Major Ripard appointed to the National Order of Merit

One of those appointed to the National Order of Merit included Major Peter Paul Ripard who lost a leg in the Transport Malta explosion.

Due to his recovery, Major Ripard could not attend the ceremony.

Other appointments include the Xirka ġieħ ir-Repubblika and the Medal for Service to the Republic.

Nationals of other countries may be conferred with honorary membership of the Order or of the Xirka or awarded the Medal for Service to the Republic on an honorary basis.  In rarer cases the Midalja għall-Qlubija can be awarded, even posthumously, to a Maltese citizen for an act of exceptional bravery.

Taking place at The Palace, Valletta, this year's Investiture Ceremony followed the customary Ceremonial Parade held at the Palace Square.

During the Ceremony, one companion, one officer, two honorary members and five members were appointed to The National Order of Merit and eight individuals were awarded the Midalja għall-Qadi tar-Repubblika.

Major Peter Paul Ripard’s biography

Born in 1937, Ripard was educated at St. Edward’s College.  He served for thirty-two years with the Royal Malta Artillery having been commissioned as a 2^nd Lieutenant at the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst, in July 1956.  Part of this service was a four-year stint with the British Army of the Rhine in Germany when his regiment was assigned a transport role.

Ripard was appointed as the first General Manager of the Public Transport Authority in April 1989, a consultant to the successive Chairman of the same Authority and Chairman of the Traffic Control Board between 1994 and 2002.  Ripard was instrumental at setting out an action plan for the establishment of a road hierarchy system across Malta and Gozo and subsequently was involved in the revision of the current edition of the Maltese Highway Code. 

Ripard held various other Ministerial appointments including: member of a working group to make proposals to Government with regard to legislation and traffic management, member of the Steering Committee for Controlled Parking Schemes, member of the Sectoral Working Group on Tourism, and Member of the Local Enforcement System Committee.

To date Ripard has been a Consultant to Transport Malta in relation to Driver Safety and is also the Chief Instructor to Driving Examiners.