I am writing this letter with reference to Ms Nikita Alamango’s contribution last Sunday. From the contents of her letter it is evident that Nikita either has no idea how the National Youth Council functions, or else she was driven by some other agenda. She discredited the work of the National Youth Council and took a cheap shot at me as president.
Nikkita’s letter gives me the opportunity to explain how KNZ functions, as some people, Nikkita included, seem to be totally unaware of the facts.
Way back in February of this year I was elected to the KNZ executive with the support of a large number of organizations, including youth organistations affiliated with the three main political parties and trade unions. The rest of the KNZ executive was elected in the same manner. At the time I was already working as a part-time journalist and radio presenter with Media.link communications. All organisations were aware of this, but found absolutely no difficulty in appointing me president in the following KNZ executive. It had happened the year before, when the former president of KNZ was also affiliated and active in the Malta Labour Party, as is usually the case with all KNZ presidents. If Nikita finds this unacceptable that is arguable, but to date nobody has ever objected that the KNZ President is also politically active.
The time may come when this will change and I invite Nikita to forward proposals that she thinks would help KNZ in the near future. But to do that I advise her to first and foremost become aware with how KNZ functions, only then can she contribute fairly to the debate.
The KNZ executive is composed of no fewer than 13 individuals all hailing from different youth organisations, including student/political/church and trade union organisations. This, however, presents no obstacles as more often than not we manage to reach consensus on wide-ranging issues that affect young people. It is in this manner that KNZ is representative of all youths. Certainly as KNZ president I have not re-invented the wheel; this has been the custom in KNZ for many years. All KNZ presidents that I have worked with have greatly contributed towards KNZ irrespective of their political affiliations.
May I take this opportunity to thank the whole KNZ executive and all member organisations who this year are contributing to various KNZ projects, some successfully completed, others in the pipeline.
KNZ success is their success and it is indeed a pity that KNZ is targeted in this manner; however, we shall keep working hard to ensure that the young people of Malta are heard and fairly represented.
Nikita’s Alamagno contribution to KNZ is warmly welcomed.

Alessia Zammit
KNZ president

 

Allow me to reply to the letter titled ‘My credibility and his’ by Labour pundit Emmanuel Cuschieri (MaltaToday, August 19, 2007) who, in his reply to the letter ‘Wooing or shooing …Emmanuel!’ by Emmanuel Micallef (‘MaltaToday’, August 12, 2007), chose to refer to ‘credibility’.
May I, therefore, take the opportunity to ask Emmanuel Cuschieri: since when have you become credible?

Edward Torpiano
Floriana

Mudslinging, sensationalism, scaremongering, demonisation of the adversary; you name it and you can find lots of it in MLP and PN’s strategies for the oncoming electoral campaigns. 
All this is just a figment of what the country has had to endure in their styles of politics for the past decades, notwithstanding that the current Prime Minister had promised us a new style of doing politics. The relationship between government and opposition has been, to put it mildly, a pathetic and pitiful scenario. All this is the remnant of the pique, hate and antagonizing style unscrupulously planned and devised from the Pieta and Hamrun Headquarters.
Unsurprisingly, recent surveys repeatedly are showing that this is resulting in a larger than usual section of the electorate claiming its indecisiveness or unwillingness to cast its vote in the forthcoming elections. I am both surprised and perplexed about this. These uncertain and unwilling to vote cannot say that they have a Hobson’s choice, or that they are compelled to choose between two evils. There are other options. Some analysts have claimed that the floating voter is a recent phenomenon. By “floaters” they mean those who swing and shift their political support from red to blue or vice-versa. It is claimed that these are the ones that really determine the outcome of Malta’s recent election results.
Voting for a third party has never been so tantalizing and appealing as it appears to be now. Alternattiva Demokratika, 18 years since its inception, has come of age to appeal to such voters. Alternattiva Demokratika/The Green Party has incessantly been campaigning for a better environment, a better future for us, for our children and for future generations. It has opposed those decisions, including the ones endorsed by the PN representative on the MEPA board, which are proving to be detrimental to our ailing environment.
Though environment has played a pivotal role in AD’s agenda, from time
to time it has come up with proposals on different aspects of life which
were highly interesting. This, your readers would have read about only in the English language Maltese media, because were it for the PN and MLP’s own media, AD has done practically nothing over the years.
The Nationalist Party media machine completely ignores and censors any AD media event, and to a lesser extent so does the MLP’s. There go their democratic credentials.
The results of recent opinion polls are really encouraging and show that
AD is making inroads in electoral support. This is an open appeal to all those who still claim to have their doubts on to whom they give their electoral support. Rather than opting to switch for MLP from PN or vice-versa, consequently ending up with déjà vu and much of the same bickering, nepotism, clientelism, favouritism, etc, we should all converge on fertile middle ground.
“Meet me half way,” as the famous song title goes! Eclecticism leaves more space for objective, free and creative thought, and this can only be found in unbiased middle-ground.

Saviour Sammut
SAFI

 

With reference to your front page story carried on MaltaToday last Sunday about Mater Dei, please find hereunder our reactions.

A. Paediatric Room
The X ray equipment set up in the paediatric room at Mater Dei Hospital is a fluoroscopy machine that is to be used exclusively for fluoroscopic studies in children. Such studies include minimally invasive procedures such as micturating cystourethrograms. Due to the nature of these studies, they can take up to 2-3 times longer than adult studies (due to lack of patient collaboration). This set-up will ensure adequate time for these procedures without interfering with the workflow in the adult rooms. Contrary to what you stated last Sunday, all filters are in place and working perfectly as verified by the physicists. All procedures will be carried out in compliance with Diagnostic Reference Levels (DRLs) that are embedded in local legislation based on EU levels.
A connecting room will house an ultrasound unit as these children frequently require a work-up of their urinary system using both modalities. All other procedures such as CT, X-rays and nuclear medicine will be carried out in the respective modality rooms that will be used for adult patients, again according to DRLs based on EU levels. These levels ensure that images will be of high diagnostic quality at the lowest possible dose to the child.
Therefore, it is completely unfounded to state that “the X-ray machine that is meant to be used on children at the new Mater Dei Hospital has been found to be unsuitable for infants…..”

B. Casualty X-ray machines 
The Casualty Department can function effectively with its current setup of x-ray equipment. Moreover, the A&E Department has a state of the art digital
machine in place. As regards to equipment breakdown or maintenance,
contingencies will be in place to ensure a continuous smooth service. 
All equipment will be put to its best use as deemed appropriate by health authorities.

Chris Scicluna
PRO Mater Dei Hospital

Reference is made to Mr Angelo Xuereb’s interview published on 9 September.
In the interview Mr Xuereb was quoted as saying that permits relating to the Verdala Developments are still pending after 13 years. Mr Xuereb is here referring to his multifaceted applications PA 8125/94, PA 4197/99, PA 2787/01, PA 141/03. All these applications have, or had, serious elements to which the Authority is objecting on policy basis.
To remind readers, and perhaps also Mr Xuereb, when the application for the golf course PA4197/99 was brought before MEPA Board in September 1999, the Board had already clearly indicated it was going to refuse the application and that no EIA was therefore required. It was only because Mr Xuereb insisted so much that MEPA accepted that he compile an EIA for the site. This lengthened the process for Mr Xuereb, but this was his choice.
Furthermore when the application was refused in 2004, Mr Xuereb requested a reconsideration of the decision. Nothing in that application has been changed. The applicant was constantly reminded that his earliest application on site PA 8125/94 was not acceptable due to the inclusion of the golf course. Once this was removed to a separate application (in 1999), PA 8125/94 was approved in 2000. This application meant that the duplex extension to the hotel and the Verdala Mansions were approved and the subsequent application PA 2787/01, within two months, approved alterations to PA 8125/94. The latest venture, PA 141/03 proposes the demolition of existing Grand Hotel Verdala and construction of hotel and residential complex. This application is still being evaluated since the applicant has, on numerous occasions, attempted to change the proposal but still not adhering to policy parameters.
With regard to the application for the re-development of The Duke of Edinburgh hotel, this was submitted for approval in principle (Outline) in March 1999 and was approved in July 2004. The delay revolved mainly around the issue of whether or not to demolish the existing building. In September 2004, a new applicant, having bought the site with the outline permit in hand from Mr Xuereb, submitted for a full development application. Since the thorny issues had been dealt with in the outline application and the full development application respected the parameters outlined in that permit, there was no cause for delay. It was approved in June 2005.
Finally, Mr Xuereb knows that, if at any time he feels that the Authority is unduly lengthening discussions on any of his applications, he may invoke the law to press for a speedy decision. Given the complex nature of Mr Xuereb’s proposals and his creative approach to planning, the delays are inevitable and cannot be attributed to subjectivity by MEPA.

Sylvana Debono,
PRO, MEPA

 

On 2 September, Pope Benedict XVI urged us to take care of our natural environment and “to reverse tendencies that risk leading to irreversible situations of degradation”.
However, the construction of a new cemetery in Nadur, which threatens to contaminate the natural water springs that irrigate our crops, plainly contradicts the Pontiff’s proclamation, stressing the protection of “nature’s delicate equilibriums”.
Despite repeated appeals to the Bishop of Gozo and the Archpriest of Nadur in this regard, our pleas have fallen on deaf ears.
We, the 12 undersigned farmers, therefore welcome AD’s recent suggestion that the Gozo Diocese establish its own Environmental Commission, similar to the one in Malta.

Joseph Portelli,
Joseph Camilleri,
Paul Said,
Emanwel Portelli
Joseph Camilleri,
Michael Cassar
Emanuel Muscat
Joseph Grech
Rita Muscat
John Azzopardi,
Saver Grech,
Martin Camilleri,
Nadur – Xaghra, Gozo

Many are putting forward the argument that according to the basic democratic norms of rotation of power, Labour stands a better possibility of scoring a victory in the next general election.
Some are going even further in their reasoning, stating that the upcoming election will be a triumph by default for the Labour, whereas others are describing it as an absolute walkover by the Nationalist Party.
Indeed, the Nationalists in power are an excellent case of overall mismanagement, arrogance and untrustworthiness; utterly detached from the electorate’s will. Today more than ever before, Gonzi looks like a brittle leader of an exhausted government, its political credibility constantly undermined by the sizeable number of scandals and resignations from sensitive offices cropping up all the time.
Labour is indeed ahead of an electoral success, however this is not through benefiting from the Nationalists’ blunders in control of a disaggregated Government mired in corruption, well-disposed only towards the very few privileged. It is rather due to its own initiatives and merits.
Labour is giving a compelling sign that its proposals, as well as its vision of a better future, will indeed bring the long-awaited change, injecting fresh lifeblood to this beloved country. New faces, new ideas and new policies, put together gradually but steadily, along its extensive consultation process are a testament to Labour’s serious plan for change in achieving true accountability, efficiency and transparency in a just society.
This Nationalist administration’s fundamental misdemeanour is that of being heavily incapable of delivering what has been pledged for all these last years. Day after day it is becoming even more and more a question of remarkable lack of competence: a Government definitely short of a quality which Labour certainly does possess and is already showing form the opposition benches.
Gonzi asserted that people ought not judge him by what he says but by his deeds. The Nationalists in government are simply not delivering, and Gonzi should set his mind at rest: voters will follow his advice on Election Day, casting their vote for the Labour Party. Thus, Labour is set to prevail in the forthcoming general election thanks to its commitment towards an effective positive change founded on truth.
History will repeat itself, this time, however the party coming to government will be the Labour one!

Roderick Mizzi

 

On 8 September I make it a point to visit Fort St Angelo in the hope that at last, this long suffering historical site will have been given a long overdue clean up.
I don’t know what drives me to this place every year. I must have a masochistic trait, as – alas – this year I was again disappointed by the general shabbiness of the fort. Signs of neglect and abandonment can be seen everywhere, and that’s not all. Some parts of the fort are downright dangerous.
For example, small child could easily pass through a hole in the wall of the ramp leading to the upper gate of the fort, with dire consequences. Furthermore the interior ramp leading into the fort is covered with lumps of concrete and gravel which, besides ruining the granite paving, render the ramp slippery. The once immaculate saluting battery on the fort’s cavalier (picture) is a total wreck with pieces of broken concrete and other debris strewn all around.
In comparison, the part of the fort that is cared for by the Knights of St John is a joy to visit. Ironically this fact continues to highlight the deplorable state the rest of the fort is in!
Is it such an impossible undertaking for the authorities to put their mind to it and give this jewel of a fort the dignity it deserves?

Victor Pulis
Tarxien

 

Eddie Fenech Adami, when still Leader of the Nationalist Party in the 1980s, declared in the Nationalist Electoral Programme “Ripe for Change”, page 69, that “there is enormous difference in the rents being paid for new houses compared with what is paid for the old ones”, thus showing that the Nationalist Party would try to solve this injustice.
In fact my father in 1950 gave a house in rent to a newly wed couple at Lm10 a year: at that time the salary for one month was Lm10. In 2007, the son, a government employed (single) man – who “inherited” my house – still pays Lm10 a year when his monthly salary is more than Lm450.
The Nationalist Government did nothing to solve this injustice; they don’t even mention it any more. They are content with the policy: “Robbing Peter to pay Paul”.
Frank Sammut
Valletta

Every time I come back to Malta – three times a year – I always hope to find the whole island as clean as Mdina, but my hope is never fulfilled.
I have a few questions: until people are educated not to litter the streets and the flowerbeds, not to use every hole in walls or pavements as dustbins, not to dump anything they want to discard on land plots and uninhabited areas, not to let their dogs use the pavements as their toilets, I’m happy to see them increasing in number. But who is going to clean all the mess in either public or visible areas? And what about the garbage in the sea, floating trapped in many of the bays? Aren’t there laws to speed up that process of education that should lead people to respect the environment like they do their own homes?
I believe there are such laws here too, but have they ever been enforced?
Tiziana Buriani
Marsaxlokk

Reference is made to the article “Minister’s appointee to decide compensation for victims” by James Debono and carried in Maltatoday (9 September).
It is not true that compensation for victims of crime is to be decided by a “politically” appointed person.
In fact during a press conference on 3 August, more than a month ago, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Justice and Home Affairs Tonio Borg stated that the system will be administered by the Office of the Attorney General, and will apply only to victims of violent crime that occurred after 1 January 2006.
For other crimes, the procedure that the Government can compensate victims of violent crime “ex gratia” remains unchanged as has been for the past 20 years.

Joe Azzopardi,
Ministry for Justice and Home Affairs

Editorial Note: The article referred to legal notice 190 of 2007 which states that the Claims Officer is a “person appointed by the Minister” and that he is “appointed on terms and conditions as the Minister considers appropriate.” The law itself makes no reference to the Office of the Attorney General. Therefore it was the Minister who decided to appoint the Office of the Attorney General to administer the scheme. The law as it stands still enables the Minister to appoint anyone he likes as Claims Officer.

 

I always buy your newspaper on Sunday. On 9 September, I read about Minister Tonio Borg’s proposal to compensate victims of violent crime. By the time they get their compensation, those people who are still living will probably be dead as well.
I have been fighting through the Maltese courts for 12 years. In the court’s entrance there is a plaque that says “Court of Justice”, but believe me there is no justice in that court.
On 12 September 1995 I appeared in court over a 12-foot boat which was parked in front of my house. Inspector Bayliss gave me a citation for parking the boat there. The court decided I did nothing wrong, and I was told I could go home. On the way out Magistrate Dennis Montabello decided that I had to pay Lm10 for not wearing a tie. I refused to pay it, because on the back of the citation it said: “You must be suitably attired” (“Trid tkun liebes xieraq”) and I don’t think that you have to be wearing a tie to be “liebes xieraq”.
Magistrate Montabello sent me to jail for two days. From the court. I went down by lift to the police lock up, hand-cuffed and escorted by police. At midday the van took me to jail. I pleaded with them to ring home so I can tell my wife and two young boys that I wouldn’t be coming home for three days. I was refused permission to call home. I was fingerprinted, my photo taken, they strip-searched me and they put me in the same division as a man who killed four people: Division 2 cell number 92.
In Malta if you don’t know someone high up you never get compensated. Eventually we will go to the European Court, I just hope there is justice there.

Nazju Busuttil
Msida

I must admit that my first experience of opera did not impress me. Mario Lanza in “The Great Caruso” sounded to me like a pig being killed. When I was young I was more interested in Hot Chocolate, Santana and The Monkees, and opera was for the ancient to hear. Through the years, as I matured, so did my love for opera. I loved Placido Domingo, Maria Callas, Joe Cassera, etc.
Up to this point my love for opera was minimal. I could take it or leave it; I could watch and hear opera on television, but it didn’t leave me that yearning for more. Loving all kinds of music, opera was just another ear pleasing experience and I left it at that.
Until Luciano Pavarotti. When I first heard him sing I felt as if my legs had turned into jelly and I did not realise that my mouth was the same position as the letter “O” in the alphabet. Hearing him sing “Nessun Dorma” was my first pleasant experience, an episode that I will always remember because it came at a good time in my life, when I was young, in love and had my two children safe and sound in a protected sheltered ambience.
Pavarotti struck a chord in me that no opera singer ever had. I became fascinated with him. It was goodbye to pop songs, country music, jazz, and hello to the world of Opera.
His “Ave Maria” made me almost drown in my own tears and seeing this gentle charismatic giant sing became one of the most important things in my life. I watched DVD after DVD never tiring of hearing his voice. When I heard he had cancer of the pancreas I knew it was a matter of time before Luciano succumbed to his incurable disease. Even the great Pavarotti with an even greater bank account could not possibly overcome this terminal illness. He didn’t, and this gentle giant with the golden voice died during the first week of September. There is a saying which says that nobody is indispensable: that when one pope dies, another takes his place. Alas, this does not apply to Luciano Pavarotti. There will be only one Luciano, there can never be another.
He regaled us with his beautiful voice. May he now grace the Kingdom of Heaven with the “gift” the Good Lord bestowed on him. God Speed Luciano.

Valerie Borg
MLP Councillor
Valletta