Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1496177
THE Rosianne Cutajar-Yorgen Fenech chats are scandalous. Not because of the explicit language or the sexual connota- tions of the context. We are all human beings, with our failings. Let us be frank. Who of us has not talked sex or uttered the odd swear word here and there? What is scandalous are the dirty deal- ings going on behind our back in the po- litical and business arena. The chats revealed cryptic talk of the type: 'Shall we meet for lunch with Tikka? Yes, 1pm at BOV.' Tikka is Charles Farrugia, Cutajar's principle canvasser. As far as I know, BOV does not run a 12-star Michelin restaurant, the type Yor- gen Fenech is used to frequent. And, in 2019, a 30-year-old Maltese woman hav- ing a secret affair with a rich married busi- nessman does not take with her a chaper- one. Could this be a message in code for something more sinister? We learnt that in June 2019 a secret ad- mirer gifted Rosianne Cutajar an expen- sive Bulgari handbag, using Farrugia's ser- vices. On 18 June, the MP learned that the anonymous donor was Yorgen Fenech. We also learnt that Rosianne was gift- ed €9,000 in cash by Yorgen and that he bought her a designer signed orange jack- et and another white one. None of these gifts were declared in her parliamentary asset declarations and in the case of cash, neither in her income tax return. A week after these gifts, Rosianne trav- elled to Strasbourg to the Council of Eu- rope Assembly, where she did her utmost to get Yorgen's 17Black taken off the res- olution on Malta. On 18 June 2019, Yorgen promised Ro- sianne, 'Illum nghidlek 100% (Today I'll tell you 100%)' who was going to be ap- pointed European Commissioner by the Maltese government. Helena Dalli was appointed on 24 July. How would Yorgen know before of secret Cabinet decisions? Yorgen even reassured Rosianne that she and Edward Zammit Lewis would form part of the planned Cabinet re- shuffle that would follow Dalli's move to Brussels. Who was giving Yorgen this in- formation? In July 2019, Rosianne admitted that at the Council of Europe, after she had done her best to protect Yorgen, everyone was insulting her because of then minister Chris Cardona. She expressed surprise Joseph Muscat was not doing anything about it. But the chats also show how Yorgen act- ed as some sort of advisor to then minis- ter Konrad Mizzi. On 7 November 2019, he told Rosianne that he 'opened Kon- rad's eyes'. The chats also revealed how Yorgen was furious over Chris Cardona's handling of the Dragonara casino concession. Fenech was interested in it but from the chats it seems Cardona, who was minister for the economy at the time, played the double game with Yorgen. In the end, the con- cession was given to Yorgen's rivals. Yorgen was furious at what he consid- ered to be Cardona's betrayal and he in- formed Rosianne that he will punch the minister so hard that he will not forget it. The cherry on the cake would be Ro- sianne's anger at not being appointed minister. She decided to grant herself a useless €27,000-a-year consultancy, com- pliments of her friend Pierre Fenech, the ITS CEO. Rosianne aptly admitted to Yorgen that everyone was like 'a pig at the trough' and she would be doing the same. WHEN a young woman is mown down by an SUV in the most callous way imag- inable, is it just the perpetrator who is to blame? When he kicks the dying woman, throws stones and screams abuse at her, is it only his addled brain that is responsible? Undisputedly, his actions are beyond all justification; he deserves to be excoriated for what he did and the attitude he dis- played in doing it. When he is convicted — as he will surely be if the court does its job well — nothing short of life imprison- ment will suffice in serving a small meas- ure of justice to the victim, her family and society. However, this same society needs to question whether this heinous crime was merely the act of a monster and hence a glitch in an otherwise orderly state of af- fairs, or else an overt symptom of the co- caine epidemic that is seemingly spread- ing in stealthy ways across the nation and clutching many in its grip. If we entertain the possibility that this second reality might be afflicting some of the people we know or know of, then we might want to consider whether a col- lective sense of complacency is as much to blame for the woman's death. Com- placency in the face of a social evil that is answerable for the loss of such a young life and the ones we do not hear about be- cause they are extinguished or ravaged in more subtle yet equally tragic ways. Cocaine's popularity in Maltese socie- ty has grown exponentially over the past few years. Just last year, nearly three tons of cocaine with an estimated street value exceeding €380 million were seized by law enforcement entities. This is triple the amount seized in 2021. Between 2017 and 2021, the highest inci- dence of drug-related emergencies report- ed to Mater Dei hospital were for cocaine. Almost 1,300 individuals sought medical assistance due to cocaine induced intoxi- cation. Government figures show that in 2021, 50% of those who started receiving drug treatment services for the first time considered cocaine to be their primary drug of choice. Within the overall population of those seeking treatment for cocaine addiction in Malta, most users are male. While their median age is 36, first use takes place in a person's early twenties. Other character- istics of cocaine users include a second- ary or tertiary level of education, regular employment, and stable accommodation. More than a third of them consume co- caine daily, with sniffing or snorting the drug being the most popular route of ad- ministration. Reports of people making use of cocaine during private functions, when out social- ly or even as a common means of taking the edge off after a tough day at work are not uncommon. As indicated by drug re- habilitation agencies, the normalisation of cocaine as a recreational drug and the belief that it is trendy to partake of it in so- cial circles are some of the reasons why its consumption has shot up. In addition, the decrease in cost over the years and its wide availability make cocaine a highly accessi- ble drug in an affluent country like Malta. Misconceptions surrounding cocaine are one of the chief reasons why certain people fall into the trap of using it. Their conviction that as a party drug it enhanc- es how a person socialises and improves their ability to function might lead them to develop a dependency on it, even while believing that cocaine is not dangerous because addiction to it takes time to de- velop. The way cocaine is at times glamorised leads some users to believe that it is safe to use in moderation. However, the evidence shows otherwise; it confirms that the drug can severely impact a person's mental state and behaviour. The fact that the level of purity of the cocaine available on the street is relatively low when compared to that of the massive shipments seized in transit means that various cutting agents adulterate the mix- ture that is eventually consumed. These cutting agents are potentially as danger- ous as cocaine, if not more so. There are several reports of people suf- fering from delirium, hallucinations and other psychotic symptoms as a result of consuming cocaine cut by synthetic com- pounds. Violence and aggression, para- noia, panic attacks and excessive irritabil- ity are how the drug may manifest itself in a person's behaviour. Having spent years personally witnessing the slavish dependency that hard drugs can generate in a loved one, the altered behaviour and disturbed mental state of the user, as well as the havoc these wreak on the lives of both the user and their fam- ily and friends, I think that as a society we cannot afford to remain complacent in the face of the growing menace of the cocaine epidemic. If we do, the damage will not just con- sist of the untimely and brutal death of an innocent woman who found herself at the wrong place at the wrong time. If we do, there are likely to be far more vic- tims of cocaine as it continues to rampage through our streets and sneak into our homes. 6 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 2 APRIL 2023 OPINION The dirty political implications of the Yorgen-Rosianne chats The islands awash with cocaine Arnold Cassola is an independent election candidate Daniel Xerri is senior lecturer, Centre for English Language Proficiency, University of Malta Arnold Cassola Daniel Xerri Rosianne Cutajar and Yorgen Fenech