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MALTATODAY 24 October 2021

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3 LETTERS & EDITORIAL maltatoday | SUNDAY • 24 OCTOBER 2021 Mikiel Galea Letters & Clarifications Birgu car-boot sale EVERY Sunday, and on certain public holidays (except during the height of the pandemic), people from all walks of life converge to the car-boot sale held at Vittoriosa. They spend the morning time browsing and then negotiate with the car boot seller to reach a mutually agreeable price to purchase it. The local council responsible for the considerably large ground in which the car-boot sellers exhibit their wares obtain a substantial income by charging fees for utilisation of said ground. Some sellers complain that the fee is too high and that they barely break-even. The ground is not well maintained, and whenever it rains, large puddles form, and the ground becomes muddy in some areas making manoeuvring in it difficult. But an even worse insult to the at- tending public is that for more than the last four Sundays in succession, the nearby public convenience has remained closed. Talking to some of the car-boot sellers about this matter, they informed that the civil council had complained that a section of the public was not using the public convenience facilities properly and that there have been some instances of vandalism. Local council officials had claimed that flood- ing of premises had occurred and wast- age of water by leaving water taps open after use at wash basin was common. The latter was remedied by installing auto closure taps and CCTV at the en- trance of the public convenience were installed to monitor the site. However, before the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, when subject public conveniences were operating, shoddy work and maintenance was noticed whereby at least one toilet basin had become loose, causing flooding, and on occasions the water flushing units were out of order. This was not a result of vandalism but careless management of such facilities. Moreover, there was no caretaker/ attendant to monitor and maintain the place. Currently, with the mentioned public conveniences closed, the local counciil is making some financial savings, in spite of fees obtained from car-boot sellers, and funding from our taxes. In the meantime, the visiting public would have to make do by attending to the call of nature in the nearby trees and bushes, and sometimes some were no- ticed relieving themselves at the closed public conveniences. Isn't this another form of local council greed and an insult to the general public? Raymond Sammut Mellieha Christians united, in our lifetime I was sentimentally shocked and frivo- lously amused when reading that Lili, Prince Harry and Meghan's daughter, will join the list in the line of succes- sion to the throne as long as she is not baptized a Roman Catholic (why is this denomination singled out?); and that Meghan was rebaptized and confirmed into the Church of England (as if the first two sacraments were not valid). It is common knowledge that this protocol is the by-product of prejudice by the Protestants, who towards the first half of the 16th century had the genuine intention of reforming the Church but made the false step of establishing a new Church. This was probably inspired by their will and ambition to get rid of the Pope and Holy Roman Empire's domi- nance. This schism was so devastating that by the last third of the 19th century, the Church had become uncomforta- bly beleaguered. In largely Protestant countries such as Britain and Germany, antipathy to the Church's aggrandise- ment of power was an accepted given. In the U.S.A., despite the influx of Catholic immigrants from Italy and Ireland, an- ti-Catholic prejudice was rife. But wait a minute, times have changed now and the C of England and the C.C. enjoy excellent relations between them. There is also a joint commission with the task of ultimate unity. It's sterling work carried out has drifted from the persistent optimism that further pro- gress is and can be registered to a sensi- ble and attainable project. Let us back this team with our prayers and support and in the words of St John Henry Newman believe that it is impossible not to feel an envious admi- ration for men and women who identify with the noblest statement of universal Catholicism. The expense is reckoned, the enterprise is begun; it is of God, it cannot be withstood. So the faith was planted: so it must be restored. John Azzopardi Zabbar

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