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MT 20 July 2014

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maltatoday, SUNDAY, 20 JULY 2014 Opinion 23 maltatoday, SUNDAY, 20 JULY 2014 T his week's talk of the town centred on Sai Mizzi Liang's generous remuneration package worth €13,000 a month. This months-long saga had a number of facets that evidently were badly mishandled. 1. First and foremost, had Mrs Mizzi Liang not happened to be the wife of the current Energy Minister, would she have been employed as a trade envoy? This is a fine example of how the meritocracy pledge has been doomed even before this Cabinet was sworn in. Not only has this government failed to keep its promise of doing away with appointing people based not on their political affiliation but on their skills and abilities – it has in fact done the exact opposite. It has appointed the closest of relatives of a high-ranking member of the executive. This appointment is in itself an antithesis of what Muscat stood for during the last general election campaign. 2. Mrs Mizzi' Liang's duties are commensurate with a Malta Enterprise trade envoy. Such duties are certainly distinct from and less comprehensive than those associated with an ambassadorial post. It is for this reason that previous trade envoys were never granted salaries and perks attributed to ambassadorial posts. This begs the question: had Mrs Mizzi Liang not been a minister's immediate relative, would a Labour government grant her ambassadorial benefits? The answer is also a definite no. But now that Mrs Mizzi Liang has been granted such benefits, she is entitled to a residence and a chauffeur-driven car at her service, whenever and wherever she pleases. She is also entitled to almost €9,000 to "settle in" her country of employment, which happens to be her own home country! And we must pay for the transportation of her belongings, of course! An ambassador is also entitled to free travel, including their family; an insurance policy; hospitality costs; pocket money for outfits and free education for children; among other perks. All this adds up to €13,000 - fourfold of what has been claimed by this government. In its damage control stunt, the government published the contracts of previous and current ambassadors: Christopher Grima, Francis Tabone, George Cassar, Godwin Montanaro, Joseph Cassar, Joe Zammit Tabona, Noel Buttigieg Scicluna, Richard Muscat, Victor Camilleri and Walter Balzan. Apart from the fact that I have much respect for every one of them, having spent four years as a political coordinator to then Foreign Minister Tonio Borg, I am aware of the situations our representatives are confronted with from time to time and the responsibilities they shoulder round the clock. The point here is, however, that Mrs Mizzi Liang's duties are not commensurate with those of an ambassadorial role and likewise, she should have never been granted ambassadorial perks. As such, publishing all these contracts is truly irrelevant to the issue at stake and a disservice to all our men and women out there serving in our name. 3. But now that Mrs Mizzi Liang enjoys such generous perks paid out of public funds, can Joseph Muscat tell us what she has delivered of value till this day to the benefit of the people of this nation? Is it not reasonable to ask for tangible results from an employee who is so highly paid through taxpayer money? Not one single result in foreign direct investment or the like has been forthcoming. This is another reason why the matter has "not been handled well" at all. 4. In resisting publishing Mrs Mizzi Liang's contract, the government has spurred further speculation. The opposition has been criticising the government for breaking yet another electoral promise, that of being transparent. The Mizzi Liang saga is another fine example of a party in government that has trampled over what the majority voted for. This government is in complete darkness and secrecy. I surely would have not objected had the Prime Minister forked this generous contribution out of his own pocket money. This is, however, taxpayer money and this so-called transparent government has no right whatsoever to keep such things secret for months, just as if this was a communist state. 5. In comments to the media, Mrs Mizzi Liang stated that any person with a normal IQ would never believe she gets €13,000 monthly. The sooner this government and its representatives realise that the majority of the electorate are not stupid, the better. Irrespective of the government's substantial majority, it has no right in abusing of taxpayers' money for the benefit of the inner few. Ultimately, this country is bogged down with two ambassadors for China. That is an expense we can do without. Now that Mrs Mizzi Liang's contract has been published (only because the government was forced to and not because it wanted to), the opposition has been proved right. In this situation, the government will now probably turn on the opposition to call us negative once again. Anybody striving for transparency, meritocracy, honesty and accountability cannot possibly be labelled negative. Furthermore, how ironic for the government to threaten the opposition with 'negative' labels when it promised us all that it would be a promoter of these values. While the Prime Minister must shoulder political responsibility for this state of affairs, it is we who will have to shoulder the financial burden for his mistakes. Ryan Callus is Opposition spokesperson for planning and simplification A saga 'not well handled' at all Ryan Callus growth then we might as well forget all these objectives and ideals. We must realise that in the final analysis various issues can often make sense from both an economic and environmental point of view concurrently in a complementary manner. Although this is definitely not the case in Malta, certain European countries might as well forget the mere notion that one can become more competitive by merely lowering wages and or social standards. The only way one can avoid such a pitfall is by improving the productivity of both labour and resources to increase the value added throughout the process itself. The moment our industries start producing products using less raw materials, less energy and less water they will have already made an important quantum leap. Without realising it they will also be on track towards strengthening their own future industrial competitiveness. The moment we manage to link our waste policies to our resource efficiency objectives we will be actually promoting the circular economy within our own shores and even beyond. Although I obviously have no commercial interest or stake in the sector, one of the very first things that I realised when I started shadowing waste in 2008 was that the business case for using it judiciously has long existed. Particularly since there is gold in waste… often literally. Why? Because as someone worked it out recently, it takes a ton of ore to get one gram of gold. But at the same time you can also get the same amount from recycling the materials in 41 mobile phones! We will have really succeeded in our transformation and shift towards a circular economy the moment we start realising that by retaining the resources within the economy when a product has reached the end of its life, they can still remain in productive use and create further value. For some it might be a hard task to address. For others even to understand. But once this modal shift begins to happen then we can start claiming that we are indeed moving towards a circular economy… in a manner that goes way beyond hype. Leo Brincat is Minister for Sustainable Development, the Environment and Climate Change influence upon job creation will be the replacement of many of the mid-skilled workforce who will be retiring. We are an ageing population but traditional skilled trades will remain in high demand. Vocational education should not be seen as a competitor to academic qualifications. It should be complementary to the expansion of the 'new' roles that traditional universities venture into. Through expansion we create more jobs and the university graduate and the vocational education student need to work hand in hand to ensure that we have the right personnel in the changing labour market. Traineeships and apprenticeships will go a long way towards providing vocational education students with the right tools for success in their respective careers. Further research by the Edge Foundation earlier this year, points to another problem that is common all over the world. Jan Hodges, the CEO of the Edge Foundation says that the findings of the report show "that many vocational students felt that their schools and parents did not support their decision to pursue vocational study. Many felt they would have received greater support had they followed the university route. There is evidently a perception issue when it comes to vocational education; it has become viewed by some as a second-tier offering". However, the tide is certainly beginning to turn. The array of vocational qualifications on offer today is greater than ever before. Vocational education is undergoing an image change. As education professionals, our job is to encourage availability of knowledge and information about all options available to post-16 students. There is a good number of courses available. We need to promote the traditional vocational trades, but we also need to make young people aware of the new challenges that today's world has to offer. As educators and parents we should be wise enough to realise each young person's potential and be supportive of whatever path will empower our students with the skills to succeed, whether academic or in vocational education. Evarist Bartolo is Minister of Education and Employment If we continue as some do both overseas and locally to look upon the environment as a constraint on growth then we might as well forget all these objectives and ideals Vocational education should not be seen as a competitor to academic qualifications. It should be complementary to the expansion of the 'new' roles that traditional universities venture into The Mizzi Liang saga is another fine example of a party in government that has trampled over what the majority voted for Sai Mizzi Liang (centre)

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