Slush fund of €234,000 pays for summer camps in Malta for Eurocrats’ children

The children of Brussels eurocrats will head to the Italian Alps next week for a subsidised ski holiday, thanks to the European Parliament’s ultimate slush fund – a e234,000 annual budget to pay for staff jollies.

The discovery of taxpayer-assisted holidays for the children of up to 80 EU civil servants has led to an outcry among MEPs – themselves no strangers to accusations of largesse, thanks to their generous expenses, salaries, pensions and allowances.

Details of the holidays, which include one ski trip and four summer camps every year, are hard to find because they are listed in the annual European Parliament accounts under the innocuous-sounding entry “Social services – social interventions”.

The details came to light after questions from MEPs, who are demanding a better audit of how the European Parliament’s e1.5 billion annual budget is spent.

The ski trip last year, for example, was subsidised to the tune of e53,000, with staff who earn e78,000 a year entitled to half the approximate e900 cost of the trip from the fund.

A total of 97 children were sent on four subsidised summer camps in 2008, the last year for which the European Parliament would give details. They were held in France, Malta, Germany and the UK.

Daniël van der Stoep, a Dutch MEP who has called on the European Commission to analyse the use of these funds, said: “I am a new MEP here and I am amazed every day by some new way they have of spending money.”

The European Parliament said that it had placed under review the amount of money used by the Staff Committee for children’s holidays, with a view to spending the money on the children of the lowest-paid personnel.

Source:independent.com.mt/

Wenzu Mintoff claims discrimination by Malta Enterprise

Wenzu Mintoff, the head of legal services at Malta Enterprise and editor of the Labour weekly KullHadd filed a judicial protest against Malta Enterprise (ME) today, accusing it of political discrimination.

Dr Mintoff said he had served ME loyally for the past 23 years, during which he had also been openly politically active, including as a Labour MP and chairman of Alternattiva Demokratika. He never mixed up his roles as legal adviser to ME and his political role.

Dr Mintoff said that on December 1 he was called in for a meeting with ME chairman Alan Camilleri, when it was alleged that he was violating a code of ethics, which code did not apply to him. Dr Camilleri handed him a letter where it was claimed that as editor of KullHadd he was working to bring down the party in government.

Dr Mintoff said this showed that it was actually the chairman who was not making a distinction between the government and the party.

He said that Mr Camilleri had a history of participation in political affairs. Indeed, his actions reflected a policy of two weights, two measures. ME actually used the services of people in the Nationalist Party who had a higher standing than he had in the PL, Dr Mintoff said.

Among them were John Bonello, the PN international secretary. Mr Camilleri also seemed to have forgotten that he had in employment persons who were candidates of the party in government.

Furthermore, Dr Mintoff said, Mr Camilleri was expecting him to be judged by a ME Board which included Vince Farrugia, a PN candidate and Jesmond Bonello, a former PN journalist.

All this meant, he said, that according to Malta Enterprise, one could be politically active and work at the corporation only if one supported the party in government.

Source:timesofmalta.com/

Armenian community of Malta said to be ‘indignant over Euronews reporting on Nagorno Karabakh’

The Armenian community of Malta has expressed its outrage and disappointment with “Forgotten Victims of Frozen Conflict” Euronews reporting dated 1 February, panarmenian.net reported.

“We think it is incorrect to give such a free and one-sided interpretation to UN resolutions on Nagorno Karabakh conflict, as well as to approve and broadcast calls for war that were heard in the reporting,” the community said in a statement.

“We truly hope that one of the most respectable and tolerant channels of Europe as Euronews will henceforth be more delicate and tactful in broadcasting such reportings, especially taking into consideration that there are the Armenian-Azerbaijani negotiations as a background.

“We are very hopeful that the changes in the membership of the shareholders of the Euronews channel do not have any influence on its work and do not in any way impact the neutrality that a television channel should possess,” the press service of the Armenian Diaspora of Malta said.

The conflict between Nagorno Karabakh and Azerbaijan broke out in 1988 as result of the ethnic cleansing the latter launched in the final years of the Soviet Union. The Karabakh War was fought from 1991 to 1994. Since the ceasefire in 1994, sealed by Armenia, NKR and Azerbaijan, most of Nagorno Karabakh and several regions of Azerbaijan around it (the security zone) remain under the control of NKR defence army. Armenia and Azerbaijan are holding peace talks mediated by the OSCE Minsk Group until now.

Source:independent.com.mt/

Survey charts extent of mental health problems in Malta

Fifteen per cent of the Maltese population will suffer some form of mental health problem at some point in their lifetime, a survey had found.

The local research, conducted as part of the European Health Interview Survey, found that chronic anxiety was more common than depression. The former affected 8 per cent of people, compared to 7 per cent for depression.

Women tended to suffer more than men and mental health problems increased with age. Moreover those who were widowed or had marital problems had a higher risk of mental health problems.

The survey found that people with a lower education were more prone to mental health problems, but people with a wide circle of friends were likely to suffer less than those who did not.

The majority of the 5,500 respondents said they had experienced positive feelings in the four weeks before they were interviewed; 64 per cent felt 'full of life, calm and peaceful', while 73 per cent felt happy on all or most of the time.

But 18 per cent felt very nervous, six er cent felt depressed and 11 per cent felt tired on all or most of the time.

Parliamentary Secretary Mario Galea said that stigma might create a problem in the reporting of mental health problems and many people might feel embarassed to declare that they had a problem or had been to a psychiatrist.

"Many times problems start in adolescence and we need to start awareness about mental health problems in schools," Mr Galea said.

He said a number of sufferers, even adults, had reported being bullied.

In the EU there are some 50 million people who suffer mental health problems. The figures for Malta, he said, showed that Malta fared well compared to other countries.

Source:timesofmalta.com/

Malta-Based Private Bank Aims At Bright Future

Tough economic times can sometimes prove to be the best periods in which to launch a new business when clients are looking to make a fresh start.

That, at least, appears to be part of the reason why Mark Watson, chief executive of Malta-based Mediterranean Bank – which has been recently acquired by a private equity house – is feeling cheerful about the bank’s prospects. This bank, which is targeting international wealthy clients as well as mass affluent customers in Malta’s domestic economy, is aiming to be a significant player not just in the island nation but in other parts of Europe, as well.

“Our natural market is a cross-over between mass affluent and high net worth clients,” Mr Watson, a former veteran of Citigroup, told WealthBriefing when he was interviewed at his firm’s elegant dockside offices in Valletta, the Maltese capital city.

While some financial jurisdictions grab much of the media spotlight, not always for flattering reasons, Malta is quietly gaining momentum as a financial hub, host to dozens of banks, hundreds of hedge funds and a bustling centre for insurance, trusts and sectors such as ship finance. The country joined the European Union in 2004, making it an onshore centre and bringing it under the governance of the EU regulatory regime.

Malta’s EU membership, convenient time zone – just an hour in front of London – English language and UK-influenced legal code, make it an attractive wealth management centre in many respects. The country has had close historical connections with the UK since 19th century – it used to be a UK colony until the early 1970s. The links endure: the island remains a popular tourist destination for people in the UK and the Maltese diaspora has helped keep the island’s profile in view (many Maltese emigrated to English-speaking countries such as the UK, Australia and Canada after WW2).

Source:wealthbriefing.com/

Karting: Jacques Mizzi to represent Malta in Brescia meeting

Young 17-year-old Jacques Mizzi will be taking part in the 125cc KF2 class in the forthcoming Winter Cup being organised at the South Garda circuit in Lonato del Garda, Brescia, between 19 and 21 February.

This was announced yesterday by the Malta Karting Club, of which Mizzi forms part.

Joe Farrugia and Leonard Farrugia, together with the driver’s father Paul, explained to reporters yesterday that this will be the first time that a Maltese driver will be taking part in this event, even if Jacques has taken part in several others in Sicily and mainland Italy in the past few years.

Around 251 drivers have qualified to take part in the 15th Winter Cup which is a very prestigious and competitive race meeting which will see all the karting teams and manufacturers fielding their best drivers.

Maranello Kart, for whom Jacques will be driving, will be fielding no less than five drivers from five different countries, that is, Italy, Germany, Finland, Spain and Denmark in the KF2 class.

Jacques Mizzi will also be racing a Maranello kart which will be provided by the Italian team together with all the necessary equipment – it would have been too expensive for the Maltese to ship everything from here to Brescia.

Facing such formidable opponents will make it a difficult weekend for Jacques. In his class there will be 109 drivers from 25 different countries including Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Indonesia, Russia, Thailand and the US, fighting between them to finish among the top 28 for participation in the final main race on the Sunday – over 28 laps. Qualifying takes place on Friday and Saturday.

The Malta group will be travelling to Brescia on Tuesday 16 February and that will make it possible for Jacques to have three days of practice on what will be a completely new circuit for him.

Another 109 drivers will be taking part in the KF3 class, while 33 drivers are expected to take part in the Super KF class, the top class in which Jacaques cannot take part yet as he is still under 18 .

The circuit is 1.010 kilometres long and it has a series of different bends and corners – both right hand and left hand corners. In some of the curves, there is a double apex. Drivers race in a clockwise direction and in each 10-lap heat, they have to cover a distance of 10,000kms. The distance of the semi-final is 14.140kms, while the final race is 28.280kms long.

The Malta team also announced that in April, they will be fielding a Maltese team, completely on their own, when taking part in another event at Triscina, in nearby Sicily. Then Jacques will not only be driving his own kart, but will also have a Maltese mechanic and officials accompanying him.

The team thanked the sponsors, among them Radisson Blu Hotels & Resorts, Sequella Caffe, Caffe Oasis, and others, for making their participation in such events possible.

They also thanked the other club in Malta, the Island Karting Club, for accepting to change the 21 February championship date so as to enable Jacques to compete at the Brescia event.

Source:independent.com.mt/

Maltese Boxers meet Nathan Cleverly

Two young Maltese boxers are currently training in Wales, at the Cardiff training station gym.
The Maltese boys, Haithem Laamous and Clint Grech, are gaining valuable experience sparing against top boxers in Wales.

While at the gym the Maltese boys also met Nathan Cleverly the current British and commonwealth light heavyweight champion who is fighting for the European title against Antonio Brancalion on February 13 at Wembley Arena. Also on the same bill is Najah Ali who is up against Michael Walsh. The Maltese boys had sparing sessions with Najah Ali and Luke Robison (son of Steve Robison, former world featherweight champion).

The Malta Boxing Federation would like to thank Simon Harris for the use of the Cardiff training station gym, Nino Spiteri for sponsoring the Maltese boys and all their boxing friends in Wales for their support.

Source:di-ve.com/

Malta’s Valletta and Yerevan to become relative states

Malta’s capital city Valletta and Armenia’s Yerevan are supposed to become relative countries soon. It’s supposed that either Malta’s deputies or Armenia’s deputies will pay visit to the states to get acquainted with the both states, Vera Boyadjyan, the president of Malta’s Amrenian Community told “Masin” web site. It’s also said that an exhibition of Armenian painters to Malta will be launched. Vera Boyadjyan stated that the community doesn’t have any problems as they cooperate with the local authorities. An Armenian school is supposed to be founded in Malta. “Now our children study in British and Maltese schools,” she said.


Source:panorama.am/

Tough group but Malta FA head strikes upbeat note

Malta's status as one of the minnows of European football means that every draw for the qualifying round of a major international tournament is bound to be tough for our national team.

That was certainly the case in Warsaw yesterday as the Euro 2012 qualifying draw pitted Malta against Croatia, Greece, Israel, Latvia and Georgia in a difficult but unglamorous Group F.

Not for the first time in the past two decades, hopes of a lucrative home tie against the likes of England, Italy or Spain, failed to materialise as the final act of yesterday's draw saw Croatia take the one slot reserved for the top seeds in Group F.

There is not one team in Group F Malta haven't faced in the past and Joe Mifsud, the president of the MFA who attended yesterday's draw together with national coach John Buttigieg and Ivan Vella, the national teams' manager, struck an upbeat note.

"Every qualifying group is difficult for Malta," Dr Mifsud told The Times.

"The teams in our Euro 2012 group are all tough but on the positive side, we obtained some good results against all of them in the past."

A smile must have crossed Buttigieg's face when Georgia were drawn in Group F.

Georgia were Malta's opponents in Buttigieg's first game in charge last August. A brace by Michael Mifsud ensured a happy debut for the national coach as Malta won 2-0 at the National Stadium.

In 2005, Malta gained a creditable 1-1 draw against Croatia in a home qualifier for the 2006 World Cup.

Greece claimed two victories against Malta in the Euro 2008 qualifiers, 1-0 here and 5-0 in Athens, but in 1991, our team held them to a 1-1 draw.

Malta last played Israel in 2003 in neutral Antalya, drawing 2-2 in their final match of the Euro 2004 qualifying campaign.

Like Georgia, Latvia have never met Malta in a competitive match but the last time the two nations met, in the 1998 Rothmans Tournament, Malta prevailed 2-1.

Dr Mifsud admitted to a tinge of disappointment at Malta's failure to land a top-drawer team .

"Given that all the nations in the top pot are very strong, you always wish to draw a crowd puller but it was not to be," Dr Mifsud said.

Asked if he regarded the matches against Georgia as Malta's best chance of gaining points, Dr Mifsud replied. "In football, you can't make predictions."

Source:timesofmalta.com/

Migration Museum: A link between past and future Maltese generations

The five-storey building known as the Emigrants’ Commission or ‘Dar l-Emigrant’ in Valletta, will in the coming years, be transformed into a museum highlighting 200 years of migration history.

Mgr Philip Calleja, the mind behind the project, explains this will not be a simple museum but a link between past and future Maltese generations and a place which unites Maltese people in their homeland and others in Australia, Canada, USA, the Mediterranean and Northern Europe.

It is to be called ‘Museum for Migration and Visitors’ Centre’. The Emigrants’ Commission presented the idea at the Convention of Leaders of Associations of Maltese Abroad and of Maltese Origin, some weeks ago and it was adopted by the Convention.

Mgr Calleja told The Malta Independent that the plan is to open the museum by 2012. In the meantime, he is calling on the public to submit documentation and photos which can be exhibited. Material showing special occasions, books published by Maltese authors, and information on successful people are to be donated to the museum for it to be able to depict as vivid a picture as possible.

Currently, Mgr Calleja and his team are working on three aspects: The structural part; material and data compilation; and the financial aspect.

‘Dar l-Emigrant’ is situated just outside the Upper Barraka Gardens and overlooking the Grand Harbour, the starting point for tens of thousands who left Malta in search of a better life elsewhere. The Commission’s roof garden will therefore be embellished and binoculars will be available for visitors to have a closer peep at the Grand Harbour.

The auditorium will be showing audiovisual material marking the history of Maltese migration, highlighting its peak and how it came to a gradual end by the seventies.

Another room will be dedicated to digital information on reciprocal agreements between Malta and migrant hosting countries as well as a vast array of information covering any imaginable aspect.

The historical and data compiling aspects will be focusing on people’s circumstances rather than the numbers of people who left the islands. The museum will tell stories of many men who had to leave their wives and children behind until they settled abroad and prepared the way for their families. The number of men who emigrated was much higher than that of women and many Maltese women in their homeland could not get married because of the shortage that was created.

“This is a human story,” Mgr Calleja said. Many had left Malta with nothing whatsoever in their pockets but worked hard and succeeded.

In fact, the Chief Minister of Gibraltar was Maltese, and so was the Australian Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mgr Calleja explained.

Maltese people living abroad issued newspapers and held radio shows; they set up organisations such as scout groups and offered financial assistance to Maltese families who wanted to migrate.

People of Maltese origin are found in many countries around the world and mainly in principal destinations where European emigration started as from the middle of the nineteenth century. These countries include, among others, various countries in Northern Africa such as Libya, Tunisia and Algeria, England, France, Spain, Turkey, apart from Australia, Canada and America. Various studies have concluded that the number of people of Maltese origin living in these countries and others surpasses that of the population of the Maltese islands.

To date, thousands of migrants and their children visit their relatives in Malta every year keeping links strong and alive.

The Emigrants’ Commission is taking up the initiative to set up this museum in the context of the active and central contribution that it has been making for several years towards assisting emigrants setting off from Malta. As a result, it has extensive memorabilia. These include both official and non-official documentation, photos, newspapers from various countries, objects, certificates, personal and general records, stories and letters.

However, other documents and items donated by individuals will make the museum even more interesting. Services or financial assistance are also necessary as substantial funds are required to set the project rolling. The plan is for the museum to be self-funding in the future.

School children and Maltese living abroad will then be able to visit the museum and learn about a subject marking a substantial part of our recent history and the people who made a name for Malta abroad.

Source:independent.com.mt/

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