ITS project: Pembroke take their appeal to the President
Work-life balance: EP prepares for negotiations with Council
A group representing dissenting Pembroke residents outlined their grave concerns about the proposed db Group project on the ITS site during a meeting with the President Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca.
In a statement, residents said they had explained that “this massive structure, which will include a 37-storey tower and a 19storey hotel, would be situated only a few metres away from the homes of about 260 families living in social housing units.”
“Such a monstrous development will not only cover the sun almost permanently for the residents living in these apartments, but it will also inflict permanent damage on their physical and mental health, especially on that of children, during the construction phase of the project, which will take years to complete and that will generate incessant air and noise pollution. Maltese MEP David Casa, the European Parliament’s spokesman on the Work-Life Balance Directive, yesterday said: “The position on the Directive adopted today is strong and balanced. I am confident that this forms a solid basis for entering into negotiations with the Council in September.”
Casa was speaking yesterday following the adoption of the Report on the issue, and the successful vote on the mandate given by the European Parliament’s Employment and Social Affairs Committee yesterday.
Casa explained how “a better work-life balance for workers increases productivity, decreases the uptake of sick leave and should close the gender pay and pension gap. This legislation, which is a priority for the EPP Group, will concretely improve the lives of EU of citizens and will also be good for business.”
The text adopted yesterday aims at introducing 10 days of paternity leave to be taken upon the birth of a child and paid to at least 78% of the worker’s gross salary, four months of non- transferable parental leave to be taken until the child is at least ten years old, five days of annual carer’s leave, and the right for parents to request flexible working arrangements.
Casa added: “I have also focused my work on introducing measures that will safeguard SMEs and micro enterprises in particular. I have removed administrative burdens and provided more flexibility for employers to take measures to protect the proper functioning of their business.”
For MEP Agnieszka Kozłowska-Rajewicz, the lead negotiator on the Directive in the Women’s Rights and Gender Equality Committee: “This text shows that we in the EPP Group are committed to defending women’s and carers’ rights. We will stay united before the Council and the Commission during the negotiations to ensure that we give both mothers and fathers the opportunity to have equal rights to take care of their children and to pursue their professional careers.”
Following the announcement of the vote on the mandate in the plenary in September, Casa will assume the role of European Parliament lead negotiator in discussions with the Council and Commission.
“The developer wants to install a concrete-making plant (batchingplant) next to the residents’ homes, something that is extremely hazardous to their health, especially to the respiratory system.”
During the meeting, the residents emphasised that all development should take into account social well-being, children’s rights and the rights of future generations. They said they currently felt that their community was under siege from construction projects and unsustainable commercialisation.
The residents thanked the President for her time and for attentively listening to and understanding their concerns.
Residents had also held three separate meetings with all MPs elected on the ninth and 10th districts in order to outline the “impacts of the proposed db Group project that would bury them alive.”