I still can’t get over the death of Lino Arrigo Azzopardi. We got on well together and were good friends.

On either side of the EU referendum and accession, we were part of a small media group who shared many trips together. We did not just travel to Brussels but also to other European capitals as the Maltese government put on a road show to facilitate the deal that led to accession. And I believe we were also present at the Copenhagen December 2002 summit that unlocked the EU package for Malta.

Now, the roles of a reporter and those of a photographer (and in this case the official photographer of the Maltese prime minister) are quite different and, while working, we would work in different areas. In his area, Lino had one good friend – the official photographer of Silvio Berlusconi.

Otherwise, outside official commitments we would keep each other company. Lino was a good sort but I have to say this – very often he would be the butt of some terrible jokes by some of us. They would be very funny to relate but I want to honour Lino’s memory by not relating them.

This past week also saw the death of the environmentalist Lino Bugeja. I do not think I ever met the gentleman but there was an instance when I editorially praised the Italian cyclist Marco Pantani, and Lino launched a searing attack since, according to him, I was setting young people a bad example, given Pantani’s tangles with drugs.

I still believe that I was right and Lino was wrong. ‘Il pirata’ was, and still is, a role model for us and as for his mysterious death, enough details have been discovered to show that he was more a victim of drugs than an active participator.

That apart, Lino Bugeja fully deserved the praise he received from all corners of Malta when his death was announced. He died before he could see the Maltese environment he so loved, destroyed and shredded by the construction plans on stream or still being planned.

The death was also announced this week of Cecil Pace, the head of the Bical Bank and group of companies.

I still remember the day, on the feast of Christ the King, when the Bical empire collapsed and had to be liquidated.

The shockwaves shook the local church, which had already lost money lent to the Canadian entrepreneur Lovett. Those at the top of the hierarchy, including Bishop Emmanuel Gerada, who rightly or wrongly were perceived as being the ones who had loaned sums of money to Bical, were hounded out of office amid claims that Mr Pace had given those who helped him expensive BMWs.

The loss of Church funds in Bical put paid to any hope of investment in a new printing press, although the press had already moved to a new building in Blata l-Bajda. More importantly, it led to the dissolution of any dream of editorial independence for its board, even though three of us – Dun Ang Seychell, Fr Hillary and I – gave an unprecedented press conference at the old Excelsior Hotel to protest against Archbishop Gonzi’s decision.

Apart from the impact of the Bical collapse on the church (and on those religious orders mad enough to lend money to it), the collapse had a terrible impact on the 4,000 employees who found themselves out of a job and on the many families and individuals who had been attracted by the high rate of return and lent it money.

Mr Pace has always claimed that there was enough money to pay everyone and always blamed the liquidators, first of all Karmenu Mifsud Bonnici, for squandering the funds and dismembering the group. Soon enough, the Bical collapse would be eclipsed by the engineered collapse and state takeover of the National Bank.

While the Bical shareholders and lenders – if I remember correctly – have been given a reduced or, as we would say today, a ‘haircut’ of the sums originally invested, nothing of the sort was given to the NBOM shareholders, who had to surrender their shares under duress.

Now last Tuesday, coincidentally the day of Mr Pace’s death, Mario de Marco, speaking in Parliament but without mentioning names, alluded to a court case regarding the (new) Hotel Excelsior, which is still ongoing in the courts.

I was flabbergasted. I had no idea the case has not been concluded. Readers who want more information can access Martone Hotel Excelsior on this website’s search facility and see what I wrote in 2007, a full 10 years ago.

Briefly, the Excelsior Hotel had never been part of the Bical group but since it had obtained some Bical help when it opened in 1972, it was locked in among the Bical assets. A flurry of court cases ensued, led by the redoubtable Avv. Michele Martone, then 82 years old. The company even succeeded in blocking the sale of the hotel but, in 1991, it agreed to remove the blocking when Finance Minister George Bonellu du Puis solemnly promised that the Martones would be able to repatriate their assets.

After 15 years, nothing happened and the then new Italian ambassador Paulo Trabalza asked for and obtained a meeting with Prime Minister Gonzi who promised action. But nothing seems to have happened as, according to Dr de Marco, the case is still before the court.

Maybe when he finds some time off from hounding Jason Azzopardi, Justice Minister Owen Bonnici could look into this and perhaps other long-standing court cases. All I know is that any company thinking of opening up in Malta checks to see if the courts function efficiently and if they can repatriate their investment. An opacity such as this drags Malta down in the Ease of Doing Business stakes and other World Bank stakes.

It would seem that in Malta real people can die but court cases can transcend the deaths of the principle people involved.

 

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