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maltatoday SUNDAY 12 NOVEMBER 2017 12 News Office Space Required at Marsa or neighbouring areas The Ministry for the Family, Children's Rights and Social Solidarity would like to receive offers for the lease of office space in Marsa or neighbouring areas, with a minimum area of 200 square metres and preferably in a zone where there are adequate parking spaces. Information is to be submitted in a sealed envelope, and deposited at the Directorate for Corporate Services, Ministry the Family, Children's Rights and Social Solidarity, Level 4, Palazzo Ferreria, Republic Street, Valletta by noon of Wednesday 22nd November , 2017 MATTHEW AGIUS A successful challenge in Mal- ta's highest court by landowners compensated for just 132 square metres of nearly 2000 sqm expro- priated from them for road con- struction, on the grounds that it was their responsibility to build roads, is expected to force a hefty payout by the government. In December 2000, Salvu Schembri received a notice from the Lands Department inform- ing him that a 1,954sqm parcel of land in Hamrun belonging to his road construction company Schembri Barbros Ltd was to be expropriated with an offer of a paltry €9,888 (Lm4,245) as com- pensation. Schembri refused after an in- dependent valuation he commis- sioned arrived at the rather dif- ferent figure of €2,932,500. Transport Malta had oddly insisted that only 132sqm of Schembri's land were being ex- propriated, as the rest of the area consisted of residential roads and therefore no expropriation was needed "as it was the responsi- bility of the residents to pave the area." Understandably, this did not go down well with the landowner. "They are interpreting law in a manner which puts the obligation of compensation on the owners of the housed facing the road," Schembri Barbros Ltd's lawyer John L. Gauci said. Eventually a smaller part of the area was expropriated, but the owners received nothing in compensation from the Lands Department (today the Lands Authority) and so the lawsuit was filed against the Commissioner for Lands, Transport Malta and the Attorney General. The Constitutional Court ruled that it was the right of the plain- tiff, as legitimate landowner to be compensated for being deprived of the peaceful possession of his land. The Court turned down Trans- port Malta's argument that it should not be held responsible for the expropriation of land to be used for residential roads. "The fact that the roads on the lands had already been made by third parties took nothing away from the rights of the applicants to be compensated in terms of the Con- stitution and European Conven- tion on Human Rights.". The judges disagreed with the decision of the first Hall of the Civ- il Court, which had only awarded Schembri €5,000 in moral dam- ages, on the grounds that the ex- propriated area was "quite small." "This part of the decision is fac- tually unsustainable taking into account the fact that the proven area is of 1439.79 square metres and therefore certainly this tract of land cannot be taken to be 'quite small.'" "Once it has been proved that the applicants are the owners of the lands in question, they must be compensated for their being taken from them," said the court. The decision to uphold the ap- peal does not completely resolve the issue, however, and still leaves the landowners having to file sep- arate proceedings for compensa- tion. Landowners win compensation claim over road expropriation MARIA PACE MALTESE books are selling more than ever, thanks to a new era of innovation and creativity taking over the book industry. Publishers at this year's Malta Book Festival said innovations were enticing people to get back to reading in their native language, reporting rising sales in publica- tions. NSO data reports that the Mal- tese spent less on books, newspa- pers, and magazines between 2014 and 2016, down by 18% over the two years. Even book imports declined, from €10 million in 2014 to €8 million in 2016. But while print appears to be 'in decline', publishers speaking to MaltaToday at the book festival were of a different opinion, indi- cating that a new era of innovative Maltese literature is on its way. While Maltese speakers also seek English-language books, the new wave of Maltese literature is at- tracting more to read in their native language, Chris Gruppetta from Merlin Publishers said. "By default, Maltese people usually ask for Eng- lish books," Gruppetta said. "But when they see the Maltese books on the shelves, they're usually in- terested." A new range of literature by Mal- tese writers like Ġużè Stagno or the political fiction Kapitali by Wayne Flask, are quickly attracting read- ers to read in their native tongue, thanks to unique story lines and creative book covers. Clive Perini from Millers Dis- tribution agreed that Maltese lit- erature is on the rise, citing as an example romance novels and chil- dren's literature selling quickly. "Maltese books are selling more than ever," he said. Perini believes eBooks and on- line reading have not affected the industry as much as expected. "At the beginning, we thought it would take over, but in reality it hasn't," Perini said. The Labour Party's publishing arm, SKS, also believes the industry has survived any past fears of the Internet dampening enthusiasm in the book. The author of various books works on Maltese history and personalities, Claire Xuereb Grech said that intimate accounts of Malta's history are not easily found online, which is why books are so important for the Maltese. "Since you don't find Malta's sto- ries online, people often want to have these books in their personal library," she said. Xuereb Grech also said that be- cause publishing in Malta is limited and some books are only printed once, people are often quick to buy them before they run out. But Gordon Pisani from Kite Group said much of their Maltese output – now a range of political, humorous and art books – are being republished more than once due to their popularity. Former European Commissioner and PN grandee To- nio Borg's collection of humorous anecdotes, Nidħqu Bina Nfusna, is now on a third run. Pisani said despite the challenges, innovative Maltese works will al- ways pique readers' interest. "Crea- tivity and innovation are the hall- marks of Kite Group." As an example, the self-titled art collection of Gabriel Caruana was published in four different colours, each representing an area in the vet- eran artist's work. Architect Richard England's Sanctuaries of the Soul in- cludes a limited edition of 20 books with individually-drawn jackets and signed by the artist himself. "Our books are complemented by works of art by renowned award-winning artists. We're interested in adding value to people's libraries." Merlin's Chris Gruppetta adds that innovation is also changing Maltese children's literature. "Chil- dren often read more Maltese works than adults, usually because schools and parents urge them to do so. But it's also easier to attract children to Maltese work. Once they identify with a character, they are hooked to the story regardless of the language." And it's not just characters on print… some of them are literally jumping out of the books: writer and publisher Ruth Frendo recently introduced augmented reality to her books, where pictures scanned by a device can reveal movies and stop motion clips to go with the stories. Publishers say Maltese book trade healthier than ever