Category: Archive – 2010

Green MT has teamed up with one of Malta's leading resorts, The Westin Dragonara Resort, to recover and recycle its packaging waste. As part of the agreement, Green MT has provided one-third of the cost of changing all existing room bins to stainless steel, three partitioned bins. Green MT has also provided a quantity of 1100ltr bins at final collection point and a further 48 bins, 80 ltr and 120/240ltr, to cater for back end collections of packaging waste. In the near future a baler will also be supplied as part of the package together with "state of the art" stainless steel bins for public areas. All goods were provided brand new.

Mr. Vince Farrugia, Chairman of Green MT, stated that it was a pleasure for Green MT, the leader in the recovery and recycling of packaging waste in the local market to join forces with "Starwood" Westin Dragonara Resort, to recovering as much as possible of the packaging waste generated by this resort. He, continued to state that Green MT has given life to a vision. The vision of recovering and final recycling for the nation, starts by doing, and Green MT is fulfilling that mission.

During the occasion, Mr. Kamsky, General Manager at the Westin Dragonara Resort, thanked Green MT for its initiative and drive and augured well for the recovery of recyclables at the resort. He outlined that as a member of the "Starwood" Resorts, this initiative goes a long way in making the Maltese resort stand out amongst its competitors. The agreement also includes in-house staff education and also the supply of in-house leaflets in a number of languages to further incentivize this Green initiative.

Green MT and the Mellieha Local Council have embarked on a project to increase the level of recyclable waste, in the process decreasing the amount of mixed waste dumped on the Ghadira Beach. This project has included the installation of waste separation bins on the beach itself and an information campaign for users. For the next eight weeks, five youths would be educating the public on waste separation using the newly-installed bins and distributing flyers in a joint campaign between the local council and Green MT Ltd.

Within the same project, Green MT in collaboration with the Mellieha Local Council, has filled a site provided by the Council with Recycling bins for Plastic, Metal and Glass. The recyclable waste collected form Ghadira Beach will be deposited within this area, from where Green MT will be recovering it and delivering it to the Sant'Antnin MRF facility for recycling.

Through an agreement signed with the Zurreiq Local Council Green MT was entrusted to provide Glass bins in order to improve waste separation in the Locality in the occasion of the feast in Zurrieq. These bins will be supplied next to the main bars and around the square.

Green MT is the scheme which collects recyclable waste from this locality and for every extra tonnage of recyclable waste this locality collects, the Scheme in turn gives a rebate to the council. With this extra rebate the Local Council will be paying for the new Solar System installed on its roof.

Malta has long advertised itself as an exceptional destination for students from all over Europe who want to learn English. Malta advertises itself as the country of host families who genuinely care for the students under their care and ensure that young persons are looked after by families. This is what heads of families and guardians and young persons have been made to believe by the authorities in Malta.

GRTU is proud to represent Host families and to have obtained for them a fiscal condition that makes them willing to work and practice their professionalism. Government however through a series of sins of omission has allowed most host families to withdraw, as in spite of GRTU's insistence their activity has been dumped as unsustainable and uneconomic. Now we have the result. Young people are dumped in hotel rooms, apart hotels, self-catering flats, guests houses, anywhere else except in homes hosted by caring families.

So many families feel aggrieved at the way Government has allowed the system that gave Malta the name of such an excellent as a caring destination to crumble under stories of violence, unleashed youth behaviour, bullying, insubordination and vandalism and all that one would expect when adolescents are outside the control of expert guidance, even death. Malta has become a bad name. The victims are the unfortunate youths and parents who believe that Malta hosts their children in caring families. GRTU asks who is responsible for this mess?

GRTU President Paul Abela and Director General Vincent Farrugia have yesterday left Malta early during the afternoon to accompany President George Abela on an institutional visit to Montenegro together with other bodies and high ranking Government officials. GRTU officials will today, as part of the official program, be participating in the Business Forum being organised at the Chamber of Economy of Montenegro, where Mr. Vince Farrugia will also be delivering a speech giving the experience of Maltese SMEs both prior and post accession. This in view that Montenegro is aspiring to join the European Union.

 The EU plans to publish its opinion on Montenegro's EU membership application form in November 2010. As part of GRTU's programme, GRTU officials will also be meeting fellow employers' representatives in Montenegro. GRTU Malta Chamber of SMEs has this afternoon successfully signed a bilateral agreement for increased cooperation with the Montenegrin Employers Federation (MEF).  Both GRTU and MEF are very active members of UEAPME, the European Association of Crafts, Small and Medium Enterprises, and this agreement is targeted at increasing collaboration. In particular by signing this agreement both parties have agreed to:

Providing the same one-stop-shop service to members visiting as that offered in the home country while in Montenegro or in Malta;

Mutual assistance when organisations are sending a business Delegation to Malta or Montenegro;

Cooperation in consultations and support in representation on Position Papers and Stands;

Mutual dissemination of strategies and best practices to improve the service of both organisations` members and work;

Collaborate on EU funding opportunities and projects;

Montenegro is a country Maltese businesses are keen to explore and GRTU will provide its experience of EU accession to Montenegro, spreading the benefits to both countries in general.

GRTU has steadfastly registered its objections to the imposition of Consumer Affairs on Competition. Competition is an economic function, it is the removal of unsustainable obstacles and practices that prevent the free market from operating efficiently. A fairly competitive market releases economic resources and leads to a more cost efficient economy. It is particularly important for a small economy that needs to compete in the large European internal market. GRTU is highly active also at European level to ensure the sustainability of a competitive market structure.

Consumer Affairs are important. For competition the market needs a vast consumer market that is protected from the abuse or restrictions that individual traders may dare to practice. Consumer Affairs deal with symptoms of malfunctioning market operators. Competition deals with economic structures.
GRTU has from the very beginning insisted on an Autonomous Competition Authority with powers to safeguard and develop the competive structure of the market. GRTU has also strived for the establishment of a college of Public Regulations so that there is uniformity in the application of competition rules.
Government experts, after months of deliberations, ON THEIR OWN AND WITHOUT CONSULTATION WHATSOEVER, have decided and presented last week at MCESD the draft law setting up the new Authority.
IT IS NOT ACCEPTABLE FOR GRTU THAT GOVERNMENT STREAM ROLLS AN IMPORTANT BIT OF LEGISLATION LIKE THIS. MCESD is not a rubber stamp mechanism. The party elected in Government on a Dialogue platform cannot treat GRTU in this manner. Competition and Consumer Affairs is a prime issue for all GRTU members. They cannot be told to spend the heat of August studying the draft law while Ministers go on holiday, as Government after years of dilly-dallying now wants to legislate.
GRTU has sent the message loud and clear last week at MCESD. We will not be browbeaten to comply" stated Vince Farrugia, GRTU Director General. A meeting will be held next week to discuss the issue with the authorities.

The Commission plans to publish its White Paper on the Future of Transport in December 2010. It will outline its vision for the next decade and contain specific actions on infrastructure and bottlenecks. To feed into this work, the Transport Committee of the European Parliament adopted in June a report on a sustainable future for transport by rapporteur MEP Mathieu Grosch (EPP, Belgium). This report has been adopted at plenary on the 6^th of July by the full Parliament (559 votes in favour). 

It stresses that decarbonising transport is one of the main challenges of future EU transport policy, as has been expressed by the President of the Commission Mr. Barroso, in the Political Guidelines for the Next Commission.

Key factors to achieve a more sustainable transport will be amongst others to:

• develop co-modal solutions by improving infrastructure;
• support the internalisation of external costs to reduce exhaust gases, noise and bottlenecks, providing that all modes of transport are covered and that the revenue is used to improve infrastructure sustainability;
• complete the liberalisation of cabotage transport to reduce empty mileage;
• create an agency for road transport to improve road safety and remove single market barriers,
• support research and development, and
• reduce the administrative burden in the field of transport documents.

The European Commission has confirmed that Sri Lanka will temporarily lose its preferential access to the EU market starting from 15 August 2010. The decision to withdraw the preferential tariff system GSP+ from the country had been taken by the Council of Ministers in February 2010.

Based on dialogue with the Sri Lankan authorities on shortcomings in its implementation of three UN human rights conventions, the EU had offered in June to delay the entry into force of the Council decision by a further six months. In exchange, it asked for tangible and sustainable progress on a number of outstanding issues. In the absence of a reply from the authorities in Colombo by 1 July, the Commission however decided this week that they were not in a position to table a proposal with a view to delaying the Council Decision.

More information on the GSP Plus and Sri Lanka is available directly on the DG Trade website: http://trade.ec.europa.eu/doclib/press/index.cfm?id=589