LOCAL NEWS
Update by Ministry of Health
In its daily bulletin, which is now being provided only through social media platforms, the Health Ministry said that there was one new case yesterday. As typically happens on Sundays, the number of swab tests was lowest for the whole week, at just above 507.
This is the 630th case to be registered in Malta since the first case identified on 7th March 2020.
New Government incentives expected tonight
Writing on Facebook, Prime Minister Robert Abela revealed the theme for this evening’s budget “Għada Aħjar” (A Better Tomorrow). He said that tonight Government will be providing support to families and businesses to push forward Malta’s economic recovery.
Abela described tonight’s announcement as “the largest economic stimulus plan ever seen by this country”, which was possible solely because Malta never went into full lockdown. This package, insisted the PM, will strengthen and incentivise Maltese and Gozitan businesses. “It will stimulate consumption and employment”.
Among the incentives, Abela hinted that there will be incentives to encourage people to dine out and spend weekend breaks in Maltese and Gozitan hotels. Government is also intent at rewarding businesses that had invested further during these challenging times.
#MALTA-24: LOCAL NEWS
Timesofmalta.com
Air Malta pilots obtain court injunction to block redundancies
The pilots’ union has obtained a temporary warrant of prohibitory injunction to stop Air Malta and the government from proceeding with plans to lay off 69 pilots. The court action, filed on Sunday, was upheld by Mr Justice Toni Abela until the matter is heard in court. A sitting will be held on June 15.
The airline late on Friday said it had sacked the pilots after talks with the Airline Pilots Association (ALPA) failed. It said the union had insisted on a €73 million early retirement pay-out.
The pilots’ union said that layoffs came as a “complete surprise” and that the airline had used the COVID-19 pandemic as a pretext to do away with the current conditions of employment.
ALPA said it had been asked by Air Malta to sell out certain clauses in the collective agreement and presented various costings. After obtaining professional advice from Third Pillar Pension scheme professionals, the devalued figure of €73 million was found to be acceptable to the union. “ALPA never approached Air Malta to buy out this clause, nor did the association ever force Air Malta to buy it out,” the association said.
Maltatoday
Minister calls on businesses to start giving employees full pay
Shops that have reopened after COVID-19 restrictions were lifted must start giving employees their full pay, Minister Carmelo Abela said.
The employment relations watchdog will shortly start withdrawing temporary permissions it gave companies to reduce workers’ pay after COVID-19 restrictions came into force.
Abela, said that the next phase must include a return to normal employment conditions. His words may not go down too well with retail operators whose return to ‘normality’ is still conditioned by safety measures that limit customers and incomes that are nowhere near what they were before the pandemic hit in March.
However, Abela’s comments come after warning last month that employees were not at liberty to decide for themselves if they should or should not report to work if their employer opened shop. “I made it clear that all employees had to report to work but now we are at the next juncture of our economic response and I will now see that the improved reality also reflects itself in what is experienced by our employees.
Now is the time for all those shops that have re-opened to give employees their full pay,” Abela said.
Independent
‘A better tomorrow’: Prime Minister unveils theme for tonight’s budget
Prime Minister Robert Abela has announced the theme for the economic recovery mini- budget set to be unveiled at around 7pm tonight.
The theme is ‘Ghada Ahjar’ (a better tomorrow). The Prime Minister, in a post on Facebook, said that this multi-million euro plan will give a push to families and businesses, “based on the trust we have in our people. We are convinced that our country will continue with the economic success from which everyone benefits.”
Printed
The Independent quotes Prime Minister Robert Abela who said that a decision to disembark 400 migrants held on four tourist boats was taken after the situation aboard escalated and was spiralling out of control.
L-Orizzont follows an interview with the Prime Minister who said that crew members of the Captain Morgan Europa II boat called for help after migrants entered the vessel kitchen and threatened to explode a gas cylinder.
In-Nazzjon quotes PN Leader Adrian Delia warned against turning immigration into political football and said that the opposition is prepared to hold a unified front with the government to make Malta’s case to the EU.
The Times speaks to family lawyers who reported an increase in requests for legal advice on separation over the lockdown months. Professionals said that the experience for some married couples was like ‘forced cohabitation’.
The Independent speaks to real estate agents who welcomed the launch of a home deposit scheme aimed at first-time buyers but argued that the limit of property prices should be raised to €200,000 from the current €175,000.
L-Orizzont quotes University of Malta lecturer George Vidal Zammit who recommended the creation of a forum between all stakeholders interested in the issue of migration to develop a national policy for this area.
The Times says that the economic measures to be announced today are expected to introduce a feel-good factor to stimulate buying. Sources close to the government said that incentives may include compensation for foodservice and accommodation consumption.
Editorials
The Times of Malta shares its views on Government’s expected mini-budget due to be announced this evening, expressing its belief that the Prime Minister would do well to put the interests of the weakest at the very top of the government’s priority list.While acknowledging that the stimulus measures to need to encourage consumption to kick- start economic activity at the local level, it argues that businesses need to do more to help themselves by revising their short-term sales strategies to encourage local consumption.
The Editor calls for a balance between the needs of different segments of society, insisting that the new financial package presents an excellent opportunity to promote real solidarity in our communities.
In-Nazzjon also shares its views on this evening’s planned announcement, but notes that the initiatives that can be launched will be constrained by a ballooning budget deficit that by the end of the first quarter had already exceeded 600 million euro. This issue will be accentuated with reduced revenue particularly by the drop in tourism.
The Independent revisits the saga of more than 450 migrants that had been on privately-chartered boats for the past three weeks, describing them as ‘pawns in a political game”. The Editor expresses disappointment for the general silence by the public on this issue, who seemed more interested to know when bars and restaurants were set to re-open, and even worse, for criticising government for showing empathy after this time.
L-Orizzont comes to Opposition Leader Adrian Delia’s defence with regard to recent stories published on online media related which recently alleged that he was sleeping at the party’s HQ. The Editor says that while it disagrees with a number of political arguments raised by Delia, it defends his right to privacy and insists that private and personal matters should remain as such.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
Heathrow boss says possibly millions of jobs could be lost if aircraft stay grounded Hundreds of thousands of jobs, if not millions, could be lost in Britain if aviation is not able to resume quickly, the chief executive of London’s Heathrow Airport said on Monday.
Britain introduced a 14-day quarantine period for international arrivals on Monday despite warnings from its biggest airlines that the move will decimate domestic tourism and damage exports.
“We cannot go on like this as a country,” Chief Executive John Holland-Kaye told Sky News. “We need to start planning to reopen our borders. “If we don’t get aviation moving again quickly, in a very safe way, then we are going to lose hundreds of thousands if not millions of jobs in the UK just at the time when we need to be rebuilding our economy.”
EU Corner – by Comuniq.EU
Temperature heats up as EU states share divergent views on migration
Summer is not yet here and migratory challenges across Europe have already increased tensions across EU Member States. As countries insisted with their standoffs to raise visibility of their plight, the U.N. human rights recently expressed its alarm at reports of rescue boats failing to assist migrants in trouble on the central Mediterranean Sea, considered to be one of the deadliest migration routes in the world.
Mediterranean countries, including Malta, have accused other European countries of leaving it to bear the brunt of migrant arrivals from Northern Africa. Earlier today, Foreign Minister Evarist Bartolo said on Facebook that he had written to his European counterparts demanding support on the matter.
It is clear however, that one-off agreements will not suffice this time round. Comuniq.eu has looked at the different positions of a number of EU Member States, from those suggesting mandatory relocation to others who insist that solidarity can take other forms, such as financial support.
