Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/191652
26 Letters maltatoday, SUNDAY, 13 OCTOBER 2013 Send your letters to: The Editor, MaltaToday, MediaToday Ltd. Vjal ir-Rihan, San Gwann SGN 9016 | Fax: (356) 21 385075 E-mail: newsroom@mediatoday.com.mt. Letters to the Editor should be concise. No pen names are accepted. Improvements at the law courts Reference is made to the article carried in Wednesday's edition of MaltaToday on the queue at the law courts. I would like to take the opportunity to set the record straight. It is in the public's best interest that maximum security for entering the law courts is of absolute importance, and we simply cannot neglect security. It is an unfortunate fact that until we introduce an alternative process, many people are still being called for their cases simultaneously at 9am, and few are the ones that arrive prior to their summoned time. It is also true that this results in a heavy queue between 9 and 10am. To be fair this queue is not jammed, and one doesn't have to wait for long. Still this does not justify the queue or the waiting. And that is why this government will take the following actions in Public planting with drivers and safety in mind For a number of years now, the authorities have been planting bushes on centre strips and roundabouts that grow to about eye level of drivers, effectively blocking their line of sight; and in many places these create a significant risk. Examples include the end of Mriehel Bypass in the direction of Attard. The bypass there curves, and at the exit towards Mriehel, at the traffic lights, there is often a long line of cars waiting on the overtaking lane to turn towards Mriehel. These can't be seen by other cars, due to the plants on the central strip. Similarly, on Tal-Barrani Road, the plants on the central strip make it very difficult for drivers turning towards Ghaxaq to see the cars coming from the opposite direction. Apart from blocking drivers' vision, these plants create an additional risk when their branches start growing beyond the central strip into the road, causing drivers to move further away towards the other lane in order to avoid getting their cars scratched. Plants used to decorate central strips should be selected with more care – either use flowers that grow low on the ground or high enough that only the trunk remains at eye level. Ramon Casha Qormi the coming days: By the end of this month, we will increase the security in our law courts by getting a new, more technologically advanced X-ray machine to replace the existing one at the building entrance. Also we will introduce yet another new modern machine at the Family Court. We are also installing new security measures for the Judicial Chambers quarters, which will be in operation by the end of this year and have its own principal security officer. For efficiency purposes and to eliminate the long queue, by the end of this year, we will acquire an additional X-ray machine, also more technologically advanced than the single one we have now. This will mean two new hi-tech machines at the entrance of the building, which will give greater security and will cut the queue by half. Of course, this will entail structural works being undertaken at the entrance of the courts. These will be ready by the end of March 2014. All this will lead to more security and better handling of the people entering the building. Gertrude Borg Marks Communications Officer, Parliamentary Secretary for Justice 'Pump and dump' investment operators Regrettably, honest people with money to invest sometimes see their hard-earned cash, which they invest, vanishing more truly than any Vanni Pule magic! People who have invested in one local fund, operated by a listed company, not a bank, have been advised that a meeting is going to be held on the last Friday in August to liquidate the fund. The organiser further advised that he would give them an ex-gratia nominal payment. The meeting is to be held whether just two people turn up or hundreds. The meeting probably will also be held and the fund liquidated even if just the organiser turns up with his and another signed proxy. Such laissez-faire amazes me. People are left to their own devices to protect their investments. All the drivel about investor protection is just hot air. In the USA, the regulator seems to have more shark teeth. Recently a case surfaced in which many honest people stand to lose millions in a typical 'pump and dump' operation. Yet the appointed prosecutor, Loretta Lynch, seems to be very actively engaged in defending too-trusting investors. Then again the ongoing case disputing the bond haircuts by Argentina that is being waged in the New York courts attests to the good and merited reputation of that jurisdiction. Setting up roadshows to bring investment to Malta is all well and good. Much better to see that, once an investment has been made, enough safeguards are in place to come down hard on 'smart' profiteers. S. Debono Kirkop Dragut Point The Sliema Local Council is objecting and has expressed concern because such a small project at Qui Si Sana will deny full public access to what is presently public land. What about full public access to Dragut Point? Why bother? Everybody agrees that Sliema cannot afford, surely, to lose more of its coast. C. Camilleri Sliema The need to respond to paedophilia cases in the church EDITORIAL – 12 October 2003 The decision by MaltaToday to carry the names of priests accused of abusing children in institutes was not welcomed by some of our readers. We would like to assure them that this newspaper did not take its decision lightly. It was taken with responsibility and in line with what is considered the norm in European press circles. The illustrations that accompanied the reportage on this matter depicted a very censored version of what actually happened, but they have seemingly appeared to offend a few. Last Friday, a daily newspaper, which for decades had served as a loyal servant to queen and country and preferred warships on its front page to Maltese news, chose to echo those concerns. This is the same English-language daily that, up until a few years ago, used to refuse images of women in bikinis in adverts. It is pertinent to point out that when the Prime Minister chose to name a chief justice and a judge in a bribery scandal, no section of the media or commentators therein objected to the naming. We have no problem stating that, for the time being, we will avoid carrying artist's impressions of what happens to innocent children in the custody of certain priests. However, the concern pointed out to us, that children could view this newspaper and be scandalised, is farcical. Our newspaper, with the exception of one kids' page, is tailormade for a mature and discerning readership, and any child looking for a Mickey Mousetype character would be well advised by their parental guardians to look elsewhere. The truth about sex abuse is hard to swallow, more so when it concerns individuals in religious orders. But it has happened, and it has not circled simply around masturbating sessions, but real cases of oral and anal sex. And if that sounds horrendous and vulgar, then what should it feel like for the victims. Agencies around the world, including the conservative Reuters, name priests when their abusers pinpoint them. In Malta, the church came out after donkeys' years to condemn the actions of the 'few,' but not without castigating the so-called sensationalism from some segments of the media. Some more modesty from the church authorities would be appropriate. Perhaps a pertinent observation is, would the church have revealed any cases of sexual abuse from some of its religious members if the media had not done its part? Today we carry yet another story of sexual abuse in a children's institute, this time in Sliema. We are willing to go whole hog and provide our readers with names and details. The concept of a 'response team' in the Maltese church leaves much to be desired. Its chairman, former Judge Caruana Colombo, has proven himself, on more than one occasion, to be a bastion for 'no change.' His other chairmanship, of the medical council, this time looking at overcharging allegations by members of the medical profession, proved beyond a doubt that the judge is not the man to rock the boat. Sexual abuse is a crime, and to look at sexual abuse and to contain it and hide it from the public is unacceptable. To form a response team and state that it is up to the individual to take the case to the police is scandalous to say the least. If every reported crime were to be scrutinised 'in house' by corporations, government and now the church, we would be facing chaos in our justice system. Abuses in the Catholic Church have not only been discovered in Malta. They have been uncovered in more-liberal societies, where sex is not repressed as it is here. For many years abuses in the church have taken place and been withheld from the public for fear of compounding any form of revulsion towards religious personalities who are naturally looked upon as guardians of the faith and society. That is not to say that the church has not been useful and helpful to society. It is certainly not to say that there are no priests, nuns and religious orders who are not dedicated, serious and wellmeaning. But on many counts, the church has failed to move with the times. It has promoted a convoluted interpretation of social change, illustrating morality from its narrow vision of values. One great failure is its refusal to open up to the media. And now when the media has moved to uncover the ugliness of paedophilia, our reward is a scolding from the church and a daily newspaper. At this point in time we call on the authorities to wake up to realities and push the police to intervene actively to discover to what extent paedophilia has spread within the church and its institutions. And they should avoid stalling on the matter simply because the culprits in this case happen to be members of the church.