Il-bluff ta’ Yorgen

Kemm hu minnu li Yorgen Fenech kien jaf bid-data tal-elezzjoni ġenerali bikrija li Joseph Muscat sejjaħ f’Ġunju 2017 sa minn Diċembru 2016? Din mhiex informazzjoni li għandha naċċettaw mingħajr ma ngħarbluha. Hu faċli, wara li l-fatti jkunu seħħew, li tagħmel dikjarazzjonijiet ta’ din ix-xorta.

Din id-dikjarazzjoni ta’ Yorgen Fenech dwar li kien jaf bid-data tal-elezzjoni bikrija saret waqt l-interrogazzjoni tiegħu u saret pubblika mill-Ispettur Kurt Zahra iktar kmieni din il-ġimgħa fil-Qorti. Milli ntqal mhux ċar kemm Zahra ta importanza lil din l-informazzjoni kif ukoll jekk din kienitx korraborata.

Dan il-bluff ta’ Yorgen, fil-fehma tiegħi, għandu skop wieħed u preċiż: li jsaħħaħ l-argument u “joħloq” il-provi li mhux hu kien il-moħħ wara l-assassinju ta’ Daphne Caruana Galizia.

Li toqgħod tilgħab b’din l-informazzjoni hu ħafna agħar milli ixxerred il-gideb. Forsi Jason l-avukat jirrealizza dan u jiġbed widnejn Jason il-Membru Parlamentari.

Dan il-bluff ta’ Yorgen jinkwadra f’dak li jaħsbu uħud: li Kastilja kienet involuta fl-ippjanar tal-assassinju ta’ Daphne Caruana Galizia. Imma dan hu f’kunflitt ma’ informazzjoni oħra li kisbet l-investigazzjoni permezz tar-recordings ta’ Melvin Theuma: meta Yorgen Fenech, iffaċċjat b’elezzjoni ġenerali bikrija fil-bidu ta’ Mejju 2017 ta’ struzzjonijiet biex l-assassinju jkun sospiż. Sfortunatament uħud għandhom memorja qasira ħafna: illum jinsew dak li jkunu saru jafu fil-ġranet li għaddew!

Minkejja dan, naħseb li għadu kmieni biex naslu għal konklużjonijiet dwar min hu involut, apparti dawk li diġa qed iwieġbu għal għemilhom quddiem il-Qrati. Hu ovvju li Joseph Muscat ser jiċħad bil-qawwa kollha anke l-iktar konnessjoni remota mal-assassinju. M’għandniex nimpressjonaw ruħna għax f’dan l-istadju għadu kmieni u hu prudenti li ma neskludu xejn.

Yorgen kontinwament jitfa biċċiet żgħar ta’ informazzjoni biex iċaqlaq l-attenzjoni għal fuq ħaddieħor. Din il-ġimgħa kompla permezz tax-xhieda ta’ Keith Schembri. Schembri informa lill-Qorti kif sieħbu Yorgen ġieli qallu bil-krib ta’ Adrian Delia tal-PN biex jiffinanzjhom. Ma qal xejn imma dwar kemm ħareġ flus għall-Labour, apparti l-inbid Petrus lil Joseph, għax dak donnu hu ovvju u mistenni li fejn jidħol il-Labour idaħħal idu fil-but. Għaliex le, sakemm ikun fil-limiti ta’ dak permissibli?

Huwa u jwieġeb għall-mistoqsijiet tal-ispettur Keith Arnaud, Keith Schembri rrakkonta dak li qallu sieħbu Yorgen dwar kemm dejqu l-Kap tal-Opposizzjoni Adrian Delia għall-fondi. Il-flus, qal Schembri lill-Qorti, kien jiġborhom Pierre Portelli, sieħeb Delia, €20,000 kull darba. Kif kien mistenni kemm Delia kif ukoll Portelli b’mod immedjat u kategoriku ċaħdu dan kollu. Delia żied jiċħad li qatt talab finanzjament biex jipprova jixkana l-barra lil David Casa mis-siġġu fil-Parlament Ewropew. Dawn, imma, huma allegazzjonijiet li diġa konna smajnihom minn bnadi oħra.

Din hi informazzjoni li hi minnha jew inkellha hi informazzjoni żbaljata li d-duo Keith-Yorgen qed jisqu lill-inkjesta? Dan l-aħħar l-iskwadra tal-Pulizija dwar ir-reati ekonomiċi bħal donnha qamet mir-raqda u bdiet tinvestiga dan l-allegat finanzjament ta’ Delia minn Yorgen. Hu possibli li jkollna konklużjoni dwar x’daħal fis-sasla ta’ Delia malajr u dan minħabba li l-iskwadra dwar ir-reati ekonomiċi issa jidher li ser ikollha x’tagħmel għax ser teżamina xi rapporti li ħalliet jiġbru t-trab fil-passat qrib. Jista’ jkunu okkupati ftit fit-tul b’Konrad Mizzi li tul dan l-aħħar għalqu ftit għajnejhom mhux ħażin dwar dak li qed jingħad li għamel u ħawwad.

Konrad issa tkeċċa mill-Grupp Parlamentari tal-Partit Laburista wara li hu irrifjuta t-talba ta’ Robert Abela biex jirreżenja.

Din ma kienitx l-ewwel darba li fil-Partit Laburista kellhom diskussjoni taħraq dwar Konrad Mizzi. Imma din id-darba ma kienx hemm Joseph Muscat jiddefendieh.

Erba’ snin ilu Joseph Muscat kien irrifjuta li jkeċċi lil Konrad meta kien irriżulta li Konrad kien l-uniku Ministru fl-Unjoni Ewropeja li ssemma fil-Panama Papers. Minn dakinnhar l-iskandli assoċjati miegħu żdiedu biex issa hemm ukoll il-kaz tal-kummissjonijiet li tħallsu fuq it-tanker tal-gass li hemm Delimara, kif ukoll l-istejjer dwar il-kumpanija 17-Black. L-aħħar storja hi dwar l-imtieħen tar-riħ fil-Montenegro li bħala riżultat tagħha is-17-Black selħet madwar €5 miljuni profitti minn fuq dahar l-Enemalta, li għaliha kellu responsabbiltà politika Konrad Mizzi għal żmien twil.

B’dan it-tip ta’ transazzjonijiet il-kumpanija ta’ Yorgen Fenech 17-Black faċilment tilħaq il-miri tagħha biex tkun tista’ titrasferixxi €5000 kuljum fil-kumpaniji li n-Nexia BT waqqfet fil-Panama f’Marzu 2013.

Edward Scicluna, Ministru tal-Finanzi, qalilna li l-Gvern ma għandu l-ebda ħtija għal dan il-ħmieġ. Għandu żball: dawk kollha involuti ngħataw vot ta’ fiduċja wieħed wara l-ieħor. It-tort hu kollu kemm hu tal-Gvern!

Ippubblikat fuq Illum : il-Ħadd 28 ta’ Ġunju 2020

Yorgen’s bluff

Did Yorgen Fenech really know the date of the early election called in June 2017 by Joseph Muscat as far back as December 2016? I would take that information with a pinch of salt.

It is quite easy to bluff your way after the fact. Yorgen Fenech’s declaration on knowing the date for the early election was made to Inspector Kurt Zahra during his interrogation.

It is not clear whether Inspector Kurt Zahra simply noted Yorgen’s bluff or else whether he succeeded in corroborating this with additional information. Yorgen’s bluff, in my view, had a specific purpose: to drive home the point that he was not the mastermind behind the assassination.

Spinning this is at times worse than spreading lies. Maybe Jason the lawyer should caution Jason the MP about this.

Yorgen’s bluff fits like a glove into one of the theories making the rounds: that the OPM was involved in the planning and commissioning of the assassination. However it is in conflict with other bits of information fed into the investigation through the Theuma recordings: the plans in motion for the assassination were suspended by Yorgen as soon as the early election was called in early May 2017.

This signifies that actually he had no prior knowledge! Unfortunately, some have a very short memory span: they tend to forget today what was reported the day before yesterday!

Notwithstanding, it is too early to arrive at conclusions as who is or isn’t involved beyond those already arraigned. It is to be expected that Joseph Muscat categorically denies even the remotest of connections to the assassination.

We should not however be impressed into conclusions either way at such an early stage. I would definitely not exclude anything at this stage.

Yorgen’s dripping titbits of information continued through Keith Schembri’s testimony this week. Schembri recounted how his friend Yorgen described the manner in which he financed the PN. No information is forthcoming as to whether and how he financed the PL: presumably this is taken for granted. Replying to questions fielded by police inspector Keith Arnaud, Keith Schembri recounted how he had been informed by his friend Yorgen Fenech as to funding requests by Adrian Delia, Leader of the Opposition.

Delia’s sidekick, Pierre Portelli, the Court was told, used to collect the monies €20,000 at a time. As expected, Delia and Portelli immediately and categorically denied this. Delia further denied that he had requested funding to squeeze out David Casa from his MEP seat. We have however already heard of these allegations from various other sources. Are they true, or is it just incorrect information being slowly fed into the investigation by the Yorgen-Keith tandem? The Police Economic Crimes Unit has recently done a Rip van Winkle and is investigating the possibility of Yorgen funding Delia’s PN.

It may be possible to have a conclusion on Adrian Delia’s collections quite soon as the Police Economic Crimes Unit may now be in a hurry as they may soon have to recall their Konrad Mizzi archives to act upon reports which they were too busy to examine appropriately in the recent past.

Konrad has now been kicked out of the Parliamentary Group of the Labour Party after refusing to act on Robert Abela’s suggestions to resign. The discussion within Labour earlier this week was not the first with Konrad as the target. This time Joseph Muscat was however not around to defend him. Four years ago, Joseph Muscat had refused to dismiss Konrad Mizzi when it had resulted that Mizzi was the only member of Cabinet within the EU member states to have his name included in the Panama Papers. Since then we have had plenty of additions to the Panama Papers saga. These include commissions paid on the gas tanker anchored at Delimara as well as the 17-Black saga.

The latest addition is the Montenegro windfarm scandal as a result of which 17-Black made a windfall profit of around €5 million at the expense of Enemalta, for which Konrad Mizzi was politically responsible for a considerable length of time. With this type of transaction 17-Black could easily fulfil its objectives of transferring €5000 a day to the Panama companies setup by Nexia BT.

Finance Minister Edward Scicluna has stated that government is not to blame. He is wrong: those in the spotlight were repeatedly given votes of confidence. Government has no one to blame but itself.

 

Published on the Malta Independent on Sunday: 28 June 2020

L-arloġġ ta’ Joseph: tgħid falz, bħaċ-ċertifikat dwar Egrant?

Il-bieraħ is-sit elettroniku lovinmalta.com ippubblika l-istorja esklussiva li Yorgen Fenech ta rigal lil Joseph Muscat konsistenti f’arloġġ tad-deheb abjad Bvlgari li jifforma parti minn edizzjoni limitata li inħadmet bħala kommemorazzjoni tas-sħubija ta’ Malta fl-Unjoni Ewropeja.

Hemm ħamsa u għoxrin arloġġ li huma kollha numerati. Ta’ Joseph, tgħidilna Lovinmalta għandu n-numru 17: bħas-17 Black.

Jekk din l-istorja hi minnha hi gravi ħafna.

L-ewwel nett hi bi ksur tal-Kodiċi tal-Etika tal-Ministri għax hu ipprojibit għall-Ministri tal-Kabinett li jaċċettaw dawn ir-rigali. Meta inħadem, l-arloġġ, kien stmat li jiswa’ €20,000 (għoxrin elf euro). Illum jiswa’ ħafna iktar.

It-tieni, jekk ir-rigal fil-fatt ingħata, jfisser li hemm rabta viċina bejn Joseph u Yorgen. Kemm hi viċina ma nafx. Forsi l-Ispettur Keith Arnaud jkun jista’ jeżamina l-laptop u l-mobile ta’ Joseph u (forsi) jkun jista’ jgħidilna iktar dwar kemm il-kriminalità daħlet il-ġewwa, fil-fond, fil-Berġa ta’ Kastilja.

Is-suspetti ilhom għaddejjin. Sfortunatament il-Pulizija lebsin ingwanti fini u qed jagħlqu għajnejhom.

Il-bieraħ stess tlabt lill-Kummissarju dwar l-Istandards fil-Ħajja Pubblika Dr George Hyzler biex b’referenza għal dan ir-rigal jiftaħ investigazzjoni fuq il-Prim Ministru Joseph Muscat u l-osservanza minnu tal-Kodiċi tal-Etika applikabbli.

Ħaġa waħda għad mhiex ċara: jekk l-arloġġ li rċieva Joseph hux falz bħaċ-ċertifikat ta’ Egrant “iffirmat” minn Jacqueline Alexander.

Reflections on a turbulent week

As things stand, at this point in time Yorgen Fenech may end up carrying the can on his own. So far, apparently, none of the co-conspirators indicated in the information making the rounds will be joining him in the next stage of the investigation into the assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia.

Many people are flabbergasted that Keith Schembri was released by the police without any indication as to whether or not he would be further investigated. Undoubtedly, at some point, the police would be required to explain in Court why they arrived at such a conclusion. In particular, as emphasised by the Caruana Galizia family statement to the press on Friday, at least two witnesses and multiple pieces of physical evidence implicate Schembri’s involvement without there being any need for a Yorgen Fenech pardon.

The police have a lot of explaining to do, even within the context of the revelations of the recordings by Melvin Theuma who has turned state evidence.

The declarations by Yorgen Fenech that there were continuous leaks from the ongoing police investigation that ended exclusively in the hands of Keith Schembri is cause for serious concern because, if proved correct, it would signify outside and inappropriate influence on the investigative responsibilities of the police. This undermines the whole investigative process.

The web of illicit ties between politics and business and the associated corruption is at the centre of this investigation into the assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia. It goes back to just a few days after the Labour government, led by Joseph Muscat, was voted into office in March 2013.

This web links the Labour government – led by Muscat – to the principal actors in this week’s drama. We do remember that this developed through the setting up of secret Panama companies with the specific intent of receiving tainted money from projects then on the drawing board.

17Black, the Dubai offshore company owned by Yorgen Fenech, was later set up for the purpose. The sum of €150,000 per month, equivalent to €5,000 per day, was mentioned in emails that saw the light of day as part of the Panama Papers.

This week began with a summit at Burmarrad on Monday evening between Joseph Muscat and his Chief of Staff on the eve of Keith Schembri’s four-day questioning at Police Headquarters. Through selected leaks we have learnt of Mafia style communication between Keith Schembri and Yorgen Fenech in the interrogation rooms using a medical doctor as an intermediary: Schembri implored Yorgen Fenech not to reveal anything on him and, in return, he promised his help. This plea apparently misfired as, according to the leaks, Fenech built up his case describing Keith Schembri as the master-mind behind the assassination. The interrogators were apparently not impressed because, for the time being, Schembri was sent back home.

One of the reasons why this investigation has been dragging on for far too long is that, most probably, those who planned and commissioned the assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia had the ability to cover their tracks, at times with the assistance of access to classified information.

As this saga seems to be drawing to an end, it is imperative that we draw from it the appropriate lessons.

published on The Malta Independent on Sunday: 1 December 2019

Riżenji meħtieġa wara l-arrest ta’ Yurgen Fenech

L-arrest ta’ Yurgen Fenech kmieni dal-għodu fuq il-yacht tiegħu barra Portomaso jiftaħ il-bibien beraħ għal ħafna affarijiet.

L-ewwel nett, għal min isegwi, isem Yurgen Fenech ilu iċċirkula fil-widnejn bħala dak il-businessman prominenti li rreferiet għalih it-Times xi ġimgħat ilu bħala l-allegat mandanti, s’issa mhux magħruf, fil-kaz tal-assassinju ta’ Daphne Caruana Galizia.

It-tieni, l-fatt li minkejja dan Yurgen Fenech kien għadu hawn, jiġri mas-saqajn, kien ifisser li hu kien konvint li ma hu ser jiġri xejn. Bħalma kont naf jiena u ħafna oħrajn b’dak li kien qed jingħad dwaru, bla dubju kienu jafu ukoll dawk li għandhom il-poter li jaġixxu, u ma aġixxewx qabel f’dawn l-aħħar siegħat, meta ma kellhomx iktar għazla.

It-tielet, Yurgen Fenech il-businessman ifisser ukoll il-kumpanija 17 Black u l-allegazzjonijiet kollha li għandhom x’jaqsmu magħha. Fosthom, issemmew repetutament l-ismijiet ta’ Konrad Mizzi u Keith Schembri fil-kuntest ta’ emails b’referenza għal ħlasijiet sostanzjali.

Xi affarijiet huma magħrufa diġa imma inevitabilment għad jaraw id-dawl tax-xemx affarijiet oħra ukoll.

Fid-dawl ta’ dan kollu nifhem iktar għaliex il-bieraħ, quddiem il-kamera tat-TV, Joseph Muscat deher qiesu ras maqtugħa. Bħalu, u forsi agħar minnu dehru xi Ministri.

Fid-dawl ta’ dan kollu hu inevitabbli li Konrad Mizzi u Keith Schembri jkunu l-ewwel tnejn li jirreżenjaw, inkella għandhom jitkeċċew immedjatament.

Warajhom hemm oħrajn. Imma pass pass.

X’inhu għaddej bejn il-PN u 17 Black ?

L-aħbar fit-Times tal-Ħadd dwar il-laqgħa bejn il-Membri Parlamentari tal-PN Kristy Debono u Hermann Schiavone ma Yorgen Fenech ta’ 17 Black fil-21 sular tat-torri ta’ Portomaso hi prova tal-wiċċ b’ieħor tal-Partit Nazzjonalista.

Is-17 Black hi kumpanija (inkorporata fid-Dubai) li dwarha hemm allegazzjoni ta’ tixħim li fih jissemmew Konrad Mizzi u Keith Schembri. Niftakru fl-emails dwar l-iskandlu Panama fejn intqal minn fejn ġejjin il-miljuni fil-kontijiet bankarji ta’ Mizzi u Schembri.
Dakinnhar il-PN għamilha tal-paladin kontra l-korruzzjoni. Imma llum imur għand l-istess 17Black biex jitolbu l-għajnuna.

Kristy Debono qalet li talbet għajnuna dwar użu ta’ sala żgħira għall-konferenzi. Hermann Schiavone min-naħa l-oħra kien evażiv u ma riedx jagħti informazzjoni.

Kif tista’ temmen lil dawn in-nies (u lil sħabhom) meta jitkellmu kontra l-korruzzjoni?
Kristy Debono u Hermann Schiavone għandhom l-obbligu li jagħtu spjegazzjoni pubblika. Anzi, li kieku l-Partit Nazzjonalista kien serju, diġa ssospendihom.

Imma ilna nafu, li s-serjetà ma toqgħodx tal-Pietà.

Ħames ħsibijiet

 

1. Ippjanar għall-użu tal-art

Tnax-il sena ilu meta l-pjani lokali kienu approvati mill-Ministru responsabbli mill-Ippjanar tal-Użu tal-Art, il-Parlament għadda biex ta l-approvazzjoni tiegħu biex meded kbar ta’ art fil-periferiji taz-zoni urbani tagħna jingħataw għall-bini. 12-il sena wara li l-Parlament approva l-ezerċiżżju ta’ razzjonalizzazzjoni xi residenti għadhom ma ndunawx kif għaddewhom biż-żmien. Xi drabi uħud mill-Membri Parlamentari li dakinnhar ivvutaw favur li art fl-ODZ issir tajba għall-bini, illum għandhom l-ardir li jkunu fuq quddiem jippuppaw sidirhom “f’appoġġ” għar-residenti li f’daqqa waħda jindunaw li d-dar tal-ġirien ser taqa’ u flokha tielgħa blokka appartamenti. Issa daqshekk xemx fuq il-pannelli li għadhom kemm ħallsu u stallaw ftit ilu!

Kważi kuljum nirċievi emails mingħand residenti li jkunu jixtiequ joġġezzjionaw għal żvilupp propost f’diversi lokalitajiet. Jiċċassaw meta ninfurmaw li ż-żmien għall-oġġezzjonijiet għalaq madwar 12-il sena ilu. L-parti l-kbira tar-residenti ma jiftakrux l-ismijiet tal-membri parlamentari li għaddewhom biż-żmien.

F’dawn l-aħħar ġimgħat kelli każijiet fil-Mellieħa, il-Mosta, Marsaxlokk, Wied il-Għajn u H’Attard. U għad hemm ħafna iktar.

2. Il-bdil fil-klima u l-karozzi tal-elettriku

Studju ippubblikat nhar il-Ġimgħa fil-Journal Nature Communications jiġbed l-attenzjoni li jekk wieħed iqabbel l-emmissjonijiet attwali ta’ diversi pajjiżi ma’ dak li wegħdu f’Pariġi sentejn ilu fil-laqgħa dwar it-tibdil fil-klima, għadna ħafna lura biex jintlaħqu l-miri stabiliti.

Il-wegħdiet faċli biex isiru imma sfortunatament mhux faċli biex jinżammu.

It-trasport hu illum il-kontribut ewlieni ta’ Malta għat-tibdil fil-klima. Madwar sena ilu l-Prim Ministru Muscat kien qal li mhux ‘il-bogħod li jieqfu l-karozzi li jaħdmu bil-petrol u d-disil mit-toroq tagħna biex flokhom nibdew nużaw karozzi li jaħdmu bl-elettriku. Għadna nistennew lill-Gvern iħabbar il-pjan tiegħu.

3. 17 Black

L-aħbar mil-Latvja dwar l-ismijiet assoċjati mal-kumpanija 17 Black u ċ-ċaqlieq ta’ flus maħmuġin madwar id-dinja ikomplu jagħtu l-kulur lill-istorja li ma tispiċċa qatt dwar il-ħasil tal-flus. Tajjeb li niftakru f’dik iż-żjara uffiċjali f’Baku f’Diċembru 2014 meta l-ebda uffiċjal taċ-ċivil jew ġurnalista ma kien preżenti. Dakinnhar staqsejna għalfejn? Possibilment it-tweġiba illum qegħda tiċċassa lejna.

4. L-istrateġija ta’ Bedingfield

Nhar il-ġimgħa kienet l-aħħar ġurnata għall-konsultazzjoni pubblika dwar il-Kottonera li jidher li qegħda f’idejn Glenn Bedingfield. Qed jipproponu t-twaqqif ta’ fondazzjoni biex timplimenta l-istrateġija. Donnu li Glenn ftit jimpurtah mill-kunsilli lokali jew mill-kunsill tar-reġjun li s-sens komun jgħidlek li għandhom ikunu huma nkarigati bl-implementazzjoni. Forsi Glenn għadu ma ndunax li hemm “konsultazzjoni pubblika” oħra għaddejja, din id-darba dwar il-gvern lokali u għadha għaddejja sa l-aħħar ta’ Novembru. X’għala biebu!

5. L-appell dwar id-dB

L-appell kontra l-permess ta’ żvilupp li nħareġ lid-dB għat-tħarbit tas-sit tal-ITS f’ Pembroke jibda nhar it-Tlieta. It-Tribunal ta’ Reviżjoni għall-Ambjent u l-Ippjanar (il-Bord tal-appell) irid jibda biex jiddeċiedu dwar it-talba li għandu quddiemu minn dawk li qed jopponu l-permess biex ix-xogħol li diġa beda jieqaf immedjatament u jibqa’ hekk wieqaf sa meta jinqata’ l-appell. Wara it-Tribunal jibda jikkonsidra sottomissjonijiet fuq kull waħda mit-18-il raġuni li hemm biex il-permess jitħassar: ibda mill-kunflitt ta’ interess tal-aġent tal-propjetà membru tal-bord li japprova l-permessi tal-bini kif ukoll bir-regoli kollha li nkisru meta kien approvat dan il-permess ta’ żvilupp.

Ippubblikat fuq Illum: Il-Ħadd 18 ta’ Novembru 2018

 

Five random thoughts

1. Land Use Planning

Twelve years ago, when the local plans were approved by the then Minister responsible for land use planning, Parliament proceeded to approve the inclusion of substantial stretches of land on the periphery of most of our urban areas within the limits of permissible development. Twelve years after the approval of the rationalisation exercise by Parliament, some residents are still not aware of the manner in which they have been compromised. At times they are taken advantage of by Members of Parliament who had supported the extension of the development boundaries but now feel duty bound to “support” residents who suddenly realise that their neighbour’s house is being pulled down and in its stead a block of flats will arise, blocking out the sun off their PVCs which they have just paid for!

I receive emails almost daily from residents wishing to object to proposals for development in various localities. They are speechless when I inform them that the time for objections elapsed some 12 years ago! Most residents do not remember the names of the Members of Parliament who shafted them in 2006.

I have in the past weeks dealt with cases in Mellieħa, Mosta, Marsaxlokk, Marsaskala and Attard and many more are pending.

2. Climate Change and electrification

A study published last Friday in the Journal Nature Communications points out that if one compares q country’s actual emissions with the pledges made at the Paris Climate Change meeting two years ago, we are still very far from achieving the objectives set.
Unfortunately, pledges are easy to make and difficult to keep.

Transport is currently Malta’s major contribution to climate change. Over one year ago, Premier Muscat had stated that petrol and diesel-powered cars should be driven off our roads and substituted by electric cars. We are still waiting for government to announce its detailed plans.

3. 17 Black

The revelation from Latvia of the names associated with 17 Black and the movement of dirty money around the globe adds more spice to the never-ending saga of money laundering. It may be pertinent to point out to that official visit at Baku in December 2014 at which no civil servant or journalist was present. Then we asked why. Possibly now we have the answer.

4. Bedingfield and his strategy

Last Friday was the closing date on the ongoing public consultation on Cottonera piloted by Glenn Bedingfield. It is being proposed to set up a foundation to eventually implement this strategy. Apparently Glenn has no qualms in shafting the local councils and the regional council in the area which logically should be the ones entrusted with implementation. Maybe Glenn has not yet realised that another “public consultation” on local government is currently in hand up till 30 November. Who cares?

5. The dB appeal

The appeal against the development permit issued for the dB mega-mess at Pembroke will commence next Tuesday. High on the list on considerations to be addressed by the Environment and Planning Review Tribunal (the appeals board) will be the request by those opposing this development to stop works immediately, pending the outcome of the appeal. Then the Tribunal will commence considering submissions on the eighteen reasons which justify the invalidation of the development permit – ranging from the obvious conflict of interest of the estate agent dishing out development permits to a blatant disregard of planning policy.

published in The Malta Independent on Sunday – 18 November 2018