Bonġu News on 13 June 2022

Moviment Graffiti removes Blue Lagoon deckchairs

Moviment Graffiti activists removed deckchairs and umbrellas set up at Blue Lagoon early on Saturday morning.

The NGO protested the operators’ takeover of Comino’s public shoreline and lack of enforcement, saying “the beach belongs to everyone”.

The activists did not meet much resistance from the operators, who are only allowed to place equipment on clients’ request.

The long-standing practice of filling all available space before any beachgoers arrive has long been ignored by the authorities.

On Friday, Tourism Minister Clayton Bartolo only confirmed that bathers have the right to ask for empty deckchairs to be removed.

Graffiti’s Andre Callus said that Blue Lagoon has been “stolen by commercial interests that have turned it into a private lido”.

The NGO is also calling on the authorities to reduce the number of kiosks operating on the small island.

Ukraine’s EU bid: Brussels to respond this week

On Ukraine’s bid to join the EU, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has promised a response by the end of this week.

The Commission President said during her second visit to Kyiv on Saturday that Ukraine was already “on a good track” before Russia’s “horrible and atrocious invasion”.

“I think it pays off now that you did the reform on decentralisation. We see it on a daily basis in the work with the commission that at all levels the administration is functioning despite the war”, Von der Leyen said.

Von der Leyen also highlighted the need for further reforms aimed at the rule of law and fighting corruption.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said his country’s EU membership would be positive for the European project.

Zelenskyy also called for a new round of “even stronger” EU sanctions against all Russian banks, and companies supporting Putin’s war.

Grech: Giglio’s doubts about Efimova not PN’s position

Opposition leader Bernard Grech said on Sunday Joe Giglio’s doubts about the credibility of whistleblower Maria Efimova do not reflect the PN’s position. 

During an interview on 103 Malta’s Heart on Saturday, PN home affairs spokesperson Joe Giglio said he has “serious reservations” about Efimova who would “manipulate facts”.

Efimova, a former Pilatus Bank employee, had claimed that the secret company Egrant belonged to Michelle Muscat, the wife of former prime minister Joseph Muscat.

PN MP Joe Giglio, who briefly served as Pilatus Bank’s legal adviser, claimed he had come into possession of text messages showing Efimova was not being truthful.

PN MEP David Casa, PN MP Karol Aquilina, and the former MPs Jason Azzopardi and David Thake have criticised Giglio for his statements.

Giglio also hit out on Repubblika, saying “A party is always greater than an NGO. Let’s not waste time on NGOs and Repubblika”.

Repubblika replied “In democracy, nobody is greater than the other. Both have their own functions and the NGOs’ function is to expose parties’ wrongdoing”.

However, PN leader Bernard Grech said on Sunday evening the Nationalist Party was the country’s “only opposition” to hold the Labour government accountable.