Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1070939
19 LETTERS & EDITORIAL maltatoday | SUNDAY • 13 JANUARY 2019 Mikiel Galea Ruthlessness with migrants IMAGINE getting into bed at night. And then getting up in the morning and facing that brief blast of cold as you leave your cosy bed, before taking a warm shower and a cup of coffee to start the day. It's been a chilly couple of weeks, hasn't it? Now take away the bed and the four walls surrounding you and replace them with rough, open seas and the piercing January wind. Replace your sense of comfort and belonging with the dread of an incoming storm, with not knowing when the next time you will touch dry land will be, with the total lack of agency over your own destiny. Who brought this about? Many ar- guments can be made about address- ing the socio-political issues in the countries of origin of migrants. But the here-and-now is that, for far too long, people like the stranded 49 migrants have been treated with pragmatic, inhumane ruthlessness. We – a sup- posedly Christian nation that boasts of our generosity and solidarity – smugly shout "full up" (and much worse) to those coming in need, and then bend over backwards to welcome the faceless passport buyers and wealthy profes- sionals who distort the property mar- ket for the average citizen. Because our economy has never been stronger, you know. And with each passing day, we show just how poor we really are. These 49 migrants are not a statistic or a political message. They are people before they are anything else, and this is how we choose to treat them. Leo Busuttil, Via email Upkeep of Floriana Granaries REFERENCE is made to the report 'Councillor says nobody ready to take ownership for damaged Granaries', published in MaltaToday and its online version on 7 December, 2018. In the mentioned article, you wrote that the Nationalist minority leader James Aaron Ellul complained that "partisanship was also getting in the way of a genuine call form improve- ment" and in the same article Ellul is quoted stating that "of all the events held on the square, it's only when a PN event is held that Labour councillors are keen for all the rules to be abided by. The rest of the events are held with minimal restrictions. This is a blatant lack of consistency." To make facts clear, I always draw the attention of all organisations including major events held on the granaries. My duty is to safeguard Floriana and I have always done this with utmost integrity since the first day elected as a representative of the Flori- ana residents. Moreover, in our last council meet- ing held on 10 December, I asked Mr James Aaron Ellul to confirm the com- ments regarding the partisanship and he strongly replied that probably the journalist has misquoted him since he never used those words. In such cir- cumstance, I am still trying to under- stand whether it was a genuine mistake by the journalist or not. I leave it up to the readers to come up with a conclu- sion. Davina Sammut Hili, Floriana Mayor Editorial note: MaltaToday stands by its story and the quotes of James Aaron Ellul as they were reported. PN MPs like vultures circling over Adrian Delia ALLOW me to refer to a news report titled 'PN Executive will discuss Delia', in the Sunday Times of Malta, of 6 January. In this news item, the journalist – whose aversion to Adrian Delia is well known, rushed to 'inform' read- ers that the Executive Committee of the Nationalist Party will soon tackle "disturbing allegations" made against Adrian Delia by his wife Nickie Vella de Fremeaux. However, in proof that this is only a premeditated smear campaign con- ducted by Occupy Justice, with the helping hand of PN insiders, readers were not told that Michael Vella de Fremeaux was quoted by the Malta In- dependent on 29 December as saying: "Well said Adrian... certain sections of the media should be ashamed of them- selves for exploiting this very difficult and private situation. You continue to have my support and that of the fam- ily." In spite of the disclaimer issued by the Sunday Times in the sense that "this newspaper does not take politi- cal agendas into consideration when it takes decision on timing of stories", one could reasonably argue that such coverage is repeatedly prejudiced and unjust. It seemed to me that certain Na- tionalist Party MPs gleefully behaved like vicious vultures circling over their target. Edward Torpiano, Floriana Letters & Clarifications