Bonġu News on 27 June 2022

Fundraisers for Andrea Prudente launched

Two fundraisers have been launched for Andrea Prudente and her partner who were flown out of Malta to have her nonviable pregnancy terminated.

As the insurance will only cover a portion of the couple’s expenses, a gofundme page was launched to collect funds to cover the “sky-high medical bills”.

A separate gofundme fundraiser was set up to help the couple “recover from the trauma” they experienced in Malta.

Andrea Prudente’s pregnancy was medically terminated in Mallorca on Thursday night, with her partner Jay saying she was resting after having received “the care she was denied in Malta”.

The couple was on a ‘babymoon’ in Malta when her waters broke at 16 weeks of pregnancy.

Mater Dei doctors said that, due to the legal situation in Malta, they could only perform a termination if the woman’s life was at imminent risk.

The story of Andrea Prudente made international headlines and sparked fresh protests from local pro-choice and women’s rights NGOs.

In an interview recorded on Thursday, Labour MEP Cyrus Engerer questioned Malta’s abortion ban:

“Shouldn’t that woman have been able to have her procedure to save her life in Malta? And what happens if next time it is a Maltese woman who is in that same position in Malta not having the international insurance that this couple had?”, Engerer asked.

ERA to take daily action on Comino

The Environment and Resources Authority is set to increase its surveillance on Comino.

ERA officers have been trained for daily enforcement on the island, with a focus on littering, campsite regulations and general environmental offences.

The officers will warn and educate visitors, but also issue fines to non-compliant persons in cases of damage to the environment.

Two weeks ago, activists from Moviment Graffiti protested against the extensive use of public land by two deckchair businesses, and highlighted Comino’s waste problem.

Despite government promises and assurances, most of the Blue Lagoon’s accessible shoreline is still blocked with deckchairs from the morning.

High-profile corruption investigator quits

Repubblika reacted to the resignation of police inspector Anthony Scerri, who has been tasked with working on high-profile corruption cases.

The civil society NGO described the reports as “shocking” and said “The octopus’ long tentacles of corruption are working in various ways”.

The Times of Malta reported on Sunday that Scerri had quit his role, citing sources saying he had become disillusioned with life in the corps.

Scerri was lead inspector in the magisterial inquiry into the Vitals hospital scandal, a prosecutor in the case against John Dalli over an alleged €60m bribe, and lead investigator in the probe into Ryan Schembri after years of inaction.

Portelli does not deny €100m island deal

Construction magnate Joseph Portelli has not denied that his company bought an island in Montenegro, newsbook reported.

J Portelli Projects purchased an “attractive” island from the Russian Metropol group in a deal worth around €100 million.

The Russian sellers had plans to build a six-star hotel and 74 luxury villas, before the project was shelved following the 2008 global financial crisis.

Joseph Portelli sidelined newsbook’s questions, answering “Did I ever ask where you’ve been on holiday and what you got up to?”

Interestingly, Arup – the company that designed the Maltese government’s metro proposal – was involved in the shelved luxury resort plans on the Montenegro island.

Update 08:00

Joseph Portelli has confirmed he is considering buying an island in Montenegro, saying “I have visited it and I’m interested”, the Times of Malta reported.