Security is one of the greatest concerns at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meetings being hosted by Malta in November. The security measures are being drawn up by the Maltese police force, the Armed Forces of Malta and the Maltese security services and they are leaving no stone unturned to ensure that the event runs smoothly.

Speaking to journalists yesterday, Ambassador Salv Stellini, the chairman of the task force set up over a year ago to organise the event, being held between 25 and 27 November, said the security aspect is being dealt with by a special working group within the task force since security was a very important aspect of the organisation of the event.

He said there will be 31 prime ministers, 21 presidents and one sultan from the 53 Commonwealth countries. Malta never had so many heads of governments at one go, so security was “a headache”.

He said a number of people have already been sent abroad for specialised training in view of the big event being held in Malta.

Every two years, the 53 Commonwealth leaders meet in different Commonwealth countries to discuss matters of common interest and promote initiatives to benefit the Commonwealth’s diverse membership.

Unlike other Commonwealth meetings, Malta’s will be the first one to spread over two days rather than the usual five. Usually, the heads of government go in retreat, away from the press and the media for two days and hold discussions and formal talks on the other days. This time, the Malta meeting will be the “retreat” bit since the work usually carried out on the other days would have already been done. This will be held at the Golden Sands Hotel which is expected to have opened its doors by then.

The organisers are expecting at least 3,000 people for the event, 800 of whom are journalists. For the latter group, the organisers are planning a state-of-the-art media centre which is expected to be set up at the Eden Arena in St Julian’s. This international press centre is estimated to cost the organisers a big slice of their budget to organise the event.

Speaking about budget, Mr Stellini and the Prime Minister’s PR officer Alan Camilleri both confirmed that the Lm1.5m allocated to the event, although a tight budget, was being adhered to. Asked about the timings from the organisational point of view, Mr Camilleri said these were on schedule but admitted that so little time is left and so much still had to be done.

Mr Stellini said the theme Malta has chosen, and which is expected to be officially announced by government on Monday, concerns the digital divide since modern and developing countries, such as the majority of the Commonwealth member states, have to invest heavily in information and communication technology if they are to develop further. The slogan agreed for CHOGM 2005 is “Networking the Commonwealth for Development”.

Prior to the commencement of the meeting, three fora will be held, namely the business forum, bringing together over 500 government and business leaders to discuss business opportunities; the youth forum to discuss the theme “Networking for Development”; and the People’s Forum, which provides space for interaction between Commonwealth civil society organisations.

Mr Stellini said the organisers want CHOGM to be successful from two aspects: successful from the organisation and logistical point of view and successful in serving as a springboard for Malta, promoting its tourism and business potential.

He said they have concluded agreements with various hotels in the St Julian’s area which will accommodate the heads of government and other guests.

Corporate sponsorships received for the meeting are classified according to value in the following categories:

• Platinum sponsors amount to over Lm50,000 in cash or in kind and will be given exclusivity to their individual sector.

• Gold sponsors are those sponsors whose contribution amounts to between Lm25,000 and Lm50,000. These sponsors will also be granted exclusivity according to their sector.

• Silver sponsors are those whose contribution amounts to between Lm5,000 and Lm24,999.

• Supporters whose contribution amounts to less than Lm5,000.

The money which will collected through the sponsorship agreements will be used to market the event abroad and thus use the event to market Malta as a tourist destination and as a country where returns on investment are profitable.