Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/917808
maltatoday WEDNESDAY 20 DECEMBER 2017 News 2 MATTHEW VELLA THE Nationalist Party's spokes- person for finance Mario de Marco has demanded clarifi- cations by the Government on the use of cash from citizenship sales, for Bank of Valletta. De Marco is saying the deci- sion to buy shares in Bank of Valletta using this money is a breach of the IIP rules and said the PN will demand an investi- gation by the Auditor General. The National Development and Social Fund, which man- ages the tranche of 70% received from Malta's sale of passports to the global rich, recently ac- quired a 2.91% share in Bank of Valletta through the recent rights issue. But De Marco said the deci- sion to use cash raised through the Individual Investor Pro- gramme for BOV shares raised a number of questions. "According to Legal Notice 2/2015, the funds collected from the IIP programme were to be used for 12 specific purposes. The 12 specified purposes range from helping stakeholders deliv- er social, employment and edu- cational projects, to fostering initiatives that support better governance, and to initiatives for the improvement of health and care for the elderly. "These twelve specific purpos- es do not allow for the purchase of shares by government. By using funds collected from the IIP for the purchase of shares in BOV, the government went against the provisions of the above mentioned legal notice." De Marco said the matter was further compounded by the fact that the Government has a vested interest in BOV, it being a significant shareholder in BOV, and appoints its chairman. The Government defended its decision by stating that in terms of the Legal Notice it is "obliged to undertake initiatives for the benefit of future generations". But De Marco said the pur- pose of this clause was to allow the fund to be used to support and finance projects that have long-term goals. "The purchasing of shares falls beyond the definition of 'under- taking initiatives for the benefit of future generations'. Govern- ment, however, used this clause to award itself unfettered pow- ers to spend the IIP money as it so wishes and then justify its ac- tions by stating that it 'benefits future generations'." De Marco said the Govern- ment had kept this course of ac- tion hidden from the public eye. "No public announcement was made by the Government or BOV. Yet again it is thanks to the media that the taxpayer found out about the Govern- ment's action. The Opposition is calling on the Government to publish all the correspondence and documentation relevant to this expenditure including the cost benefit analysis that was done to ensure that this public money was spent in the best possible manner. If the Govern- ment fails to publish this docu- mentation then the Opposition will call on the Auditor General to investigate this expenditure." French investigators struggling to explain 2016 spy-plane crash A progress report on the inves- tigations into the crashing of a reconnaissance aircraft operated by the French defence ministry is yet to identify a likely explana- tion for the plane's abrupt crash. On 24 October last year, the modified Merlin IV aircraft took off from the Malta International Airport at 7.19am spending only ten seconds in the air before crashing in Safi, killing all five on board. Initially reported to have been on a Frontex mission, it later transpired that the aircraft was owned by Lux company CAE aviation – a private contractor specialising in aerial surveillance and parachuting. The mission was said to have been a French Customs opera- tion tracking human and drug trafficking routes. A progress report on the in- vestigations, the French BEA-D (Le Bureau Enquetes Accidents Defense – Air) outlines excludes a number of possible factors that it could exclude as having cause the fatal crash, but does not sug- gest any likely cause. The aircraft was operated by a 30-year-old former French mili- tary pilot, together with a second surveillance pilot, 70. Both men's last flight on the aircraft was four days earlier, on the 20 October 2016. Both had Federal Aviation Administration licences. In addition to the two pilots, a tactical coordinator and two "operators" were on board. The aircraft's maintenance was performed by CAVOK, a sub- sidiary of CAE, in July and Sep- tember that year. Modifications were made to the plane in March 2016. While the investigation is still ongoing, with an analysis of the propulsion systems, some flight instruments and the fuselage, among others, still pending, the report opines that at this stage, some scenarios are being con- sidered unlikely, if not outright rejected. The BEA-D rejected the pos- sibility that one of the flight crew seats may have come un- locked at rotation, as they have the possibility that the plane's dive was caused by a bird strike or turbulence from a preced- ing aircraft. According to the report, the aircraft's Stall Avoidance System indicator on the Warning and Caution panel was lit red but states that "this information alone does not explain the event". Moreover, investigators stated that the "the hypothesis of glare from the sun contributing to the accident could not be rejected", adding however that "the sun alone cannot be the cause of the accident". Once pending tests have been completed, and depending on their results, "additional investi- gations in the technical field and that of organizational and hu- man factors" were envisaged by the report. De Marco says passport cash to buy BOV shares could be illegal The acquisition of a 2.91% share in Bank of Valletta using cash from the sale of passports breaches the IIP rules, Mario de Marco has declared