In the Press: Green MT to face investigation | Incomplete parliament building costing €10,000 daily

The Times of Malta

The delayed completion of the parliament building is costing the government thousands a day in fines. Due to have been finished in December 2012, the government began paying Malita Investments, the financing arm of the City Gate project, €10,000 per day from January 2013. If the project is completed by September this year, the government will have paid a total of about €6 million in lieu of the rent it would be bringing in if the building was operational.The newspaper’s sources downplayed the fine, saying the government was not suffering any great losses as a result of what they called a ‘government to government transaction’. The government owns 80% of Malita Investments.

In-Nazzjon

The newly reshuffled Cabinet has given cause for concern on the future of the health sector, according to this newspaper. In particular the role of Dr Chris Fearne who, on being selected as Parliamentary Secretary for health, announced that he would suspend his private practice but keep seeing patients at Mater Dei. Although he will not be paid for his work, the move still goes against the Cabinet’s code of ethics.

L-Orizzont

Following the proposed separation of Mepa’s planning and environment departments, Minister Leo Brincat has called for an investigation into the workings of GreenMT over alleged financial abuses. Another front-page article reports that the new ministers and parliamentary secretaries will sworn in to their new posts tomorrow.

The Malta Independent

The front page of the Independent reports that there are over 23,500 foreign nationals currently living in Malta. Hailing from 151 different countries, there were 15,095 foreign nationals working in Malta as of October 2013, 5,424 of which were from non-EU countries. This information was supplied as an answer to parliamentary questions.

Sharing the front page is a report on the current state of affairs in Maltese courts, where it turns out that four magistrates have been assigned inquiries opened more than 20 years ago, long before they were even appointed to the bench. Justice Parliamentary Secretary Owen Bonnici said, in light of this information, that the government has every intention to revamp the system of inquiring magistrates.