Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1503864
maltatoday | SUNDAY • 27 MARCH 2022 OPINION 3 LETTERS & EDITORIAL maltatoday | SUNDAY • 16 JULY 2023 Mikiel Galea Letters & Clarifications AI threat: Persons with intellectual disability will find it more impossible to find jobs AT a recent conference organised by the Malta Chamber of Commerce, Enter- prise and Industry and the HSBC Malta Foundation entitled Skills Rush: Have We Missed The Bus, Professor Rose Marie Azzopardi stated that in the next ten years, 1.1 billion jobs will change or disap- pear altogether. She stressed that people who work as cashiers in banks, in shops as well as people who enter data will have to adapt to the new jobs related to informat- ics and artificial intelligence. She also said that employers are expecting that 44% of workers will have to adapt their skills in the next five years. While year after year, we knew that someday we would be given this news and we also voiced our concerns, no government worked on this issue. Econ- omy was, and still is, the buzz word for our government (whoever this may be). The holistic approach for the real wellbeing of the individuals who make up Maltese society was never on top of the agenda as otherwise we are not in today's situation. Now the bomb has exploded, and we are still not aware and have no idea about the ripple effect of this reality. A lot of workers will be negatively af- fected. Furthermore, the number of job seekers trying to find a job will be on the increase as they will not have the skills for the 'new jobs'; persons with intellectual disability will find it more and more im- possible to find a suitable job according to their abilities; the number of people near- er to or in the poverty line will increase; the mental well-being of the whole of society will be negatively affected and the list goes on. The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable De- velopment was adopted by all world lead- ers in 2015. The agenda is a universal plan of action to end poverty, protect the plan- et and ensure prosperity. It enshrines 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to be achieved by 2030, by all countries. Inclusion is at the core of the 2030 Agenda with not only a pledge to "leave no one behind" but also an agreement "to reach the furthest behind first". Is this the case in our country? Persons with disabilities are included in the fol- lowing SDGs: Goal 1 – Poverty; Goal 4 – Quality education; Goal 8 – Decent work and economic growth; Goal 10 – Reduced inequalities; Goal 3 – Good health and well-being. With reference to these goals, as at today - seven years away from 2030, the situation of persons with disability has not changed for the better and in some cases, has got worse. Marthese Mugliette President, MFOPD Santa Venera Sofia death: PM's obstinacy JEAN Paul Sofia died in December, crushed by the rubble of a building that was being constructed. It is a big shame that seven months down the line the mag- istrate conducting the inquiry has not yet concluded her work, apart from the fact that the archaic system we have does not even allow the victim's relatives to be kept abreast of developments. I can only hope that this inquiry is con- cluded as quickly as possible and those responsible for his death are charged in court and get to pay dearly for their mis- takes. But justice will not be complete if soci- ety is not given the comfort that the sys- tems regulating the construction industry are working well. Only a public inquiry that delves into the Jean Paul's case and branches out to cover the sector as a whole can provide this comfort by identi- fying any shortcomings and chart the way forward. The Prime Minister seems to believe that the magisterial inquiry has the power to delve into these aspects if the magis- trate so chooses. The problem is that the magistrate has no such obligation, which is why almost everybody else, apart from the Prime Minister, believes that a public inquiry is warranted in this case. At this point, Robert Abela's insistence not to hold a public inquiry, is more a question of obstinacy rather than sub- stance. It is a shame that a Prime Minister who constantly proclaims how close he is to ordinary people cannot get himself to see reason in this case. A. Vella Mosta