Marlene Farrugia breaks new ground in Maltese politics
● PS Ian Borg’s comments in parliament spark furore ● Academics sign letter of protest against American University of Malta
On 1 June, we reported that Labour MP Marlene Farrugia received a hero’s welcome as she attended an event organised by the Nationalist Party to protest the planned development of an ‘American University of Malta’ in undeveloped land in the Żonqor area of Marsascala.
On 2 June, we published the results of an inquiry which looked into the quality of the concrete used in Mater Dei Hospital. The report read that the habitual dismissal and lack of action on quality control reports showed that the inferior quality of concrete used in Mater Dei Hospital was “concentrated and directed” showing that the whole process was fraudulent.
That same day we reported the Prime Minister’s reaction to Dr Farrugia’s participation in a protest organised by the PN. He said: “It’s a free world.”
Also on 2 June, Anthony Debono, the husband of former Gozo Minister Giovanna Debono, was formally indicted over the alleged works-for-votes operation he was involved in, after the defence said that it would not be contesting the indictment.
On 4 June, Rosette Thake was elected as the PN’s secretary general in a ballot, taking over from Chris Said, who did not contest the post again, at the request of PN leader Simon Busuttil.
On 6 June, more than 2,000 migrants hoping to get to Italy were rescued from rickety converted fishing boats off Libya.
On 10 June, a statement issued by the DOI read that the government-appointed inquiry into the Gaffarena expropriation scandal will be made public. Until today, this hasn’t happened however.
On 11 June, it emerged that businessman Marco Gaffarena was given more land, this time in Baħar iċ-Ċagħaq, at a higher value than estimated by the government.
On 14 June, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said that he will reverse the Gaffarena deal if he found it to have been dishonest.
On 15 June, we revealed that a large number of academics signed a statement expressing concern about the American University of Malta location, the “assessment made in the selection of the site” and “lack of transparency” in the case, but a number of academics, most of whom have Labour ties, chose not to sign it.
On 16 June, a 68-year-old man was jailed for nine years after a court found him guilty of raping a seven-year-old girl who visited his house frequently to see his cats. William Gatt, from St Paul’s Bay, denied the charges.
On 17 June, Enemalta started to dismantle the chimneys of the decommissioned Marsa power station.
On the same day, a comment made in parliament by Parliamentary Secretary Ian Borg sparked a controversy after he said he “did not orgasm on speculation”. He apologised two days later.
On 23 June, Health and Energy Minister Konrad Mizzi told the chairman of Enemalta to terminate the engagement of a former police inspector at the corporation, Daniel Zammit, who is the son of former acting police commissioner Ray Zammit.
On 26 June, it was reported that Karl Cutajar, the 18-year-old director, secretary, legal representative and judicial representative of the newly-formed government security company Fort Security Services, happens to be the nephew of Economy Minister Chris Cardona’s chief of staff Mario Azzopardi. Fort Security Services falls under Dr Cardona’s ministerial control.
On 28 June, we revealed that the Economic Crimes inspector went into business with a Sicilian online gaming operator two weeks after leaving the Police Force.
The inferior quality of concrete used in Mater Dei Hospital was ‘concentrated and directed’