Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/943656
maltatoday SUNDAY 18 FEBRUARY 2018 6 News MATTHEW VELLA A perjury investigation on a drug trafficking case that sparked an in- quiry into accusations of political interference, is still pending an ap- peal into the case. Police are unable to file charges on accusations of perjury against Zael Vella, over the retraction of her statement against Kevin Vella, 21, of Victoria, Gozo, who was jailed for trafficking cocaine at a party at Mgarr ix-Xini back in June 2013. Sources told MaltaToday that the lengthy appeal will hold up the charges of perjury against Vella, whose retraction of her initial po- lice statement – which incriminat- ed Kevin Vella – was discredited by the magistrate who sentenced the man to jail. In an official comment, the Police said that it would "assess the im- plications" of a judgement by the Court of Criminal Appeal "for any related investigations." In a mammoth 108-page judg- ment, Magistrate Joseph Mifsud had shown he was clearly unim- pressed by Zael Vella's attempts at twisting the facts, noting that she had attempted to discredit her initial police statement, which had been confirmed under oath before the inquiring magistrate. The case had sparked an investi- gation by MaltaToday into allega- tions that relatives of the accused had met two Labour ministers at the Gozo ministry, to discuss the case. But a government inquiry – discredited by the Nationalist Op- position at the time – had found no proof of interference. Zael Vella had already been conditionally discharged for six months in 2013 for her part in the crime, after police declared that she had cooperated fully with the investigation and was eligible for a reduction in punishment. But the court was particularly surprised at the defence's declara- tion that Zael had "not taken an oath over everything". In his decision, Mifsud said that if a witness retracts part of his or her sworn declaration when giving tes- timony or being cross-examined, this did not mean that the decla- ration could no longer be taken as evidence against the accused, pointing out that a judge could still reach the conclusion that the truth lies in the sworn statement and not courtroom testimony. Mifsud said he was convinced the girl had only been telling the truth in the statement taken immedi- ately after her arrest, and that she had then tried to explain away her account in subsequent sittings by saying she had still been suffering from a hangover at the time. The details given in the state- ment did not correspond to a per- son who was not in her right mind, and had been taken 10 hours after her arrest after her hangover had passed, the court said. Mifsud concluded that Zael Vella had seen Kevin Vella while under the effect of cocaine, as confirmed in her initial statement, and that he had trafficked drugs for a time as well as shared ecstasy pills and can- nabis joints with her for free. Vella was arrested after police of- ficers on a CID surveillance opera- tion saw two men carrying the mo- tionless body of Zael Vella uphill. When CID personnel approached him near his car, Kevin Vella im- mediately refused their assistance and rushed into the driver's seat. He then pulled a plastic bag out his right pocket, and tried to open the driver's door to throw the bag out in the dark, rural surroundings. But he was stopped by the police, who intercepted the small bag car- rying nine small sachets of cocaine. In her initial police statement, Zael Vella later mentioned Chris 'il- Barri' Vella, Mark 'iz-Zuzu', Samuel Sillatto and George Attard, whom she said Kevin Vella would give free drugs to. But she later told the in- quiring magistrate that she was re- tracting this part of her statement. Magistrate Joseph Mifsud said he did not believe Kevin Vella's account of how the cocaine had ended up in his car, and said the body of evidence all pointed to his guilt on the trafficking and aggra- vated possession charge and jailed him for 18 months, as well as fining him €1,000. Magistrate Mifsud also ordered the Commissioner of Police to in- vestigate Zael Vella on suspicion that she had given false testimony and to prosecute if this is found to be true. He also gave instructions for the criminal investigation of the individuals mentioned by the girl in her initial statement and to immediately prosecute them if necessary. Police holding out on Gozo drugs perjury investigation Kevin Vella (left) and Zael Vella: their criminal case sparked an investigation into alleged ministerial interference YANNICK PACE WATER and energy minister Joe Mizzi has confirmed that there are no plans for own- ers of unregistered or illegal boreholes to be granted an amnesty in exchange for register- ing with the authorities. Boreholes are used to extract water from the ground and must be restored to more fre- quently as a result of Malta's increasingly dry winters. On a national level, the Water Services Corporation, through the country's reverse osmosis plants, has adequate resources to supply water to the nation. But while water availability is not a major concern, a lack of rain and the reduction in catchment areas, has placed a greater strain on Malta's natural water resources. This is especially true of the agricultural sector, which cannot survive without the availability of cheap water. There are currently 8,058 registered bore- holes in Malta and Gozo, and the minister's denial comes amid rumours that a new round of registrations may be in the offing. Roughly half of the boreholes currently known to the authorities were registered in 1997. However in 2008, the government had is- sued a legal notice granting an amnesty to those individuals who had not registered their boreholes by that date, leading to the registration of 2,537 new boreholes. According to Malta Resources Authority data, Malta extracts upwards of 16 million cu- bic metres of water from registered boreholes each year, exceeding sustainable extraction levels. It is estimated however, that the total num- ber of operational boreholes, including those which have not been registered, is much larg- er, as is the quantity of water being extracted. In comments to MaltaToday, Mizzi said there were plans for increased regulation of boreholes, insisting his ministry was in dis- cussions with various entities to "discuss a way forward". "Obviously it's not simply a matter of intro- ducing controls without providing alternative solution," he said. "We have already started to provide farmers with new water, that is one solution." The New Water project is expected to al- low the country to treat around a third of the drainage that is currently dumped into the sea. One facility in Mellieha is currently opera- tional, while a second plant at Ras il-Hobz in Gozo is undergoing final testing. A third facil- ity is planned at Ta' Bakrat in Xaghjra. As more of this water is used for agricultural purposes, Mizzi said, the amount of water ex- tracted from boreholes would decrease. Brian Restall, a university academic and water management activist, agreed that New Water, or Treated Sewage Effluent (TSE), could be useful in addressing excessive bore- hole extraction. "Malta is leading the pack when it comes to TSE," said Restall. "Other countries haven't started this, they are only at the pilot project stage, and we should be proud of this." Despite this, he pointed out that demand for water was greater than Malta's New Wa- ter generation capacity, as well as the fact that there are also challenges related to effective distribution of the water to farmers across the whole island. Restall said a plan to regulate boreholes or phase out their use in areas where New Water was readily available, also needed to be for- mulated. On Thursday, the ministry launched a €17 million integrated water management project which will seek to implement a managed aq- uifer recharge (MAR) project, among other initiatives. The Energy and Water Agency (EWA), which falls under Mizzi's ministry, and which will be leading the project said while there were different MAR techniques it was too early to state which one would be most effec- tive. "The choice of site and methodology will be determined following extensive modelling to be undertaken as part of the project," said an agency spokesperson. Asked whether it made sense for the water used to recharge Malta's aquifers to be used directly, and to let the aquifer recharge itself, the spokesperson acknowledged that priority should be given to using the water, especially when considering subsurface storage was never "100% efficient". "In cases where demand modelling shows the presence of water resources which can- not be utilised at that point in time, managed aquifer recharge presents an opportunity," he said, adding that treated water as well as rainwater runoff could be used to recharge aquifers. Asked about the project, Restall expressed his satisfaction at the fact that the authorities "finally had some funds" to formulate a na- tional water plan, which has been promised for quite some time. Beyond the potential of attempting to re- charge Malta's aquifers, the project also seeks to raise awareness on the importance of water conservation, and to gather sufficient data on Malta's water resources to produce a blue- print for the optimisation of water manage- ment. The project will run for eight years, by which point it will seek to conduct water audits in 25% of Malta's households, reach 25% of Malta's school population every year, restore 230,000 sq.m of coastal wetlands and 15,000 sq.m of valley systems, as well as devel- op three sustainable urban drainage systems. Joe Mizzi: It's not simply a matter of introducing controls without providing alternative solutions Minister: No plans for new borehole registration amnesty