Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/269668
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 2 MARCH 2014 26 Letters 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. The eventual winner of the Nationalist leadership race would be well advised to take stock of all the political proposals made during the campaign, including those of the other two contestants. Throughout the campaign all three contestants put across a number of proposals which they promised to implement if elected leader of the party. Broadly speaking, the proposals could be categorised accordingly: reconciliation, consensus, quotas for women, and Gozo representation. Louis Galea's pledge to reconcile with the traditional adversaries of his party struck a chord with the popular sentiment. He was bold, and indeed deserves much praise for making this pledge to the hardest core Nationalist group of representatives. It reflects his leader's long-term dream and is in accordance with popular sentiment. It received much praise last week from the GWU. We firmly believe that making reconciliation as the cornerstone of government policy would go a long way to making the atmosphere in the country more serene and will also be conducive to attracting foreign investment and economic growth. Throughout the campaign, both Lawrence Gonzi and John Dalli affirmed their belief in the power of running government by consensus. Both referred to many an agreement reached by either of them with the social partners. These agreements relating to the incomes policy and the dockyard all contributed greatly to both industrial peace and a sense of common social policy within the community. This sense of consensus now needs to be crystallised in a social pact amongst all the social partners. This pact, if and when implemented, would have immediate positive effects in the country, as it would represent a new way of getting business done. All the social partners would feel that they have an input in the planning and implementation stage of all legislation relating to matters that concern them and most especially their members closely. Government can no longer 'just go along alone'. It needs both the input and most especially the experience of all the social partners. This will prevent all further accusations of lack of consultation and transparency and of legislation being forced down anyone's throat. It really will be democracy in action. The proposal made by John Dalli to implement quotas for women is extremely bold especially as it has traditionally received – we believe incorrectly – a lukewarm response within the present leadership of the Nationalist Party. Many a government overseas has found that positive discrimination in favour of women does expedite the process of equality between the sexes. It results in women reaching goals of representation that had previously been thought beyond their immediate reach. Giving Gozo a wider representation on MCED is definitely positive and the recognition that the island should enjoy the status of a region with its own particular needs would be warmly welcomed. It should result in the standard of living in Gozo reaching similar levels as Malta and can go a far way to further encouraging foreign investment and growth in Gozo. Many of the suggestions that have been made are extremely positive and will serve to fine tune and galvanise the present government's programme. It is abundantly clear that it is time to risk and put into practice many a policy that really are deeply ingrained in a one- nation consensus political policy. Our country has been divided for far too long. Economic progress is also essentially related to a serene political climate in the country. A new leader will always be given a fresh chance and a honeymoon period in his first hundred days to implement, not only his new style of operating, but most especially his new policies. Many of the proposals do make good economic and social sense. We augur that the person elected will not only implement his proposals but will be graceful and magnanimous enough to take on board the positive proposals of the other two contestants. It is clearly time be bold, risk, think the unthinkable, and move towards clearly defined targets agreed by policy makers and the social partners. Time to risk EDITORIAL FEBRUARY 29 2004 Helga Ellul and the MEP election Reference is made to James Debono's article 'Who will clinch the third seat?', published in the 23 February edition of MaltaToday, and which rounds up the list of potential Maltese MEP candidates ahead of the election in May. I'm afraid I'm going to have to disagree with how you described Helga Ellul; specifically, on the fact that her chairmanship and directorship in various companies will hinder her when it comes to her social obligations. I can't agree with your insinua- tions, because if there's a person who has honoured these social obligations, it is Helga Ellul. She has had no problems with any workers during her time at Playmobil, where over a thousand jobs were created under her chairmanship. And as regards obligations and conditions… why don't you ask Playmobil work- ers? Should you still require informa- tion and insights on Mrs Ellul, you should further consult workers at Maypole, Joinwell, Printex and others. The fact that Mrs Ellul is a successful entrepreneur means that she could serve as a voice for work- ers within SMEs in Europe. Aldo Scicluna B'Kara I've been wrestling with this conundrum since the middle of last week. That was when Energy Minister Konrad Mizzi broke the news that a thousand smart meters – installed in private resi- dences and business premises – have for the past three years been doctored to display only a fifth of the actual power consumption. We were also told that those re- sponsible will be given six weeks from Monday 24 February to come clean by paying back what they stole plus a 10% penalty and all will be forgiven and perhaps forgotten. No charges will be pressed and no names will be made public. Those three years meant a loss of €30 million a year to the state's revenue. In simpler terms, that meant that on average each residence and business premises was get- ting away with €30,000 a year in stolen power. A consumer with such a huge appetite for power is surely no ordinary household, at least not in Malta. Maybe in the sun-drenched, leafy neighbourhoods up in the reaches of Beverly Hills, but surely not in Malta. A day or so later, the minister repeated this "thousand" figure and went further by revealing that the scam first came to light last October. Hot on Mr Mizzi's heels, the Prime Minister then waded in to what was to become a fray. He said that the fiddlers amounted to much more than a thousand and that the list was growing with each passing day. It was here that I was stumped: Prime Minister Muscat seemed to know more about this than Min- ister Mizzi, his Energy Minister. Until then I would have thought that the PM got his information from the Energy Minister. But here we have the PM putting the Minister "to rights". Which sticks in the throat like a sliver of bone: Minister Mizzi, with his polished style to boot, seems to be always on the ball and up to snuff. He must have been agonizing – and probably losing sleep – over this figure of 'one thousand equals €30 million' three times over since last Oc- tober, and here we have the PM pulling him up by his bootstrap. Yes, re-booting his Minister. Which doesn't bode well for Minister Mizzi. For if he, as the PM is implying, stumbled over such a simple four-digit number, one shudders to think what pickle Minister Mizzi got himself into when he delved into those figures that threw up 140,000 cubic me- tres of LNG cheek-by-jowl to the Delimara power station. Why is the PM making out his top-notch Energy Minister to be such a booby? Can anyone shed any light – be it electrical or solar – as long as it is illuminating? Joe Genovese B'Kara Re-booting a Minister Searching for works by Charles Allingham I am an M.A. student within the Depart- ment of History of Art, University of Malta, undertaking a study on the British artist, Charles Allingham (c. 1778-1850). This art- ist was in Malta between 1818 and 1850. I would appreciate any information that any of your readers might have in relation to this artist. Allingham was mainly a portrait painter and most of his works would be in private collections. I would be grateful to anyone who has any works by Charles Allingham would contact me. I may be contacted on 99454785 or 21653610. My email address is: pavia_g@hotmail.com. Georgina Pavia Marsaxlokk Konrad Mizzi Helga Ellul