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Vol. 6 Issue 180 www.theolivepress.es August 24th - September 6th 2022
Bewitching - the occult in a hidden village See page 10
‘Trailblazer’ passes away
GIBRALTAR is mourning the loss of former minister and mayor Marie Montegriffo who passed away after a long illness. The Chief Minister Fabian Picardo, along with leaders of the Gibraltar Socialist Labour Party (GSLP) she helped form in the 1970s, saluted her life achievements. Picardo hailed her as ‘one of the team of trailblazers who transformed Gibraltar in the late eighties.’ Like many leftist politicians of her era, Montegriffo started her work in the community as part of the Transport and General Workers Union in the 1970s.
Parity
Union workers of the time fought for parity with UK workers after the frontier closed in 1969. Following in the steps of GSLP-founder Sir Joe Bossano, she was elected into the House of Assembly in 1984 as a member of the party that is currently in government. The keen sportswoman then became Minister for Medical Services, Health and Sport Continues on Page 5
GUSHES BACK
Water plants working full pelt after summer crisis
By John Culatto
Tunnel inside the Upper Rock in late July that knocked out power and saltwater supply to four RO plants in the British Overseas territory. Hardworking government labourers put down a temporary saltwater pipe in the record time of two days amid soaring temperatures. Water tankers meanwhile Fight The Strategic Coordinating Group drove into Gibraltar to (SCG) that struggled to fight the wa- supply thirsty residents, with some areas worse ter crisis was upbeat about the news. “The Government is pleased to be affected than others. able to begin to relax some of the re- Water pressure was maining restrictions on high consum- low, as the Rock uses ers in a phased and staggered man- gravity to supply its ner,” the Gibraltar Government said water as opposed to a pumping station, and in a statement. “This will enable AquaGib to continue there wasn’t enough water in reservoirs to to closely moni- create that momentum. tor the impact on Even when local water comstock levels over pany AquaGib switched on the the coming days,” RO plants, they struggled with the it added. demand. This could mean It forced the government to quickly use of swimming bring in a temporary RO plant, which ALL AREAS pools and spas fit neatly into a shipping container, could be resumed via road from Italy. COVERED again. “A lot of work has been done by our It followed a fire personnel to procure the new RO 4G UNLIMITED at Power’s Drive plant from Italy and prepare our INTERNET site to be able to integrate it IDEAL FOR into our sysSTREAMING TV tem,” Managing Director of ALSO AquaGib Paul IPTV, Singleton said. SATELLITE The government revealed TV that after 24 hours of technical problems, the temporary tel: (0034) 952 763 840 plant ordered from Balaena info@theskydoctor.com was operating at www.theskydoctor.com See pages 5 & 14 100%.
GIBRALTAR is slowly getting back to normal after one of the biggest summer crises in recent history. The water crisis saw Reverse Osmosis plants shut down forcing Rock residents to buckle down and save water in the middle of one of the hottest summers on record. But after a successful weekend of water-saving, which filled reservoirs even more, Gibraltar is finally starting to remove the last restrictions on the highest water users. These high water users were told to turn off their taps to help replenish reservoirs. Local water company AquaGib revealed water stocks had gone up over the weekend ‘and have now reached
the required level’. All four Reverse Osmosis (RO) plants at Governor’s Cottage are now running at full pelt, plus another temporary RO plant that started up last week.
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It added an extra one million litres a day to the other four permanent RO plants at Governor’s Cottage near Europa Point. With social media alive to the noise of blame, the night-time water restrictions were soon lifted. But authorities continued to impose restrictions on larger users to try to build up sustainable quantities of water supplies in reservoirs hidden inside the Rock. It did not help that after the water shortages, people started drinking more than usual. “We have been informed that recent Paul consumption has Singleton been higher than expected and is comparably higher for this time of year,” the government said in an August 19 statement. It then reminded the public ‘to be as conservative as possible with the use of potable water’. At the same time, non-potable water arrived by sea on barges to take away more pressure from the water system. Authorities told residents to collect their non-potable water for gardening and cleaning at bowsers in Morrison’s Car Park, Mid-Harbours Industrial Park and at marinas.
Gardening
Residents could pick up the non-potable water in jerry cans to be used for gardening or cleaning but not for drinking, therefore taking the pressure off the freshwater system. The accident came at a bad time as a larger permanent RO plant is due to open later this year to increase fresh water creation from saltwater on the Rock. To have another failsafe in the future, the government is now building a Continues on Page 4