A court rejected a libel case filed by Green MT - a waste recovery company - against the editor of the General Workers’ Union newspaper l-Orizzont.

The libel was filed by company CEO Joe Attard.

On 21 November, 2012, the newspaper had reported that GreenMT was giving local councils cash grants of €2,000 to incentivise them to use their services and the councils, in turn, would utilise the funds for council-related projects.

But the newspaper in question had used the word “bait” (€2,000 lixka) in its article and Green MT felt aggrieved over the word used.

Presiding over the case, Magistrate Francesco Depasquale said that although the press must not overstep its boundaries, it results that this particular case was of public interest.

In a separate article, Local Council Association president Michael Cohen had expressed concerns over the fact that the councils were being given cash grants.

“It is acceptable that one of two companies operating in this sector incentivises councils but the worst thing of all is when these incentives are announced in the form of cash,” he had reportedly said.