Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/858250
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 6 AUGUST 2017 News 5 Restaurants will have to pay more for al fresco dining JAMES DEBONO Owners of demountable plat- forms erected to host al fresco din- ers will be expected to pay a "plan- ning gain" amounting to twice the contribution they pay now for tak- ing up parking spaces. Establishments granted a permit to put up demountable platforms in Sliema and Valletta will now be charged €4,192 for each parking space they occupy. Demountable platforms erected along pavements have mush- roomed in Gzira, Sliema, Valletta and other locations following the approval a policy that allows res- taurants to take up parking spaces as long as they allow a 1.5-metre passage for pedestrians. The policy has been criticised by local councils for taking up park- ing spaces. The PA already charges a con- tribution on the loss of parking spaces for any development, which is approved through its Urban Improvement Fund or the Com- muted Parking Payment Scheme. In Sliema and Valletta this already amounts to €2,096 for each park- ing space taken. In localities like Rabat the contribution to the Ur- ban Improvement Fund amounts to €1,165 for each parking space lost. Funds raised from these schemes are used to fund traffic manage- ment, green transport, urban im- provements or similar projects. But according to the latest circu- lar issued to all architects in Malta the planning gain in cases of res- taurants with outside tables will be twice the amount due for each parking loss. The PA is justifying this saying that establishments with al fresco tables will be charged both for the removal of the existing parking space itself and also to make up for the additional parking genera- tion. The contribution for each space is to reflect the planning contribu- tion which applies for the area. 15 applications for outside chairs and tables have been presented by establishments in Sliema in 2016 and the first half of 2017. Seven applications were presented in Marsaskala in the same period. Most of the applications involve the erection of a "demountable platform" on spaces previously used for parking. Pilots turn down 5% salary increase Tony Blair on private Malta visit A private jet carrying former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair arrived in Malta yes- terday for what has been de- scribed as a "private visit." Accompanied on the trip by his wife Cherie, Blair will be attending a number of private engagements before meeting Prime Minister Jo- seph Muscat and Mrs Mus- cat, according to a statement issued by the Office of the Prime Minister. Blair, Britain's Labour Prime Minister from 1997 to 2007, operated a consul- tancy business for a time after leaving office and now runs a not-for-profit organi- sation called the Institute for Global Change. In the June 2017 election, Blair released a recorded en- dorsement for Muscat that was broadcast during one of the Labour mass meetings. Blair is also best remem- bered for his support of the George W. Bush administra- tion over the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan and the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Blair has been subject to particular criticism for his role in the invasion of Iraq. In 2016, a public inquiry in the UK described the inva- sion of Iraq as unjustified and unnecessary, leading to calls that he be tried for war crimes and for waging a war of aggression. CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 FENECH said it was "difficult to calculate" what fleet size and route network could guar- antee more flying hours. "If Air Malta increas- es the frequency of flights to destinations fur- ther away from Malta, like the UK, it will be possible for pilots to fly 75 hours a month. If the frequency increases to destinations which are closer to Malta like Catania, it will be a lit- tle more difficult unless they are coordinated so a pilot can fly multiple sectors a day." When scheduling their flights, airlines must take into account flight time limitations, as well as the time when the pilot reports for du- ties, apart from any alterations to Air Malta's flight scheduling system for pilots to start fly- ing multiple flights or sectors a day. Fenech said that while some might argue that 75 hours a month is not much, this was the maximum permitted under EU regulations. "Moreover this does not include pre- and post- flight duties, as well as standby and training time," Fenech said. Fenech has insisted that talks with Air Mal- ta management over a long-term collective agreement are going well and that proceed- ings were "cordial", saying that "practically all issues", including flight-time limitations, had already been ironed out. What remains was a "just salary". But the pilots' union is saying that Air Malta has its "workings" all wrong, having miscal- culating how much money it would be saving over the duration of the agreement by chang- ing the definition for a pilot's off-day "One of the most significant changes is the reduction in the length of an off-day," Fene- ch said. "A normal office worker stops work- ing at 4.00pm and has a full day off and then starts again at 8.00am the next day – a 40-hour period. A pilot's off-day could be as short as working till midnight having one free calendar day and reporting for work at 6.00am the next day," he explained. Previously, an off-day at minimum stretched from 10.00pm to 8.00am. Other changes, he said, include the reduction of the rest between flights, which has been re- duced from 15 to 12 hours, as well as "changes in the amount of consecutive duties" pilots can work. Other issues include the payment for points obtained for each hour of flying, which is paid over and above a pilot's basic salary, which amounts to two-thirds of the total salary. Fenech has confirmed that Air Malta was of- fering only a 5% increase in salaries, but has not confirmed whether it has been accepted. When questioned by this newspaper as to whether a 30% increase was realistic, tour- ism minister Konrad Mizzi stressed that pi- lots' wage demands needed to be sustainable and that talks on a new collective agreement needed to take place within the context of a national airline whose financial situation was "dire". But Fenech said that pilots were not after a 30% increase in basic salary. Still he would not be drawn into how big an increase was being suggested. "It's difficult to give a fixed figure because it depends on many factors, and the increase one pilot will benefit from might not be the same as that of another," he said. Air Malta's pilots have long since contended that compared to other pilots flying similar aircraft with legacy airlines, they are signifi- cantly underpaid. In fact, Fenech said that even with a pay rise, Air Malta's pilots would still be making "significantly less" than their counterparts and that this would still leave the airline at an advantage over competing carriers in the payroll department. The last agreement between ALPA and Air Malta was signed in 2012 and amounted to a 4.25% deal that saw pilots' salaries increase cu- mulatively by 3% each year, covering the pe- riod between 2012 and 2015. ypace@mediatoday.com.mt ALPA is saying that Air Malta has its "workings" all wrong, miscalculating how much money it would be saving by changing the definition for a pilot's off-day