a British princess in Malta where her father served in the royal navy. Victoria later settled in Paris before moving to Russia in 1910, however her stay lasted just seven years, as she was forced to flee to Fin- land following the fall of the monarchy in the Bolshevik rev- olution of 1917. In 1919, HMS Marlborough arrived in Sebastopol Russia to take the royal family to Eng- land via Malta, where they ar- rived on the 20 April 1919. The majority of those on board the ship left Malta shortly after to England as well as other desti- nations across Europe. That same week, on the 25 April, 1919, a second ship ar- rived in Malta with over 650 Russian refugees, some of whom then settled in Malta. Links to the Order of Malta The Romanov house has had friendly relations with the Sovereign Military Order of Malta for over two centuries. Emperor Paul I was elected Grand Master of the Or- der in 1798 after the knights were expelled from Malta. Although Paul I was not a Roman Catholic and had not taken any of the necessary vows to qualify as a Grand Master, the Order considers him a de facto Grand Master. Of the six emperors that succeeded Paul I, five were members of the Order of Malta. The Duchess Maria became a Dame Grand Cross of Hon- our and Devotion in 1994. The Grand Duchess Maria of Russia

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