Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1517531
6 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 27 MARCH 2022 OPINION 2 maltatoday EXECUTIVE EDITOR KURT SANSONE ksansone@mediatoday.com.mt Letters to the Editor, MaltaToday, Vjal ir-Rihan, San Gwann SGN 9016 E-mail: dailynews@mediatoday.com.mt Letters must be concise, no pen names accepted, include full name and address maltatoday | SUNDAY • 17 MARCH 2024 A mature debate on defence is needed Editorial LABOUR MEP candidate Clint Azzopardi Flores fired off an absurd comparison last week between European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and what he described as 'Germany's thirst to arm itself in the 1930s'. He carefully avoided mentioning the Nazis, although everyone knows who was in charge in Germany during that period. Any right-thinking person can understand that the comparison Azzopardi Flores made was akin to equating Von der Leyen with the warmongering Na- zis. Azzopardi Flores has been one of the EP election can- didates who has refreshingly engaged in a critical way with EU issues and might very well provide some valid contributions if elected an MEP. He is also entitled to his stance against Von der Ley- en's push for a more militarised EU that includes de- fence and security as a priority over the next five years. But in putting forward his views he should refrain from making absurd village bar comparisons that brand all Germans as nostalgic Nazis thirsting for mil- itary might. A healthy debate needs to be had on the EU's defence capabilities in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine and Vladimir Putin's expansionist ideas. The situation will only get more complicated if Don- ald Trump gets elected president of the US in Novem- ber. Europeans will have to increasingly be self-reliant for defence and security measures with a Trump pres- idency. This is a reality that even socialists with whom Azzopardi Flores will be hobnobbing in Brussels rec- ognise. The EU was built as a peace project and that is how it should remain but having a robust defence mechanism does not contradict that mission. The EU must work for peace but at the same time be prepared to fend off any acts of aggression against the physical and virtual territory of its member states. Within this complex patchwork, Malta must not play the isolationist card but rather have its Armed Forc- es better integrated into the EU's defence and security mechanisms. Ignoring Putin's threat will not make it go away. And while the risk of a physical attack on Malta is virtual- ly none, there is no guarantee the country will not be subjected to damaging cyber-attacks or threats to its economic wellbeing such as the disruption to shipping in the Red Sea as a result of Houthi attacks. At the same time, just as Malta should expect other member states to come to its assistance if need be, it should also be in a position to assist, in whatever limit- ed way it can, other member states that may fall victim to acts of aggression. Malta can be the interlocutor for diplomacy and peace - it can do much more on an international level - but this does not exclude the country from being part of an EU project to bolster the defence capabilities of in- dividual member states within a common framework. The debate should focus on how to achieve EU defence and security cohesion through better cooperation, in- teroperability, joint procurement and intelligence shar- ing, with full respect to the individual member states' sensitivities, rather than whether this is needed or not. But in any case, even politicians like Azzopardi Flores, who disagree with a stronger emphasis on defence within the EU, should steer away from spurious infer- ences to Nazism. Transparency not opaqueness The Building and Construction Authority now has a list of all permitted contractors and licensed masons following the legal changes introduced last year. The new law was the first attempt at regulating what until then had been a cowboy industry. But there is one problem and it seems to be of the authority's own making – the list is not public. This means that people and stakeholders who want to en- gage the services of a contractor or mason have no means of verifying beforehand whether the company or individual conforms to the law. It is absurd for the BCA to cite data protection rules in defence of its position not to make the list publicly accessible. This leader agrees with the sentiments expressed by the National Building Council that this information constitutes a matter of national and public interest which cannot be shielded with the excuse of data pro- tection. Everybody in the industry, and all those affected by it, have a right to know who the legally recognised op- erators in the industry are. Hiding the list does not do justice to bonafide operators and is a disservice to de- velopers that also include ordinary people carrying out works at their house. Information supplied to the media by the BCA re- vealed that the authority shut down nine sites since the new rules came into force because the relevant con- tractors failed to apply for a licence. But as the NBC pointed out, had the owners of these sites and their architects been able to verify the status of the contractor they would not have to be burdened with the cost of site closures. A publicly available list that is accessible online could be a good tool to help the BCA enforce the law. Any- body who suspects something wrong can verify wheth- er a particular contractor is licensed and accordingly bring the matter to the authority's attention. In the aftermath of the Jean Paul Sofia public inquiry, this leader expects more transparency from the BCA rather than opaqueness. Quote of the Week "All these women have names, but if they speak out it will mean three years' imprisonment in Malta simply for their crime to survive. 500 women in Malta have an unsafe abortion at home every year. Bodily autonomy is fundamental for everyone, as well as trans women." Cyrus Engerer speaking during a debate in the European Parliament calling for abortion to become a fundamental right in the European Charter of Fundamental Rights. MaltaToday 10 years ago 8 March 2014 State moves in to take control of local wardens THE running of Malta's local enforcement sys- tem has become too costly to keep up with the expectations of the two private companies which provide Malta's and Gozo's 44 local councils with wardens, CCTV cam- eras, and speed cameras, and the only way it can survive is to issue more tickets and col- lect more fines. But Labour seems to be living up to a warn- ing sounded by Joseph Muscat in 2011 that the "sub- sidised racket" of local enforcement would longer be tolerated under a new govern- ment. "Yesterday, parliamentary secretary for local government José Herrera unveiled plans for a new centralised unit to take over the manning of local wardens. Herrera has pledged a 30% reduction in costs - a reduction that industry insiders de- duce can only be achieved by cutting out the private sector. But the parliamentary secretary said that today's system was built on the misleading as- sumption that it should make money for local councils when in reality, uncollected fines and a decline in contraventions and speed- ing offences being committed, has rendered the system unsustainble to run. Herrera's solution will be to turn the LES in- to a national unit of wardens serving councils, rather than the private operators taking over 70% of the total fines issued over the years. Labour taking on 'subsidised racket Malta's local warden system is in the pro- cess of being reformed, 14 years after it was first introduced – but the jury is out on what government's plans for a centralised unit means for people like Kenneth De Martino, whose Guard & Warden Service runs the gamut of local enforcement services, deploy- ing wardens to the coun- cils, monitoring CCTV systems and also processing speed camera fines. ...