From my perusal of the draft proceedings of the exchange I had in Parliament with the Investment, Industry and IT Minister Gatt regarding Maltacom’s privatisation, one may confirm that the minister did not deny that that the fact that Malta dealt with only one potential “strategic partner” had weakened the government’s negotiating position. He merely qualified this fact by adding that the government had nevertheless achieved what it had set out to do.

Without comment (2)

The cat is finally out of the bag. Another daily English newspaper reported on 17 May that “one of Tecom Investment’s senior executives had hinted that the Dubai-based company may not have gone ahead with the Smart City project unless it also bought Maltacom.”

This was further confirmed in an interview wherein Tecom’s deputy CEO Abdullah al Mulla stated “both projects are independent but I do not think we would have done one without the other because they bring lots of synergies to each other…”

Without comment (3)

Labour has publicly questioned how the Cabinet drew up the criteria over the extension of development zones. This is tantamount to direct Cabinet interference in the planning process. Another newspaper’s poll shows that the majority of readers consider it to go against the national interest. The government still has to explain why it had originally been against the extension of the development zones and now arbitrarily chose to go against its own resources.

Could this be Phase 1 of the PN’s electioneering process?

Without comment (4)

Practically three days after I wrote in the columns of this newspaper about the need to explore offshore wind farms as a source of alternative energy, out came the PM announcing that the government’s plans for wind farms.

Although he “revealed” that the government had been studying alternative energy solutions for around two years, adding that a technical document on alternative energy possibilities for Malta was being finalised to be published soon, it would be interesting to find out when the government had decided to issue an international call for tenders for the installation of offshore wind farms.

One would have expected the PM to visit a foreign company which designs and builds such offshore farms before the decision was taken, rather than later. Let us hope that we shall not be settling for a piecemeal approach to the very topical and vital subject of alternative energy possibilities at our disposal. We are already far too late on this delicate subject particularly given our almost total dependency on oil for electricity generation.

Opus Dei

It would have made rather more sense had instead of flogging (no puns intended) to death the Da Vinci Code movie controversy, local investigative journalists would have probed the Opus Dei movement that features prominently in both the movie and the Dan Brown book.

Does it deserve the demonisation it gets in the Code movie/book or is it a holier than thou organisation as “many” make it out to be? For the truth about its rituals, secrets and power one would do no harm by reading through John L. Allen’s objective bestseller on the same subject.

Nevertheless a probe into the thoughts and practices of local members of the movement would have surely made far more interesting reading. One could start by finding out who its Maltese and Gozitan members happen to be!

With deep regret

Having had various one-to-one meetings with former HSBC chief executive officer Chris Hothersall during my not-too-distant days at the bank I would like to express my shock and regret about his sudden and unexpected demise.

Chris was a likeable, easygoing person with a sense of purpose and an encyclopedic knowledge of the foreign countries in which he had served, particularly India.

His deep economic knowledge perfectly matched his expertise as a professional banker.

I am sure that the majority of my former HSBC colleagues and numerous Maltese customers must have been saddened by the bad news that reached us last week.

email: [email protected]

Leo Brincat is the main opposition spokesperson on foreign affairs and IT