Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/939870
maltatoday SUNDAY 11 FEBRUARY 2018 26 Go chairman Sonny Portelli denied discussing his company's news portal di-ve.com with the Office of the Prime Minister, prior to a company decision not to report the general elections. The decision was announced Tuesday night on di-ve.com, but no reason was given for the company's decision not to cover the elections, the first time in the history of the news portal which is owned by telephony company Go, whose main shareholders are Dubai- based Tecom Investments. The prime minister's press secre- tary Josephine Vassallo has, however, confirmed she held a meeting with a di-ve.com journalist, Paul Cachia, on 12 December. But she denied having expressed any concern over the type of news coverage di-ve.com was giving to government. "I can't confirm that there was ever any pressure. I keep regular contact with the press. Ours was a friendly meeting in which I offered Paul Cachia our assistance in meeting any short- comings if they could not keep up with the election coverage. "I invited di-ve.com to be more involved in government activities because they did not have enough resources, by offering our assistance on press releases for example," Vassallo told MaltaToday. Sonny Portelli yesterday told Mal- taToday di-ve.com was not Go's core business, saying there were no resourc- es to cover the elections. However, di-ve.com is still reporting other news and events, but nothing concerning political events – a proper blanket of silence on the country's most impor- tant of events. Portelli said: "We are a private company and this is a general election where we feel we should focus on tele- coms and not report on each and every party. One of the first things we have to see is if we have enough resources. We don't have enough resources to cover the elections. We are not invest- ing any more resources because our core business is not di-ve.com." At first claiming not to understand "what this hoo-haa was all about", Portelli first said that politics was not everything di-ve.com reported about. Asked whether di-ve.com was about to be closed, Portelli said: "Nothing is cast in stone. Our commercial lines are under review, and we base ourselves on what contributes to our bottom line, and this is what shareholders want." Asked whether shareholders would be disappointed that the popular news portal will not be offering its readers the important service of reporting the election, Portelli said: "I'm very tran- quil on this decision. We have nothing to do with the world of newspapers." He said di-ve.com was a "peripheral product" and a "drop in the ocean". He denied any government pressure, but when asked whether OPM officials had spoken to Go chief executive David Kay over concerns on objective news reporting, Portelli said: "Nobody spoke to me. If they spoke to someone from the board, I don't know about it. As chairman, nobody spoke to me. Kay hasn't told me anything. Nobody told me anything from di-ve.com." The announcement of Go's "new cor- porate policy" was posted as first item on the di-ve.com website at 9.00pm on Tuesday. "As a result of new corporate policy, di-ve.com will not, for the foreseeable future, cover political activities and statements as part of its day-to-day operations. We shall focus our news coverage on matters of factual, current affairs and general interest. We trust that you will continue choosing our portal as your daily source of Malta- related news – the management." Send your letters to: The Editor, MaltaToday, MediaToday Ltd. Vjal ir-Rihan, San Gwann SGN 9016 | Fax: (356) 21 385075 E-mail: newsroom@mediatoday.com.mt. Letters to the Editor should be concise. No pen names are accepted. News – 10 February, 2008 Di-ve election reporting stopped after government complaints Opinion PN leader's political naiveté Dr Adrian Delia's political na- iveté is mind-boggling! I am not sure if certain statements which he makes are his own creation. Or whether they are fed to him by someone who secretly wishes the leader of the Opposition to keep making a fool of himself, thus making it easier to get rid of him in the foreseeable future, which could be after the 2019 MEPs and local council elec- tions result. I'll just give one of his latest "gems" in an already impressive collection. Speaking during the parliamentary debate on the VGH contract, Dr Adrian Delia said that the Government was "paying €2,600 per day for the Gozo-Malta helicopter service, even on days when the helicop- ter service" – which is intended for use to bring over to Malta any Gozitan patients in an emergency in the shortest time possible – "is not made use of ". So, I assume, Dr Delia as prime minister, would only be ready to pay for the days when the service is used, as if the company does not have to pay the pilots , technicians etc... even for the days when the service is not used ! Which company would be ready to ac- cept what Adrian Delia would want? Let me give Adrian Delia a very simple example, perhaps he would understand what a stupid argument he has made. Each one of us who own and drive a car, pay an annual insurance to ensure that if unfortunately we have an accident, the insurance will cover the costs. but we all hope that we may never need to resort to our insurance. Let us say that the cost of the insurance is €365 per year. Which means that if we do not have any car accident through- out the year, or over five years, we would have paid €1 a day, €365 a year. Or €1,825 over five years, and "got nothing in return" as Adrian Delia has argued! Just as we, car owners, get peace of mind in return for paying car insurance in case we have a car accident, similarly Gozitans are having peace of mind (in case they may need urgent transfer to Mater Dei hospital) by having a govern- ment that is ready to pay for an air-ambulance helicopter to be always available, since accidents and illness can happen at any time! Eddy Privitera Mosta Dangerous railings in Msida New anti-pedestrian railings installed at the bottom of Rue D'Argens in Msida have local cycling lobby group worried. Being on a blind bend these are extremely dangerous. In other countries cyclists who hug the kerb, have been known to have become trapped between the railings and long or heav y vehicles, including buses. The group are advising their members to 'take the lane' as a precautionary measure, keeping clear of the railings. They have also asked TM for a solution. Basically, it's just a poor unsafe design, the group said. Jim Wightman Bicycle Advocacy Group Business owners losing their licence over penalty point system The penalty point system has turned out to be yet another piece of blinkered legislation that places a disproportionate burden on business owners in the most unjust manner. The rash law has unfortunately generated more than a few teething problems and, as GRTU had warned, led to serious consequences. Since the introduction of the pen- alty point system, GRTU has been in discussions with the relevant authorities and respective minis- tries to try and tackle the various issues the system is causing to our members. Two months down the line, progress achieved has so far been minimal and the authorities appear to be taking the issue lightly while people are losing their license for contraventions they did not commit. Those who own a considerable amount of vehicles or have regis- tered company vehicles under their name as natural persons are being held liable for breaches they did not make and receiving driving licence revocation letters for contraven- tions incurred by third parties. Business owners have been placed in a position where they have to prove their innocence for contra- ventions they did not incur. This includes submission of hundreds of declaration forms and agreements every year, a heavy bureaucratic ex- ercise, and having to convince third parties to admit and take on the responsibility of the penalty points on their name, something that can even result in having to take legal action if the party refuses to own up. To add insult to injury, the fact that points are being directed to ve- hicle owners when the vehicles are not stopped, goes against the spirit of the law that clearly states that the penalty points may only be invoked on the driver and not the owner of the vehicle. The ministers responsible have publicly guaranteed that penalty points will only be incurred when the vehicle is stopped, with the only exception being speed cameras, yet GRTU can confirm that this is entirely not the case on the ground. The most recent case of an owner losing his licence is due to the lowest speed violation, failure to comply with a directional sign and failure to comply with a stop sign. All of these contraventions were not made by the enterprise owner, in all instances the vehicle was not stopped as required and the owner has received notice that his licence is being revoked. This is not the only case GRTU is aware of. GRTU has always insisted that the necessary infrastructure had to be properly in place before the system is implemented in order to cater for employers. GRTU there- fore urges the relevant authorities to address these shortcomings without any further delay. GRTU also urges its members to bring to its attention any similar cases. GRTU will be meeting both TM and LESA officials this week in a final attempt to iron our issues amicably. Andrew Aquilina GRTU