Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/195525
26 Letters maltatoday, SUNDAY, 20 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. Water everywhere and not a drop to drink Here is a perfect example of 1984style gobbledegook and doublespeak, which literally takes you round in circles. In my continuing battle to prevent a monster building in the last remaining area of San Gwann, I reported that there were two (not one, two) freshwater wells whichdespite having been neglected for over 10 years, still hold perfectly fresh water. As an aside, these wells were missed by all the government departments involved in 'reviewing' the site, including the erstwhile and very attentive MEPA case officer. Please allow me to paint a picture. This now barren piece of land has a mound in the middle with greenery all around it. Do you really have to be Einstein to figure out why the greenery is there and investigate? Nope. But issues like these go overboard if you want to push forward an agenda. Pathetic. Anyway I duly reported these two freshwater wells and asked the Ministry for Energy and CONSERVATION of Water (no less) to investigate. (Apparently there is a limitation as to which water is referred to in the ministry's nomenclature.) I duly informed this ministry about these wells, as it appeared there is an underground stream filling these two wells, which stream also supplies the underground water table. The ministry came back and offered its profuse congratulations that a concerned citizen had taken it upon himself to point out such a precious and important issue. Then it all goes haywire. The wells are on private land, so nothing can be done! (What! Yes it can, just get your limited brain cells moving.) And if the ministry is asked for its input, then it might be able to see what the issue is. That the ministry for water has full confidence that the other organisations or minis- tries will do whatever is necessary. (In other words I was politely told to go and knock on somebody else's door.) I will not bother your readers with the silly, irrelevant and dismissive excuses hurled my way. However Tourism Minister Karmenu Vella only a couple of days ago, in the local media, made an issue about how important water is for tourism. Well, deaf ears and all that. Frustrated? Yes. Ineffective and pathetic dismal excuses? Yes. Sad and pitiable? Yes. Action? No. So it will all go to waste if the building goes ahead following the anticipated citizens' appeal. Just remembered: 500m down the road, government is spending oodles of cash... building a water well! What was that about Mickey Mouse? Stephen Saliba San Gwann Vaclav memorial clarification Reference is made to the article by James Debono entitled 'Vaclav Havel faces posthumous MEPA trial' and published in the 29 September edition of MaltaToday. The Consulate General of the Czech Republic refers to the above contribution by James Debono and wishes to clarify as follows: The current position of Mr Tonio Casapinta is not that of former honorary consul of Malta to the Czech Republic, but that of Honorary Consul General of the Czech Republic in Malta. The application to MEPA for the erection of the Vaclav Havel Me- morial has been made jointly by said consulate together with the Embassy of the Czech Republic in Rome, Italy. Tonio Casapinta Consulate General of the Czech Republic Naxxar Incomprehensible judgements Ms G Borg Marks from the Parliamentary Secretariat for Justice is of course right (see Sunday, 13 October) to assure us about the need for security at the law courts. There are, however, other equally important aspects which the P.S. for Justice should consider in his admirable efforts to overhaul the entire justice system. Almost always overlooked is the language (Latin, Italian, etc. – not Maltese) used by some judges and magistrates, seemingly, merely to 'show off ' their erudition in delivering what should otherwise be simple judgements, most importantly to be comprehensible to the parties, not just to their lawyers! By way of example, I quote from a quite recent judgement about a marriage separation litigation: quibus modis obligamur, eisdem in contrarium actis leberamu, nemo ad impossibilia, josta l-principlu legali and multo magis, all of which could have at least been translated into Maltese, not to mention such Maltese (?) words like odjerna, senjament, dekadenza, jinsab abbraccjat, mill-gurisprudenza nostrali, il-volonta tal-kontraenti and others. Perhaps Ms Borg Marks would oblige us with Dr Owen Bonnici's views on this. Karm Farrugia Madliena A 'first' in Europe Correct me if I'm wrong, but as far as I know, for every ministry in Europe, and possibly in all other countries, there is only ONE MINISTER responsible. Here I have in mind the Ministry for Health. With the utmost respect, no minister is Superman. Our Minister for Health has a massive portfolio and, if I'm not mistaken, a workforce of around 8,000. Twenty-four hours, seven days a week, is not enough for one man to deal with and find solutions for all problems. I would, therefore, with the utmost respect, be glad to hear if the Hon. Prime Minister would consider appointing TWO MINISTERES in the Health Division, one for health matters and one for administrative matters. In this way, the Hon. Minister Godfrey Farrugia would halve his workload and have enough time to solve matters covering patient health. The other, if ever appointed, would dedicate his or her time to the welfare of the 8,000 employees and matters of a financial nature. Can it be done? Lino Callus Balzan YOUR FIRST CLICK OF THE DAY www.maltatoday.com.mt Reform, reform or be damned EDITORIAL – 19 October 2003 There has to be a limit to blaming Labour for the perilous situation in many of the government-owned companies and institutions. The Nationalist media have made it their mission to refer to what happened before 1987 or that 21-month short spell under Dr Sant as the raison d'être for all the problems that exist in this country. That excuse cannot go on being cited until kingdom come. A case in point is PBS. We applaud the planned reforms, but not without reminding our readers that the people who were appointed after 1987 were nominated by the PN and no one else. The reforms at PBS should have taken place in the summer of 1987. That they never saw the light of day is definitely not the fault of the Opposition. Perhaps the best example of some of the PN's argumentation is illustrated in the implementation of Malta's waste strategy. Surely, the present minister responsible for solving the problem would love to point, or even show, a finger to his predecessor, who did little or close to nothing to accelerate the process of wasting away Malta's waste problem. The same thinking process ap- plies to so many other case studies. The credibility issue with the PN is slowly creeping in. One often listen to long diatribes about the civil service and the need to improve efficiency. We have been waiting for far too long. We listen over and over again to calls for controlling costs and acquiring the best deals, and yet one cannot help noticing the lucrative deals that enrich the pockets of blue-eyed boys. The incessant reminders on the dockyards and Enemalta fail to emphasise that this problem was born 17 years ago. The reforms proposed by the 1996 Labour government were torn to shreds. Yet, even though they were far from socialist, they would have been very much a breath of fresh air for the economy. Dr Sant's decision to introduce a fee on free medicine, a drainage tax and his plans for the dockyards would definitely have helped the save the country some extra millions. And yet, the spin doctors and the English-language media went into overdrive feeding on the return of Dr Sant's nemesis, Dom Mintoff, who has plagued Maltese politics for over 50 years. Now this government is attempting to address the sustainability question with the same therapy that was suggested by the Sant administration – decapitation. Which goes to prove that in politics it is not what you say but how you say it and who says it. Now, morning has broken, and the PN media machine would have us believe that they have nothing to be blamed for and that we should be making all the sacrifices. We have already made one big sacrifice and that was voting them in for another five years for want of no better alternative. This country needs reforms. If PBS needs downsizing, so does government. It can start by bringing down parliament from 65 parliamentarians to a number that would make it more efficient, and it can continue by halting the duplication of boards, commissions and authorities. The government can then turn to blocking fat cats from getting lu- crative cheques and by reforming the social-welfare system. The same holds for direct orders for companies that receive subsidies when they are of little significance in terms of import and export. Government should be introducing a tax compliance regime for individuals and companies who gloat and boast of the monies they have never declared. This is definitely a time for muchneeded change. But let us welcome it by getting everyone on board and not thinking about gaining or losing political points. Finally, on PBS, it has to be said that government should never abdicate its commitment to having a dynamic state television. It would be more than a great shame if the transmission of news had to be left in the hands of Net TV and Super One. It is rather unreasonable to read that government has decided to trim the work force at PBS to a mere 50 and to budget only half a million Liri without first showing, by means of a published feasibility study, that the company will be able to provide broadcasting at a standard that one would expect from our one and only national TV station.