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Facade of restored palace unveiled
A new look has been given to the main facade of the Grand Master’s Palace in Valletta, with extensive restoration work which has brought back its shine and which is continuing on the other facades. The palace was built under Grand Master La Cassiere in 1572, when it was much smaller than today, not extending to Merchants Street from Republic Street. Today each of its facades is on a street, after building works by Ġlormu Cassar (1520-1592) under Grand Master Verdalle, making it the largest single building in the capital. And the main facade as it is today is owed to works of huge changes in the palace, carried out under Grand Master Manoel Pinto de Fonseca when the main facade, on St George Square, had a second main door of architectural importance introduced. The new design of the palace is attributed to Maltese architect Andrea Belli in the 18th century.(independent.com) It is important to maintain the architectural works of such a beautiful island that Malta.
A missed opportunity
SDM and Pulse, the two student organisations contesting for seats on the University Students’ Council, KSU, yesterday missed an opportunity to explain to fellow students, especially those who do not care who is in power, what exactly they aspire to do for them. The election will be held tomorrow and while SDM has put forward a manifesto with 35 proposals, Pulse is competing with a total of 87. For years, the KSU has been led by an absolute majority of SDM members – who follow Christian Democratic principles – and over the past four years, Pulse, the organisation of social democrats, did not contest for KSU. The debate, that took over two hours, started with the moderator, Daniel Benson Camilleri, asking questions – most of which were not answered – and ended like some horse racing commentary, with one speaker, Mario Cachia of SDM, saying as many words as possible and as fast as he possibly could to prove his track record. Meanwhile, the crowd to his left (SDM members) cheered and that to his right (Pulse members) protested. For a University debate, this activity was well attended but participants lacked maturity. Most people were interested in mudslinging and hurling insults, as they shouted that the questions they were asking were not being answered.(independent.com.mt) The student voice is a voice to neglect.
VAT Inspector has conviction quashed
Liliana Galea, the VAT inspector and customer care officer who was sentenced to six months imprisonment after she was found guilty of received a €1,000 gift from her uncle, has had her sentence revoked on appeal. She had also been condemned to a general interdiction after she was found guilty of accepting the gift for speeding up the payment of VAT refunds to her uncle. Ms Galea worked simultaneously as a VAT inspector and a customer care representative and in this function she was responsible to verify information given by tax-registered people when they asks for a correction in VAT returns. In the first judgement, the court pointed out that Ms Galea had at first said the money she received was a present, only to then admit that when she received the money, her uncle told her that it was for helping out “with those envelopes”. The first court had said that from the evidence before it, there was no doubt that Ms Galea, as a public official, helped her uncle and for this accepted €1,000 Ms Galea argued that her uncle had given her the gift because she was his niece and because she had helped him with returns. She said that according to Maltese law one could not have bribery after the fact.(timesofmalta.com) Everything depends on context.
A new look has been given to the main facade of the Grand Master’s Palace in Valletta, with extensive restoration work which has brought back its shine and which is continuing on the other facades. The palace was built under Grand Master La Cassiere in 1572, when it was much smaller than today, not extending to Merchants Street from Republic Street. Today each of its facades is on a street, after building works by Ġlormu Cassar (1520-1592) under Grand Master Verdalle, making it the largest single building in the capital. And the main facade as it is today is owed to works of huge changes in the palace, carried out under Grand Master Manoel Pinto de Fonseca when the main facade, on St George Square, had a second main door of architectural importance introduced. The new design of the palace is attributed to Maltese architect Andrea Belli in the 18th century.(independent.com) It is important to maintain the architectural works of such a beautiful island that Malta.
A missed opportunity
SDM and Pulse, the two student organisations contesting for seats on the University Students’ Council, KSU, yesterday missed an opportunity to explain to fellow students, especially those who do not care who is in power, what exactly they aspire to do for them. The election will be held tomorrow and while SDM has put forward a manifesto with 35 proposals, Pulse is competing with a total of 87. For years, the KSU has been led by an absolute majority of SDM members – who follow Christian Democratic principles – and over the past four years, Pulse, the organisation of social democrats, did not contest for KSU. The debate, that took over two hours, started with the moderator, Daniel Benson Camilleri, asking questions – most of which were not answered – and ended like some horse racing commentary, with one speaker, Mario Cachia of SDM, saying as many words as possible and as fast as he possibly could to prove his track record. Meanwhile, the crowd to his left (SDM members) cheered and that to his right (Pulse members) protested. For a University debate, this activity was well attended but participants lacked maturity. Most people were interested in mudslinging and hurling insults, as they shouted that the questions they were asking were not being answered.(independent.com.mt) The student voice is a voice to neglect.
VAT Inspector has conviction quashed
Liliana Galea, the VAT inspector and customer care officer who was sentenced to six months imprisonment after she was found guilty of received a €1,000 gift from her uncle, has had her sentence revoked on appeal. She had also been condemned to a general interdiction after she was found guilty of accepting the gift for speeding up the payment of VAT refunds to her uncle. Ms Galea worked simultaneously as a VAT inspector and a customer care representative and in this function she was responsible to verify information given by tax-registered people when they asks for a correction in VAT returns. In the first judgement, the court pointed out that Ms Galea had at first said the money she received was a present, only to then admit that when she received the money, her uncle told her that it was for helping out “with those envelopes”. The first court had said that from the evidence before it, there was no doubt that Ms Galea, as a public official, helped her uncle and for this accepted €1,000 Ms Galea argued that her uncle had given her the gift because she was his niece and because she had helped him with returns. She said that according to Maltese law one could not have bribery after the fact.(timesofmalta.com) Everything depends on context.
Malta news: SmartCity Malta lagoon
