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White Flag Removes Practically All Traces Of Malta From Its Website As Karmenu Vella Skirts Questions Over Involvement

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Practically all traces of Malta have been erased from the webpages of White Flag International.

White Flag, who provided beaches with a ‘plastic-free’ status, has previously faced allegations that it was a sham after it charged €25,000 per flag.

In the past, the website praised the collaboration it held with the Ministry for Environment, also expressly naming Minister Jose Herrera, Tourism Minister Konrad Mizzi, and Prime Minister Joseph Muscat. However, most of its content has been removed.

The WhiteFlag International project kicked off in Malta in March 2018, announcing Blue Grotto as the island’s first litter-free beach at an event attended to by Herrera and EU Commissioner Karmenu Vella.

Six other beaches – Ġnejna Bay, Għajn Tuffieħa, Golden Bay, Marsalforn Bay, Mġarr Ix-Xini and Daħlet Qorrot – had been granted the White Flag.

Mgarr ix-Xini and Daħlet Qorrot were sponsored by the Gozo Ministry for a ‘two-for-one price’ i.e €25,000

However, the website now simply shows four of the aforementioned beaches as ‘White Flag’ locations.

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President Marie Louise Coleiro Preca and Environment Minister Jose Herrera at White Flag event

Source: White Flag

EU Commissioner for Environment Karmenu Vella has since seemed to skirt the issue, replying to a recent European Parliamentary question from PN MEP Franics Zammit Dimech by saying that his attendance at events organised by White Flag was based upon the potential contribution of the initiative to the growing issues surrounding plastics.

“The Commission’s participation in such events should be seen in the context of promotion of the strategy for plastics as a milestone in the fight against marine letter.”

He also revealed that the commission has found no evidence that any EU funds were allocated to White Flag initiatives.

Asked specifically whether the Commission supported the initiative, Vella said merely said that the commission acknowledges the role of private initiatives in the global fight against marine litter who deliver sustainable change through better informing citizens.

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EU Commissioner Karmenu Vella with White Flag representatives last November

Source: White Flag

Three months ago, it was reported that several iGaming companies pulled out as clean-up sponsors in the wake of reports that the project is nothing but a scam and that its founder Kristijan Curavić has been accused of fraud.

The Shift News cited companies as saying they paid up to €25,000 to sponsor a beach and claimed the initiative could even see taxpayers fork out millions for what is ultimately a relatively useless project.

MEP Candidate Camilla Appelgren, Malta’s most passionate litter collector, had immediately flagged the initiative, saying at the time that WhiteFlag’s operations are completely opaque, with no prior announcements of impending clean-ups or documentation to prove they even visited the beaches in the first place.

The Environment Ministry would later say that it held no contractual obligations with WhiteFlag, meaning the clean-ups for the other five beaches were sponsored by primarily iGaming companies as a corporate social responsibility initiative.

This meant, he argued, that it was not in his remit to conduct due diligence on the project.

White Flag’s plans to sue both The Shift and Appelgren appear to have failed to materialise.

Speaking to Lovin Malta at the time, White Flag denied the allegations saying that it seemed like “like a systematic and coordinated attack intended to get at the Maltese government”.

“There was absolutely no bad intention on our part,” a spokesperson for WhiteFlag International told Lovin Malta. “We just wanted Malta to become the first country in the world with a seabed completely free of plastic and marine waste.”

Lovin Malta has attempted to contact White Flag International for a comment.

READ NEXT: Malta Clean Up Activist Not Raising The White Flag After Libel Threat: ‘I’m Up For It!’

Julian is the former editor of Lovin Malta and has a particular interest in politics, the environment, social issues, and human interest stories.

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