Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/357188
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 3 AUGUST 2014 24 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. Government and most particu- larly the Prime Minister has quite rightly placed the control of the deficit as its topmost priority. This is the correct strategy in today's economic climate. Only once the finances are in order can the people hope to improve their living standards. However there is the growing feeling that Govern- ment is all too exclusively focused on this problem, it is harping on the same string and is losing sight of the big picture of Government. Too much time being spent on controlling the haemor- rhage and too little on the vision thing. By focusing exclusively on the precarious finances of the Government there is a risk that Government, itself no differently to the administration of Alfred Sant, risks throwing the country into a worsening situation. The 'hofra' mentality is ruling the day, it is disheartening people and as a consequence people are spend- ing less. This will lead to a further def lated economy. Government must start focusing on the tan- gible visible deliverables to turn round the mood in the country. This difficult situation calls for men and women of character with a clear vision on how to overcome the difficult situation the country is in as a result also of uncontrol- lable government expenditure. […] It is becoming rather difficult to identify the dream of the present Government, of the opposition leader or of the leaders among the social partners. The key protago- nists appear overwhelmed by the difficult financial situation. They speak a lot about cutting expendi- ture and very little about how to achieve growth. Where are the men of vision? There is clearly a leadership crisis in the country. The institutions seem unable to think out of the box and present the way forward. In fairness, this administration follows a previous administration captained by a person with a European dream fulfilled. This achievement has however left a puzzling aftermath whereby people are equating their present difficulties with the realisation of the European dream they endorsed. Herein lays the cause of the feeling of malaise prevailing in the country. There is European blues in the air. This is perfectly understandable, all countries on accession underwent painful restructuring and growing unem- ployment yet in time they turned the tables. […] This lack of leadership perme- ates throughout the leadership class. It is clear that many of the leaders are simply stating how cuts can be made and fail to make known their vision of how growth can be achieved. These leaders must start thinking out of the box, start thinking the unthink- able in order to get the finances in order and as a consequence retaining living standards. It is clear that too many of the lead- ers simply want to defend their patch. All too many sacred cows, numerous holidays cannot be lessened, over manning in the public sector cannot be touched, rigid restricted practices are defended. It appears that all are aware what needs to be done yet no one seems prepared to bite the bullet. As a consequence getting the deficit down will prove a very long process and unless there is a growth people will inevitably be asked to pay more taxes. With vision growth can be achieved and sacrifices mini- mised. The vision thing Editorial • August 8 2004 The power of prayer Believers worldwide have been praying for millennia speciously convinced, despite the glaring evidence to the contrary and thanks mainly to organ- ised priesthood systems, that praying served a useful purpose whether they were invoking the generosity of Zeus, the might of Jehovah or the bounty of Buddha; to name just three out of the seemingly interminable list of celestial stalwarts who are supposed to be perpetually in attendance upon the entire human race and its never ending demands, exhortations and cries of despair. Belief in prayer means automatically belief in the supernatural, which is analogous to belief in witches and wiz- ards, gnomes and goblins, leprechauns and what have you. When priests from primitive times came up with the con- cept of praying, that was later copied by every subsequent religion, they were preying on a very basic human weak- ness – fear. And because ignorance promotes fear the further back we go in the mists of time, naturally a more terrified human psyche is notably encountered everywhere, due in great part to the lack of scientific knowledge and the great terror of the unknown. This proved to be the perfect scenario for the planting of the seeds of superstition into the unfortunate human minds. Arguably over the millennia some prayers may have provided solace to many believers despite their irrel- evance, however in the end it is the religious institutions that stand to gain big time from prayer and no one else. Just look around you. Vladimir Cini, Marsaxlokk The shooting down of Malaysian Flight 17 in Ukraine has been con- stantly lingering at the back of my mind for the past days. How is it possible, after so many conflicts and just as many civilian aircraft crashes, that no one envis- aged the terrible fate that awaited the passengers on flight MH17. Could it have been avoided? Statistically it is stated that one stands a better chance of surviving flying than simply crossing a road. However flight MH17 was overflying war zone airspace. Numerous satellite systems encir- cle our globe and scan the earth's surface for a multitude of reasons, some legitimate or beneficial and some not. Some look up and assist weather forecasting, others map sea currents while others are there to eavesdrop and spy on us. How did a missile with the potential of downing a civilian aircraft, in the hands of the Ukrainian separatists or terrorists, go unnoticed, with all the advanced spying equipment available? As a layman I would be interested to know whether any of the surface to air missiles fired earlier over the region would have been detected by our big brothers and their spying satellites. Could this tragedy have been avoided? The Ukrainian authorities had prior to this incident reported having a number of their aircraft shot down by surface to air missiles. They had designated the area as being safe to fly above 32,000 feet or unsafe below this limit. Did they know the type and capabilities of the missiles that were used and the altitude where their aircraft were when shot down? If so was the information at hand trustworthy to legally bind them to notifying the international civilian flying community of the danger of overflying the war zone or more drastically and as a safety precau- tion to close that corridor in their air space altogether. Did their commer- cial interests take precedence over safety? If it turns out, and it looks so, that the aircraft was downed by a missile, an errant one or worse, deliberately targeted where does this incident place Ukraine in adhering to its legal responsibilities and obligations towards the international commu- nity? It worries me stiff to think that a country with a conflict within its boundaries was not capable of know- ing the impact its conflict would have on innocent citizens of other countries. Paradoxically the Libyan conflict near our shores springs to my mind. The respondent authori- ties immediately closed the Libyan air space to all civilian flights as a precautionary measure. Airplanes fly routes in designated flight path corridors using exist- ing predefined territorial air space, and directed by flight controllers and passed from one to the other as the aircraft transcends from one air space to another. At the time of the incident the plane was under the control of Ukraine controllers. Could these controllers have been aware of, and possibly alerted higher authority of potential missile strike threats to commercial/civilian traffic? If as I suspect Ukraine knew that part of its civilian traffic air terri- tory was susceptible to surface to air missiles than it shoulders a hefty responsibility for this tragedy. The name and blame exercise points its fingers at Russia, having supplied surface to air missiles with the potential to down aircraft flying at very high altitudes. If this is true it is nothing new but a game-changer and an eye-opener. On a personal level this incident makes me a bit more wary of flying. How many of you would have looked up the flight path before boarding the aircraft on your last holiday. It never crosses your mind because of the deserved trust we have in airlines and people running the industry. This issue does not feature because we live in a democratic society where we strive at justice and fair play. But will things be the same. I do not feel safe anymore. Carmel Vassallo, Via email Surely it cannot just be me who, while extremely pleased at the happy outcome, felt immensely aggrieved that the returning prodigal son Martin Galea, was feted and treated like a hero when he returned to Malta (on a special flight, subsidised by whom?) after bring released by his Libyan militia abductors. Furthermore, that the government was praised to the gunnels for assisting in securing his release and 'paying for' his special flight to bring him back home. However, it is beyond irony that Mr Galea was engaged as a health and safety officer in Libya as seemingly it was not his own health and safety he was concerned with or interested in, nor the brave souls who were tasked with helping secure his release and subse- quent repatriation. Did he not consider for one moment that he was working in a war zone when going to work in Libya and that financial rewards pale into insignificance when one's life is clearly potentially at risk and, if not, then why not? For it is claimed that the reason for his abduction was 'not known' but what is manifestly evident is why he was in Libya – as other than financial reasons what other possible motives did he have? Moreover, did he contem- plate for one moment that working in an unstable and highly volatile war-torn country might impact him, his family or those who would ultimately be com- pelled to rescue him? What concrete measures did our government take to ensure that our citizens never travelled to Libya as opposed to 'advising' them not to go there which, in any event, such erudite counsel came very late in the day and only after he was abducted, and that such advice was promulgated how exactly, and in what forms of the media? Also, Air Malta made such travelling easier given that only at the 11th hour did they stop flying to Libya, despite many other airlines recognising the inherent dangers by choosing not to fly there long before both Tripoli and Benghazi airports were attacked and bombarded with heavy artillery. Apparently recognising or accepting inherent dangers, as well as demonstrating a proactive stance, are not our strong suit and how long will it be, one wonders, before Mr Galea and his other gam- bling, risk-taking repatriates (they can afford to be, at our expense) decide to go back to Libya 'safe' in the knowledge and with the full confidence that if anything goes wrong we will once more bail them out and get them back home – and happily pay for this privilege and not even mention this cost, and while we are justifiably ecstatic that this incident had a happy ending are we, in our current delirious state of being overcome with unbridled joy, missing the point ? Peter Murray Lija Are we missing the point? Flight MH17 – Who is to blame?