In the Press: 'Abstention was not a retreat' - Busuttil | 8,000 cases awaiting Mepa attention

Stories from today's national press

Opposition leader Simon Busuttil said that the PN's decision to abstain on Monday's vote was a position in itself
Opposition leader Simon Busuttil said that the PN's decision to abstain on Monday's vote was a position in itself

The Times of Malta

Mepa are facing a backlog of over 8,000 cases, this newspaper reports. With about 1,000 cases seeing enforcement every year, it would take the authority eight years to clear the backlog. Some of these cases date back two decades, including one case of the illegal occupation of part of the Zammit Clapp hospital car park.

In-Nazzjon

The mental health sector is too fragile to become a political football, according to PN MP Claudio Grech. He said that patients required professional care and attention, adding that the choices made regarding this sector in the last six months should be carefully examineded. He mentioned the government's choice to remove Dolores Grech from her post as head of mental health care to appoint someone of its choosing as an example.

L-Orizzont

This newspaper reports on the issue of the costs of oil bunkering, specifically as they relate to recent exchanges between ex-minister tonio Fenech and current finance minister Edward Scicluna. L-Orizzont says that while Fenech has taken to criticizing an increase of 35c in oil bunkering rates implemented by Scicluna, Fenech himself has raised the fees by more than €4 during his time as minister.

The Malta Independent

Interviews with PN leader Simon Busuttil and MP Claudette Buttigieg offer some insight into what some have called a grave mistake - the PN's choice to abstain from the vote on civil unions.

Both maintain that the adoption issue remained a bone of contention for the party. Busuttil said that the abstention was not a retreat but indeed a stand in itself. Buttigieg admits to trying to convince her fellow MPs to vote in favour of the bill because the civil liberties cause is close to her heart.