Malta news: Authority gas distributors

Party financing loopholes tailored for PN donors, says Labour
Nationalist MP Franco Debono says he made no distinction between party and non-party members in original draft. The Labour party said it does not agree with a party financing law that will distinguish between donors who are party members and who are not, if they are to be named publicly. "The draft which government seems to be proposing to regulate party financing consciously creates loopholes," the PL said in a statement, referring to MaltaToday's report on the draft law scrutinised by the Council of Europe. "The Labour Party does not agree with the distinction between party and non-party members, which is clearly a strategic loophole tailored to fit particular individuals, some of which can be easily found by going through a Yellow Pages directory," the party said, in a sarcastic reference to claims by BWSC middleman Joe Mizzi to the parliamentary accounts committee, that he elected Vassallo Builders Group to BWSC agents for the Delimara power station extension by picking them out of the Yellow Pages.(maltatoday.com.mt)

Authority says gas distributors' price increase not approved
The Malta Resources Authority has said it did not approve an arbitrary price increase in gas cylinders by independent distributors, which was yesterday called into question by LPG bottlers Liquigas. The MRA said distributors are obliged to sell the LPG at prices established by Liquigas, and that since they act as agents of Liquigas the must maintain the prices issued by the company. "As agents of the operators the fixed commission paid to distributors must be agreed and approved by the operator as was the case when the pricing mechanism was approved by the authority," the MRA said in a statement. The Chamber of SMEs (GRTU) is claiming distributors are within their right to increase prices to cover increased costs, and that this is within a pricing mechanism approved by the MRA.(maltatoday.com.mt)

Drier weather in December
Last month’s average air temperature of 14.1°C exceeded the climate norm by 0.3°C. The average temperature in the first part of the month – from the 1st to the 17th – was well above the norm of 13.8°C. This was followed by a drop in air temperature during the latter part of the month. Between the 18th and 31st the average temperature registered a downward trend. The highest temperature recorded last month was 20.1°C on the 1st of the month. The highest ever recorded temperature in December since 1947 was on 5 December, 1963 when it reached 24.3°C. The lowest temperature last December was 6.6°C and this was recorded on 20 December. The coolest December night was on 22 December, 1967 with a low of 3.6°C. The average sea surface temperature was 18.6°C. This is 1.5°C higher than the average value for December. The mean relative humidity last month was 76% which is lower than the 30-year mean climate average of 80%. Last month, 72.8mm of rainfall was recorded at Malta International Airport, which is less than the climate norm of 112.2mm. There were thunderstorms on three days: The 21st, 29th and 30th.(independent.com.mt)

Karate: Fourteen gold medals for Fgura Karate Club at national championships
The Fgura Karate Club landed 14 gold, eight silver and three bronze medals at last year’s Karate national championships held at St Aloysius College, Birkirkara. This has been described as an overwhelming success for the club by the Sensei Joe Tanti who also commented on the preparedness and strong commitment of the young Kata and Kumise athletes. The participating athletes included Darren Mifsud, Isaac Degabriele, Stefan Chircop, Samuel Zammit, Gary Magri, Jake Mercieca, Christopher Zahra, Nathaniel Galea, Melvin Pace, Keelen Azzopardi, Matteo Caruana Bond, Sean Micallef, Kyle Borg, Joelle Farrugia, Travis Sciberras, Melanie Pace, Amy Gilson, Dana Borg, Steve Gilson, Jake Dalli, Owen Marlow, Dennilson Manicaro, Kyle Gauci, Gabriel Pulis and Nathan Piscopo.(theindependent.com.mt)