Thursday, August 30, 2018
Parents will be refunded fees for school transport; minister says negotiations in ‘final stages’
Parents will be refunded the fees given to school transport operators for the upcoming scholastic year, The Malta Independent can reveal.
The measure to see free public transport provided to all non-state school students, which formed part of the Labour Party's electoral manifesto and included in this year's budget, (expected to cost €10 million per year) was projected to begin at the start of the upcoming scholastic year.
However, the newsroom has been told that Coop Services has begun telephoning parents to inform them that they will be paying the school transport fee with the government expected to refund the payment later in the year. No clear indication was given as to exactly when this will take place.
The Ministry for Education, who is overseeing the project, has long advocated a 'minimum intervention' model, which would retain the current transport systems across all schools and introduce a refund mechanism where the government would pay for the service being provided.
With less than a month before the scholastic year begins, the newsroom approached Education Minister Evarist Bartolo who indicated that such a process will be implemented; however, negotiations were at its final stages. He also stressed on multiple occasions the complexity in efficiently implementing the service to non-state schools.
"People think that it is easy to come to an agreement, we are using public funds and we are introducing a system we want to work.
"School transport is not a homogeneous reality. Non-state schools have implemented different transport systems according to their own needs," Bartolo said revealing that the ministry has held some 60 meetings with operators.
Emphasising an 'evidence-based approach', Bartolo said that the government will be studying the initiative over the year in order to ensure that policy will be more realistic and effective in the future.
The newsroom was also informed that Coop had also increased its prices from 200 euro to 220 euro per child per term, something which the Minister described as normal increase which happens every year.
from The Malta Independent https://ift.tt/2PRuWlo
via IFTTT
Wednesday, August 29, 2018
Syrian man seriously injured in Tarxien fight
A Syrian man was seriously injured yesterday evening in a fight involving several other Syrians in Tarxien, the police said.
The fight took place in Bjagu Galea Street at around 9pm.
Officers from the Rapid Intervention Unit who went on site found a man, aged 23, who resides in Hamrun, with injuries to his arm. He was taken to hospital for treatment.
The man was injured in a fight with a number of other Syrians aged between 21 and 32. Knives and metal and wood objects were used in the fight, the police said.
from The Malta Independent https://ift.tt/2MA4JcZ
via IFTTT
Reports that Gorg tal-Muzew died denied
Reports that Gorg tal-Muzew has died have been denied.
Gorg Agius, known for his regular presence in hospitals to spend a good word with recovering patients, was himself undergoing treatment at Mater Dei Hospital until a few days ago.
He has now been transferred to Saint Vincent de Paule Home for the elderly.
Agius, aged 92, has for the past 65 years spent days in hospital visiting patients, particularly those who have no relatives and friends, making up rhymes to lift their spirits.
from The Malta Independent https://ift.tt/2LCeD8p
via IFTTT
23-year-old grievously injured in Tarxien argument
The man was injured during a heated argument which involved knives and wooden and metal objects
from MaltaToday News https://ift.tt/2MZft3P
via IFTTT
Incoherent Opposition reflects on democratic governance of country - Alfred Sant
An incoherent Opposition will reflect on the democratic governance of the country. Government needs an Opposition with consistent criticism whilst providing alternatives to its policies, former Prime Minister and Maltese MEP Alfred Sant said on SMASH TV.
"For evident reasons today we have a problem because we have a weak and divided Opposition. The PN is demoralized and not coherent with its declarations. This worries me a lot. If we look at the history of Malta since Independence, the PN – even if one didn't share its views – was always coherent during Borg Olivier's and Fenech Adami's times. If the Opposition is not coherent, this will reflect on the democratic governance of the country."
Alfred Sant noted that when he returned to Malta in 1977, Eddie Fenech Adami was surrounded with the likes of Louis Galea, Guido de Marco, Ugo Mifsud Bonnici and Ċensu Tabone, all seasoned politicians. This doesn't exist in today's PN which looks as if it is suffering from the lack of human resources.
"One asks why is this? Is it because there has been so much economic expansion lately that talented individuals are preferring to make the best of the present circumstances for economic and social reasons rather than pursuing a political career within the PN?" asked Alfred Sant.
from The Malta Independent https://ift.tt/2LFZGSS
via IFTTT
Boy swept in sewer sticks finger out of manhole and is saved
An 11-year-old boy sucked into a flooded Wisconsin storm sewer was saved when an eagle-eyed firefighter saw the boy's fingers pop through an opening in a manhole cover.
The astonishing rescue Tuesday evening came as storms pounded the southern half of the state and southeastern Minnesota.
The Calumet County Sheriff's Office said the boy was playing with friends in a flooded drainage ditch after the rains passed around 6 p.m. in the Village of Harrison. He disappeared under the water and didn't surface.
A dive team, sheriff's deputies and volunteer firefighters responded. Deputy Fire Chief Wesley Pompa said that when they arrived they found a bystander trying to hold onto the boy but he was sucked into a culvert that led to the storm sewer.
Pompa said the water was rushing so quickly it would have sucked a full-grown man into the culvert.
The rescuers could do nothing except try to determine where the flow might take the boy. Pompa called the village road superintendent, Bob Kesler, to the scene to help map out the sewers.
Pompa and Kesler were standing on top of a manhole cover about 30 feet (9 meters) away from the ditch when Pompa saw the boy's fingers pop through an opening in the cover. The boy had found air pocket just beneath the manhole cover and was hanging onto a ladder leading up to the manhole.
The firefighters wrenched the cover open. Pompa and Kesler lifted the boy to safety.
"He was hollering and talking to us and he was able to reach up for us," Pompa said.
The boy was taken to the hospital, and authorities said he was alert and conscious after his ordeal. Pompa said he never got the boy's name.
"I just thank God he was alive and he'd made it that long," Pompa said. "It could have gone a million different ways but this one way it worked out for him."
A string of storms began moving through the region last week, flooding streets and farm fields and cutting power. One man was killed in Madison as he tried to escape from a flooded ditch last week.
State emergency officials said 20 counties have been affected by flooding over the last 10 days. Gov. Scott Walker on Wednesday declared a statewide emergency, directing state agencies and the Wisconsin National Guard to assist local authorities as needed. The declaration also is the first formal step toward requesting federal assistance.
from The Malta Independent https://ift.tt/2MYUyho
via IFTTT
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)