New life to old bakery: Maypole gives life to abandoned old bakery in Valletta
Maypole Bakery has restored an old bakery in St Dominic Street, Valletta and turned it into a restaurant that will be serving traditional Maltese food. Bread is among the traditional Maltese food people used to live on in the past and still consume daily, despite the diversity of products available. Tourists too look out for Maltese bread to have a taste of something truly local. With this in mind, Maypole, which has been investing to make products of quality, is now seeking to conserve a tradition. The old bakery, situated on the corner with St Paul Street, had been in a very bad state but the company saw potential in it after considering various premises. Besides a small exhibition of mannequins in traditional clothing and tools used by bakers, visitors will be able to see that a number of different products can be made out of Maltese bread dough. Ftira – flattened bread which housewives used to fill with vegetables or meat, and later have it baked at the village bakery, is one example. Tourists visiting this bakery can have a try at making their own ftira with their preferred filling and have it baked in the stone oven. Soups and other traditional food, local wines and traditional sweets will also be served at the premises. It is striving to maximise on the opportunity that Maltese bread is of good quality and we should be proud of it.(independdent.com.mt)
Franco Debono insists thesis is academic exercise
After excerpts from his 1999 thesis were quoted in the blogosphere, Nationalist MP Franco Debono said when contacted that a thesis is an academic exercise that cannot really be put into practice and it is the whole current political context that really matters. One of the most controversial quotes, given the present context, from his thesis – which is entitled ‘The Constitutional Implications of Party Organisation and Party Finance’ – reads: “Members of Parliament of the party in office should be extremely reluctant to vote against the government, or even to hold individual ministers to account, if that would embarrass it.” Dr Debono withdrew his support to the government and said he no longer supports Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi, minutes after a Cabinet reshuffle was announced on 6 January. A vote of no-confidence motion has been filed by the Opposition, and will be debated in Parliament next week. But Dr Debono immediately stressed the word ‘reluctant’ and said his thesis is generic and focuses on a ‘normal’ situation. He denied that his behaviour is capricious and said that many, including the President and the Speaker, have been talking about the need for constitutional reform, adding that the system is simply not functioning. There has been too much procrastination, he complained. The government needs to multi-task. While it needs to focus on economic development, more important issues such as democracy cannot be put on the back burner, he said.(independdent.com.mt)
MFSA clears BOV staff over property fund shares redemption
An MFSA investigation has not revealed evidence that Bank of Valletta staff or persons connected to them used confidential information as a basis for their decision to redeem shares from the La Valette Multi Manager Property Fund prior to the suspension of the August 8, 2008 redemptions. The investigation was conducted by the Malta Financial Services Authority following allegations and judicial protests that group employees or persons connected to the bank or the fund took advantage of privileged information to dispose of their shares prior to the fund's suspension. BOV said in a statement that the authority undertook a thorough examination of any information which was identified as being relevant to this investigation, including data on purchases and redemption of shares. The investigation included interviews with BOV officials, the review of minutes of meetings, correspondence and data collected by the authority from BOV, Valletta Fund Management, Valletta Fund Services and La Valette Funds Sicav p.l.c. The authority also scrutinised redemptions that took place in 2008, particularly between April and August, to determine whether any could be deemed unusual or out of line with the general pattern of redemptions at the time.(timesofmalta.com)
Maypole Bakery has restored an old bakery in St Dominic Street, Valletta and turned it into a restaurant that will be serving traditional Maltese food. Bread is among the traditional Maltese food people used to live on in the past and still consume daily, despite the diversity of products available. Tourists too look out for Maltese bread to have a taste of something truly local. With this in mind, Maypole, which has been investing to make products of quality, is now seeking to conserve a tradition. The old bakery, situated on the corner with St Paul Street, had been in a very bad state but the company saw potential in it after considering various premises. Besides a small exhibition of mannequins in traditional clothing and tools used by bakers, visitors will be able to see that a number of different products can be made out of Maltese bread dough. Ftira – flattened bread which housewives used to fill with vegetables or meat, and later have it baked at the village bakery, is one example. Tourists visiting this bakery can have a try at making their own ftira with their preferred filling and have it baked in the stone oven. Soups and other traditional food, local wines and traditional sweets will also be served at the premises. It is striving to maximise on the opportunity that Maltese bread is of good quality and we should be proud of it.(independdent.com.mt)
Franco Debono insists thesis is academic exercise
After excerpts from his 1999 thesis were quoted in the blogosphere, Nationalist MP Franco Debono said when contacted that a thesis is an academic exercise that cannot really be put into practice and it is the whole current political context that really matters. One of the most controversial quotes, given the present context, from his thesis – which is entitled ‘The Constitutional Implications of Party Organisation and Party Finance’ – reads: “Members of Parliament of the party in office should be extremely reluctant to vote against the government, or even to hold individual ministers to account, if that would embarrass it.” Dr Debono withdrew his support to the government and said he no longer supports Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi, minutes after a Cabinet reshuffle was announced on 6 January. A vote of no-confidence motion has been filed by the Opposition, and will be debated in Parliament next week. But Dr Debono immediately stressed the word ‘reluctant’ and said his thesis is generic and focuses on a ‘normal’ situation. He denied that his behaviour is capricious and said that many, including the President and the Speaker, have been talking about the need for constitutional reform, adding that the system is simply not functioning. There has been too much procrastination, he complained. The government needs to multi-task. While it needs to focus on economic development, more important issues such as democracy cannot be put on the back burner, he said.(independdent.com.mt)
MFSA clears BOV staff over property fund shares redemption
An MFSA investigation has not revealed evidence that Bank of Valletta staff or persons connected to them used confidential information as a basis for their decision to redeem shares from the La Valette Multi Manager Property Fund prior to the suspension of the August 8, 2008 redemptions. The investigation was conducted by the Malta Financial Services Authority following allegations and judicial protests that group employees or persons connected to the bank or the fund took advantage of privileged information to dispose of their shares prior to the fund's suspension. BOV said in a statement that the authority undertook a thorough examination of any information which was identified as being relevant to this investigation, including data on purchases and redemption of shares. The investigation included interviews with BOV officials, the review of minutes of meetings, correspondence and data collected by the authority from BOV, Valletta Fund Management, Valletta Fund Services and La Valette Funds Sicav p.l.c. The authority also scrutinised redemptions that took place in 2008, particularly between April and August, to determine whether any could be deemed unusual or out of line with the general pattern of redemptions at the time.(timesofmalta.com)