Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/368911
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 24 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. The running expenses for main- taining staff and the Brussels House will be around Lm3,000 a day. This newspaper has also learned that the official list of staff working at the Brussels embassy which the government passed to the Euro- pean Commission contains at least 10 incorrect names out of the 31 submitted. News of the incorrect list, officially submitted by Malta's Per- manent Representation to the EU last May surfaced after MaltaToday reproduced the Commission's of- ficial list of Malta's embassy staff published on its website, following the government's refusal to divulge the names of individuals appointed to Brussels. Of the 31 employees listed on Richard Cachia Caruana's staff list, only 21 have been officially posted at the embassy so far. The other 10 include people who are still expecting to sign the contract of employment while others had actually turned down the contract following disagreements related to terms and conditions. A Department of Information statement sent to MaltaToday con- firms that the list "was forwarded by the Permanent Representation of Malta to the EU to the European Commission on 1 May 2004," so as to "ensure that communica- tion on the different policy areas between the EU and its institutions and the Permanent Representa- tion is channelled directly to the appropriate officer." The DOI said the list is "updated on a quarterly basis" although a disclaimer on the EU website says it is updated every week. When MaltaToday asked Cachia Caruana for a list of the staff at his embassy in Brussels last month, the DOI replied on his behalf: "It is regretted that in the circumstances, the amount of work involved to gather the information does not justify the request." The government's excuse turned out to be a veritable lie as the names had been drawn up and officially submitted to the EU more than two months earlier, even though it now transpires that the list was inaccurate. Far from channelling better infor- mation, the list, with its inaccura- cies, has created confusion among potential embassy officials awaiting their contracts. It has also meant that other European counterparts did not have any clear reference points for Malta in at least 10 differ- ent fields. Some of the people still awaiting the final contract contacted Malt- aToday to express their surprise at the fact that they were on the EU's official list when they had not yet been assigned the Brussels job. The DOI wrote that "a few of the attaches (Environment, Competi- tion, Agriculture, Legal Co-oper- ation and Education, Youth and Culture) appearing on the list did not actually take up the post in Brussels so "a second call for ap- plications for the post of Techni- cal Attaches was consequently published in the Malta Govern- ment Gazette and, in addition to other policy areas not previously advertised, also included the five policy areas indicated above." ... Meanwhile, the DOI has also confirmed that the recurrent expenditure for the Permanent Representation and the Em- bassy to Belgium will cost almost Lm3,000 daily. "Parliament approved the sum of Lm1,026,400 for the recurrent expenditure of the Permanent Representation and the Embassy to the Kingdom of Belgium," the DOI said. The government has still not declared how much it will be spending for Cachia Caruana's residence. Also, the government says it has not yet estimated the costs to install high-tech security systems, IT and telecommunica- tions infrastructure within the building, as well as personal security for Cachia Caruana. Cachia Caruana has so far declined to answer questions on whether government has any contractual obligations in the case of termination of his employment as Permanent Representative. Although Cachia Caruana's of- fice "operates on the same lines as Malta's other diplomatic missions around the world" according to DOI, the unelected Cabinet min- ister is paid over Lm2,000 more than other ambassadors. In fact, while ambassadors have a Scale 3 salary, receiving Lm11,329, DOI said that Cachia Caruana is some- how receiving a Scale 1 salary at Lm13,431, apart from a "represen- tation allowance" of Lm2,500. Almost half of the Lm18.6 mil- lion additional budget for this year will go for the nine-storey Brus- sels building in Rue Archimede, opposite the European Com- mission, chosen and pushed by Cachia Caruana himself. According to an investigation by The Times Cachia Caruana's choice was "by far the most expensive among the purchases made by the 10 new member states," with Malta's property costing almost three times as much as Poland's – the largest of the accession states. Zbibu Lane: MEPA's knight has a dull armour A proposed monstrosity in the last remaining vestige of clean air in San Gwann has taken the form of a five-storey building amidst a sea of two-storey houses. A darkening monster that will block sunlight, stifle the air, create additional traffic mayhem and gener- ally dampen the surroundings at the expense of some 400 families. The application made by the developer (more accurately specula- tor) stated, inter alia, that a 'dilapi- dated' farmhouse was to be brought down. This was, incredibly enough, 'approved/suggested/recommended/ accepted' by the MEPA case officer in his report. Let me regale readers with a bit of fantasy which only the likes of MEPA's cohorts can dream of. In the initial case officer's report, it was first stated that the farmhouse had vernacular architecture and had to be retained. A while later the ignoramuses at MEPA came up with the following absurd 'solutions' for this 200-year- old farmhouse: 1. Retain it intact and as is (note: as it indeed it should be); or 2. Dismantle it stone by stone and rebuild it next to another existing farmhouse (laughable… a paint-by-numbers job. Come on guys, who are you kidding?). Incidentally, there are two farmhouses. One is still lived in to date and apparently the devel- oper's efforts at buying this farm- house failed. It is the residence of an old established San Gwann family. So his building will have to go 'around' this; or 3. Dismantle both farmhouses (What? One of them is private property, nincompoops. What gives you the right to even state this? Ah! You did not check, did you?); or 4. Demolish (!) the 200-year-old farmhouse as it will now look out of place aside a 'modern' and 'kerreja' style ugly duckling building. Oh, and never mind that indeed there is still another one there... the one in which humans are still residing. Living and breathing human beings. Dear reader, have you fallen off laughing yet? Brilliant MEPA. That is real logic. Warped, illogical, astound- ingly silly reasoning. Proposing to demolish the private residence of an old couple still living in it. No wonder your "whole" report has more holes than Gruyere cheese. And don't get me started on the myriad other 'oversights' that have been scribbled in the report. Unex- plained archaeological finds, cart ruts, shelter that was 'missed' and later 'found'. You, Mr Chairman and MEPA, have been well and truly conned. The application and corresponding per- mit have been, in my modest opinion, granted under 'false pretences' – despite your being warned. The 200-year-old farmhouse is not dilapidated and here is the proof. Photos taken by me inside this farm- house. I went on the roof, and you do not stand on the roof of a so-called dilapidated farmhouse. Now will you put a stop to it? Now will you investigate? Will you stand up and be counted for the gentleman you are, Mr Chairman, and demand explanations? Revoke this permit. Restart the procedure, take into consideration all these 'strange' issues and perhaps you will one day have a monument in some square. MEPA permitting, of course. Stephen Saliba San Gwann The need to act at White Tower Bay I read with pleasure Mr Schembri's letter about the need to safeguard the dune remnants at White Tower Bay (ir-Ramla tat-Torri), which, as he rightly points out, represent the best such remnants on the island of Malta, being second only to those at Ramla l-Hamra in Gozo in terms of extent. Way back in 2001, as part of my un- dergraduate University thesis, I took the initiative of preserving the White Tower Bay dunes since I was shocked the first time I visited the site at seeing it being used as a car park and camping site during summer. I took the initiative of applying for funds with UNESCO and managed to obtain a small sum for Nature Trust to install a chain and link fence all around the dune. The fence was installed and subsequently repaired several times, over four successive summers along with the installation of educational signs on site, which were routinely vandalised, and hold- ing talks about the importance of the dune for the Mellieha community at the Primary School of Mellieha. The site was surveyed regularly, especially during weekends, and trespassers were routinely reported to MEPA. The dune remnants regenerated and recovered, but the elation was short-lived, since, once the funds and Nature Trust's involvement fizzled out, most of the chain-link fence was car- ried away, and parking on the dune itself is currently a common practice once again, unravelling years of painstaking conservation work. I have written to MEPA on numerous occa- sions about this sorry state of affairs, soliciting them to invest resources to safe- guard the site, to no avail. Ironically, White Tower Bay repre- sents the dune system which served as the last haunt of a species of mar- ram grass, which was bulldozed over, and thus completely extirpated from the islands, when the road meander- ing around the dune was opened way back in the 1980s. Seems like we have learned very little since then. Alan Deidun Via email Lm3,000 a day to run Malta House in Brussels Top story • 22 August 2004