Letters | Sunday, 26 April 2009

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Vince was never afraid of the dark

You chose Vince Farrugia as your ‘man of the week’ for saying that ‘Labour had always (historically) been a party that lived in the dark’ – quite rich coming from a former delegate of the Labour party.
In an interview in the other press, Farrugia told his interviewer that “since 1981 I have not belonged to the Labour Party in any way” and that “I do not lie and people know I don’t lie”. Well, I have made a few checks and found that Vince Farrugia, right up to 1985/86, was occupying important posts under a Labour government.
He was made chairman of Malta Film Facilities at Rinell. He did not last long there. He was moved to the Tourist Board as CEO under minister Joe Grima. This time Vince Farrugia, as I understand it, had a clause included in the contract of his employment – a golden handshake of around Lm30,000 – in case he had to leave or be relieved of his post. There too, Vince Farrugia did not last long but this time he left Lm30,000 richer – and at that time, Lm30,000 was quite a handsome amount of money!
So after all, Vince Farrugia had succeeded in “making hay while the sun shines” when Labour was supposedly “living in the dark” according to the PN’s latest convert. This brings me to Vince’s claim that “he did not belong to Labour since 1981”, and that he does not lie. Well, he certainly belonged to the Labour government after 1981. I cannot say however if that proves that Vince was lying or being astute when mentioning the Labour party and not the government: still he was quite happy to work with and be well compensated by Labour, even if it was “living in the dark”. Vince certainly wasn’t.
I also understand that as GRTU director-general, having boasted it was he who brought down Eddie Fenech Adami’s government and elected Labour to office in 1996, he tried to work not with, but inside the Labour government under Alfred Sant but failed in his attempt. Oh yes, Vince Farrugia was never afraid of the dark.

Eddy Privitera
Mosta

Mr Vince Farrugia is worried because the local banks are not offering the local business community lower interest rates (19 April, 2009). Well what does Mr Farrugia think about that elder citizen who worked all his life to save some money so that with the interest he could supplement his little pension and make ends meet? Does he know that people out there are suffering great hardships because big businessmen and managers have not safeguarded other people’s money? If you really aspire to be a Maltese representative in the European Parliament you should have a thorough picture of the whole local situation and not be one-sided. Let the Maltese voter stop and reflect to whom he should vote. People like Mr Farrugia only see eye to eye with the members he represents in real life and not the whole community. At least this is what I think of him after reading his latest article and local banks.

Carmel Cilia
Mellieha

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