They don’t have money for local council elections, but then have half a million euros for Nng Promotions and Joseph Calleja – again
Times of Malta reports that once again this year, just like last year, Joseph Calleja’s ‘free concert’ – organised by Nng Promotions – has cost the government half a million euros.
This comes out of the Malta Tourism Authority’s budget, and the Malta Tourism Authority – Times of Malta reports – has only just received the transfer of funds to cover for the half a million euros it paid Nng Promotions last year. The money will go straight out again to pay for last night’s concert.
THIS is the priority – circuses involving a network of people who want to have it both ways with both political parties and with anyone who is in government, not the democratic imperative of elections.
I don’t vote in local council elections and rarely bother looking at the results – but that does not mean I don’t recognise the danger of a government that feels it can arbitrarily cancel elections because it wants to, using the spurious excuse of not enough money.
Not enough money is never an excuse for impeding democracy and cancelling elections. And then to add insult to injury they give one million euros to Nng Promotions in the space of 12 months, claiming that this is so people can watch the concert for free from the ‘standing area’.
And we are expected to believe this. We are expected to believe that the government’s priority here is the ‘charitable act’, using taxpayers’ money, of providing free tickets to people to watch Joseph Calleja and Leona Lewis.
No, it’s not – it’s a charitable act to Nng Promotions, saving them the expensive, demanding and time-consuming hassle of struggling to sell thousands of tickets to people who have no interest in watching Joseph Calleja YET AGAIN and will not buy them.
One scandal after another – sick of it already. I can’t understand how people take this kind of thing lying down.
The Nationalist Party is not going to lay into this scandal because Anton Attard is involved (to say nothing of Joseph Calleja), and the Labour Party is the perpetrator, chucking millions at its friends.
All the set-up for these performances is done by Nexos, the company set up and run until last year by Silvio ‘Do You Know Who I Am’ Scerri, Manuel Mallia’s chief of staff. He says that he let go of that operation when he became Manuel Mallia’s henchman. And we are expected to believe him. We are expected to believe that he gave up a business with a big turnover (just like Keith Schembri, the PM’s chief of staff) to fiddle around on a government salary for the heck of it. And this when the man Silvio Scerri says has taken over at Nexos has been appointed to the Police Board by virtue of…Silvio Scerri and Manuel Mallia.
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http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20140718/local/Ministry-settles-Calleja-concert-dues.528146
So Nigel and Gianni get to reserve their sea views.
Gianni Zammit has not been part of NNG for many years.
I thought Joseph Calleja was doing this for free – for the love of his patria.
Half a million euros of public funds spent on a concert which can easily be self-financing is just waste of public money.
How the hell can PBS have a CEO who is a major shareholder of NNG? This is just so wrong.
He is involved in the upcoming Junior Euro-vision too and who will get the contract?
And what about having a Where’s Everybody Director as PBS lawyer?
Anton Attard’s sister is married to the PN deputy leader Beppe Fenech Adami. At the same time Attard sleeps (metaphorically) with Silvio ‘Do You Know Who I Am’ Scerri.
This government retained Attard as CEO of PBS and Prime Minister Muscat loves to boast about it using Attard as an example of ‘meritocracy in practice’.
Apart from the Nexos business connections with Attard’s (NNG’s) concerts, in his role of Chief of Staff in Manuel Malia’s Ministry, ‘Do You Know Who I Am‘ also happens to be Anton Attard’s boss at PBS.
Joseph Calleja’s concert was a slap in the face for the the Jazz Festival. Timing was all wrong, a state subsidised cultural event sabotaged by the same government and his publicity stunt free concert. What a shame.
As far as I am aware Gianni is no longer involved with NnG and hasn’t been for some years now.
What about Nigel?
I estimate that there were about 10,000 people standing. If my estimate is correct, the government paid 50 euros for each person standing. This is too much considering that the minimum price for a paid seated ticket was 80 euros and also since the ones standing at the back could not hear properly.
Try to upload that comment on an other website and you’ll be labelled a PN moaner.
You are right.
So actually they are now making more per person standing than they used to when they used to charge them. I thnk it used to be around EUR 15 per person standing.
Ahseb u ara kemm ser ikollu flus ghar-referendum dwar il-kacca s-sena d-diehla.
Exactly what I was thinking.
They could be setting a precedent to be able to delay the referendum or put if off altogether.
Panem et circenses: keep the masses entertained to get their focus away off the real issues.
It only took a few months from my views on the Labour government to shift from shame to dread. Possibly because I hate crowds and I’m thus not impressed by free concerts.
Concert was great but as usual it stated at 9 some big wig was late… shameful really
So rather than using its budget to promote Malta, the Malta Tourism Authority blows it on NNG. Pray, how on earth does this fit MTA’s remit? Journalists should be calling Josef Formosa Gauci and his minister Edward Zammit Lewis about this.
Gianni Zammit has been out of NNG for ages.
The reason government backs this event is because they desperately want to out-do the Isle of MTV concert which the Nationalist Party initiated and is by far more successful. It was a cast-iron contract so they couldn’t give it to some bazuzlu.
And they want Joseph Calleja’s one to be the prime propaganda driver for the regime so they subsidise it to the hilt. Anyway Joseph Calleja sadly has joined their ranks.
Korruzzjoni u cronyism tal-prima din. Silvio Scerri, Anton Attard, Lou Bondi u Calleja kollha jithanzru minn flus il-poplu.
Tal-misthija tassew.
The finance minister, Edwward Scicluna, thinks the national debt is a “contingent liability” – rather than a real liability.
No wonder the deficit is climbing if he thinks the national debt is “contingent”.
And this is the Minister of Finance and a professor of economics. Incredible.
http://www.investopedia.com/terms/c/contingentliability.asp
The fourth paragraph refers:
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20140721/local/still-in-time-to-reform-pensions-system-minister.528598