Works start on recreation area in Mdina ditch
Works have started on converting the ditch below the Mdina fortifications into a recreational area. The works are being carried out by the Restoration Directorate of the Ministry for Resources and Rural Affairs. The rehabilitation project covers approximately 8000 square metres of ground which is currently not accessible to the public. The recreational area will stretch from Greek's Gate, past the main gate and round the area below Vilhena Palace. The old tennis court and football ground will be removed. (A new football ground is to be provided elsewhere) The project will see the creation of a mix of soft, green areas and paved, shady orange groves. New energy saving lighting schemes will compliment the project so as to allow the ditch to be accessible to the public even during the evenings. The grounds today hold a significant number of citrus trees, which are to be transplanted to the side of the counterscarp so as to expose the scale and majesty of the bastions. The protected species will be left in place and the design of the paving and the transplanted trees will work around this arrangement.(timesofmalta.com) It's a good thing for renovation and intelligently Maltese monuments.
Dwejra fishing nets spark calls for better protection
The Ministry of Resources and Rural Affairs says the activity is legal but marine biologist Alan Deidun, a former Nationalist MEP candidate, insists it goes contrary to the action plan for the area. When trammel nets are used they cover an entire cross-section of the bay, trapping everything and posing what divers say is a serious threat to them. Dr Deidun was diving in the same spot with some colleagues just an hour before he spotted the fishing boat. Quoting the government’s Dwejra Heritage Park Action Plan, he said the trammel nets were prohibited on the site, just next to Crocodile Rock. He decried the “complete lack of enforcement by the authorities” and warned that divers could easily get entangled in the nets.(timesofmalta.com) Authorities may be corrupted
1999 Erika disaster: French court may throw out Total spill ruling
France's top appeals court will probably rule that Total SA isn't criminally responsible for a 1999 oil spill because the Erika sank in international waters and wasn't a French-flagged tanker, French newspaper Liberation reported, citing legal advice to the court from the advocate general. France's highest court may annul the verdict against oil giant Total, when the public prosecutor will recommend the annulment to the Cour de Cassation on the grounds that the tanker at the origin of the spill did not sink in French waters, Total was condemned to pay clean-up costs, civil damages, and criminal fines in a 2008 judgment, a decision upheld by a lower appeals court in 2010. But if the court follows the advocate general's advice, only Malta, under whose flag the Erika was sailing, would have jurisdiction in the case, Liberation said.(maltatoday.com.mt) It would not be a good deal for Malta.
Works have started on converting the ditch below the Mdina fortifications into a recreational area. The works are being carried out by the Restoration Directorate of the Ministry for Resources and Rural Affairs. The rehabilitation project covers approximately 8000 square metres of ground which is currently not accessible to the public. The recreational area will stretch from Greek's Gate, past the main gate and round the area below Vilhena Palace. The old tennis court and football ground will be removed. (A new football ground is to be provided elsewhere) The project will see the creation of a mix of soft, green areas and paved, shady orange groves. New energy saving lighting schemes will compliment the project so as to allow the ditch to be accessible to the public even during the evenings. The grounds today hold a significant number of citrus trees, which are to be transplanted to the side of the counterscarp so as to expose the scale and majesty of the bastions. The protected species will be left in place and the design of the paving and the transplanted trees will work around this arrangement.(timesofmalta.com) It's a good thing for renovation and intelligently Maltese monuments.
Dwejra fishing nets spark calls for better protection
The Ministry of Resources and Rural Affairs says the activity is legal but marine biologist Alan Deidun, a former Nationalist MEP candidate, insists it goes contrary to the action plan for the area. When trammel nets are used they cover an entire cross-section of the bay, trapping everything and posing what divers say is a serious threat to them. Dr Deidun was diving in the same spot with some colleagues just an hour before he spotted the fishing boat. Quoting the government’s Dwejra Heritage Park Action Plan, he said the trammel nets were prohibited on the site, just next to Crocodile Rock. He decried the “complete lack of enforcement by the authorities” and warned that divers could easily get entangled in the nets.(timesofmalta.com) Authorities may be corrupted
1999 Erika disaster: French court may throw out Total spill ruling
France's top appeals court will probably rule that Total SA isn't criminally responsible for a 1999 oil spill because the Erika sank in international waters and wasn't a French-flagged tanker, French newspaper Liberation reported, citing legal advice to the court from the advocate general. France's highest court may annul the verdict against oil giant Total, when the public prosecutor will recommend the annulment to the Cour de Cassation on the grounds that the tanker at the origin of the spill did not sink in French waters, Total was condemned to pay clean-up costs, civil damages, and criminal fines in a 2008 judgment, a decision upheld by a lower appeals court in 2010. But if the court follows the advocate general's advice, only Malta, under whose flag the Erika was sailing, would have jurisdiction in the case, Liberation said.(maltatoday.com.mt) It would not be a good deal for Malta.