What the Sunday papers say…

Malta Today leads with claims made by the Prime Minister Joseph Muscat that a bridge or a tunnel between Malta and Gozo is certainly needed. Muscat, in an exclusive interview with this newspaper, says that an aerodrome will also be built in Gozo but this may not necessarily be in the form of a tarmac airstrip. The PM also talks about the citizenship scheme saga, meritocracy, the environment, and the role of his wife, Michelle Muscat, in the public domain.

Sunday paper Illum reports that no less than 932 persons were employed in a governmental capacity in the months immediately preceding the general election of 2013. During the months of January and March last year, an average of 14 persons a day were employed on a definite contract, with these posts being taken up in nearly all of the ministries.

The Sunday Times claims that the first applicants of the citizenship programme have been approved and may receive their Maltese passports within the coming months. The newspaper says that these applicants, who have been living in Malta for some time, will have their names published in the Government Gazette but the fact that they acquired such citizenship through the IIP scheme will not be included.

The Malta Independent on Sunday reports that, in the upcoming MEP elections, there are no less than 20,000 voters ready to switch from the way in which they voted in last year’s general election. The survey, with a representative sample of 300 respondents, indicates that Nationalist MEP Roberta Metsola and Labour candidate - also ex-PM - Alfred Sant are the frontrunners in May’s elections.

Nationalist organ Il-Mument leads with claims made by Dr George Papadakis, the expert consulted by government on the berthing of a tanker which will store LNG gas in Marsaxlokk Bay, that a leakage of gas could have ‘devastating’ effects on residents in the area.

It-Torca reports on the benefits of the take-over by Chinese company Shanghai Electric Power (SEP) at Enemalta, amongst which are the financial stability it will bring to Enemalta and the potential for investment in renewable energy in the near future.

Kullhadd publishes a docuement which show that Opposition leader Simon Busuttil and his legal firm Europa Consultancy and Research, back in 2009, benefitted from thousands of monies in direct orders.