Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/987872
maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 30 MAY 2018 7 NEWS JAMES DEBONO THE Curia has officially ob- jected to the development of a five-storey block four metres away from a historic 17th cen- tury chapel dedicated to Saint Andrew in tal-Qares, Mosta. The chapel has not garnered protection by the Planning Au- thority through scheduling. "If the proposed excavation works go ahead, the chapel could be damaged permanently and part of our cultural herit- age will be lost" the Curia's ad- ministrative secretary Michael Pace Ross warned. The proposed development includes the demolition of the existing building and the construction of a block of apartments on a ground floor, three overlying floors and a fourth receded floor level. The proposed development also entails the excavation of the basement The Superintendence for Cultural Heritage has also ob- jected to the proposal and has requested the architect of the new development to revise plans to reduce the volume of the development and to step the development to mitigate the impact on the chapel. Residents have told Malta- Today that the project endan- gers a restoration project of the Church's treasures, with funds collected from parishioners and local firms. Flimkien ghall-Ambjent Ah- jar and Din l-Art Helwa have also objected. Din l-Art Helwa has warned that the development will "dwarf" the chapel and the de- velopment would result in an "unpleasant streetscape". Curia objects to apartments next to Mosta chapel Below and left: The 17th century chapel dedicated to Saint Andrew in tal-Qares in Mosta HEADS of state participating in an inter-Libyan meeting hosted by French President Emmanuel Ma- cron have agreed on a timeline that will lead to elections in December, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said in a tweet yesterday. Muscat participated in a high- level meeting attended by P5 mem- bers France, Germany, Italy, and the Netherlands as well as Mo- rocco, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Turkey, and regional institutions such as the European Union, the Arab League, the African Union and the United Nations. He was accompanied by Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade Pro- motion Carmelo Abela. The conference was called to help resolve a seven-year crisis in Libya, and agreed to a United Nations- backed election in the North Afri- can country. Libyan Prime Minster Fayez al- Sarraj, eastern Libyan commander Khalifa Haftar, Aguila Saleh, presi- dent of the eastern House of Rep- resentatives and Khaled Al-Mishri, president of the High Council of State, have all been invited. Libya descended into chaos fol- lowing the uprising that toppled Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, with myriad armed groups and two ad- ministrations vying for power. Elections in Libya by end of year, Muscat tweets CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 Inspectors Joseph Busuttil and John Spiteri both took the stand, telling mag- istrate Claire Stafrace Zammit how the police had received a number of internal and external complaints about a conver- sation involving the three accused. Lawyer Franco Debono, who took up the defence of two of the accused in yes- terday's sitting, asked the police to name the complainants, but the witnesses did not have the information at hand, prom- ising to bring it in the next sitting instead. "With your oath, tell everybody here who made the criminal complaint," asked Debono as the sitting became more heated. Busuttil said the victim's family had told his lawyer to instruct the police to act against the three and anyone else who made similar comments. "I don't believe there is a need for a criminal complaint but rest assured that there are a lot of officers who want to," Spiteri said. "I don't want all the weight of the coun- try's crime to be placed on these three people." Debono submitted. "Of the thousands of insults and nega- tive comments made against Liam Debono, how many have you felt the need to prosecute?" asked the lawyer, with the prosecution replying that they were not informed of any of them and that nobody had asked them to prosecute people who made any comments about Liam Debono. Spiteri explained that the police had asked the accused if they had been threat- ened, but they didn't wish to reveal the identity of whoever had threatened them. "If we get information we will prosecute them too," Spiteri said. He invited the lawyer to pass on any information he had. "Rest assured that there is not enough space in Corradino for all the people," replied Debono. The defence made submissions on bail yesterday, after which the court an- nounced that it would deliver a decree from chambers, most likely today. Defence lawyer warns against trio bearing weight of country's crimes The incriminating posts on Facebook