Gung-ho minister Austin Gatt has woken up to yet another problem crafted by his ADT team and cavalierly admits that he came to know about it only thanks to The Times. So in this Mickey Mouse country we are now reversing roles: it is the media which has to keep the Minister informed of the goings-on in his ministry, not vice-versa. Some might be forgiven to dare think that after this kind of admission one cannot really take the minister seriously Others, on the contrary, fear that a minister who does not mind making this admission and not offering the hint of a public apology, let alone a resignation, needs to be taken very seriously.
Can anyone then be so dumb as to believe the ADT’s mea culpas and pious intentions after they suspended the tests without informing anyone, apparently not even their CEO and their Minister. After having shown such utter disregard for the public’s health and treating the cooperating public so shoddily (or, shall we say, as an ass) can they really expect to be taken seriously?
Please spare us the stock litany of easy promises like “a new structured emissions alert system” or “messages sent from now on will be seen to straightaway”, and the limp, even conflicting, excuses, which deserve nothing but indignation and disdain from the public.
ADT, ever so punctilious and demanding of the general public, did not have the decency to admit their dismal misconduct for many months. It had to be the Auditor’s report to shame it and make it react. The public now knows just how much trust it can put in the ADT’s promises and henceforth demands absolute transparency and efficiency; for real, not merely in words.
The public calls for a website, updated weekly, with (i) an alphabetical list of the vehicles reported (ii) the type of vehicle (iii) the dates when reported (iv) the last 4 numbers of the mobile phones making the reports (v) the date when the vehicle was tested and (v) the outcome of the check.
One should hope that no one will cooperate with this institution if it fails to make public all this information. This is not asking for the moon; it is asking our e-government ministry to live up to its name if it wants to lay claim to any transparency.
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