Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/384358
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 21 SEPTEMBER 2014 22 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. It was a belated appeal albeit a welcoming one, that made by Prime Minister Gonzi when addressing the Party faithful during the Independence festivities on Monday. Consensus strikes a chord with the wishes of the major- ity of the electorate who daily, grow more frustrated with confrontational party politics and the effect it is having on their general well being. When the Prime Minister assumed office his call for a new way of doing politics was understood to mean the ushering in of consensus politics. Regrettably, his very first decision, the appointment of the new president was the very antithesis of consensus. Equally noteworthy is the missed opportunity of celebrat- ing independence as a national event together with the other political forces in the country and not downgrading it yet again to a solitary Nationalist Party feast. Had the offer of a national celebration been made, it would have given more credibility to the Prime Minister's call for political consen- sus. The Labour Party may choose to refuse the offer to tackle national problems together but in so doing it will only be adopting an inward-looking political strategy that at its very best can be described as short-sighted. As long as the offer for consensus is genuine and not one meant simply to shore up difficult decisions by banking on the support of the Opposition, the Labour Party may very well find that it is in its interest to co-operate. In four year's time, if Labour is elected to govern, it will be Prime Minister Alfred Sant that will have to face the music of much-needed reforms in key sectors of the country's economy and welfare system. It is time for both sides to show statesmanship. The financial plight of the country leaves little room to debate the necessity or otherwise of reaching consensus. It just has to happen. This is no longer an academic debate for political scientists. In the absence of a common programme, the country risks drawing to a halt with the deficit at Lm113 million in August of this year and national debt rising to Lm1.3 billion. We may sound alarmist but this newspaper has been advo- cating consensus on fundamental political issues as the key to progress, for months. Many opportunities have been lost but more will arise not least in the priority areas listed by the Prime Minister – the environment, pensions, tourism, ports and health – where drastic reforms need to be undertaken. Whatever the response he may get from the Opposition, the Prime Minister must soldier on. He must stay the course and introduce the necessary reforms even if this costs his party an electoral debacle. His place in history will long be remembered for having the guts to do just what needs to be done - placing nation before Party. On the environment it would be a mistake to reduce the problem solely to cleanliness. Strict adherence to the Struc- ture Plan by developers is required and Gonzi has to make sure that changes to draft local plans are not being made just to accommodate individual interests. He should stop focusing particularly on the need for a golf course and concentrate more on the need to control air pol- lution by proposing a radical overhaul of the public transport system within the wider context of a transport policy suit- able for Malta 2004. Cleaning up the country and harshening penalties for lit- ter louts is commendable and a necessity, but so should the upkeep and efficient use of this country's cultural treasures. On pension reform Gonzi must administer the necessary medicine by extending the retirement age and ensuring that persons who carry on working even after retirement age pay social security benefits. A more concerted effort to entice women to continue participating in the labour force is required and is a partial solution to the pensions problem. On tourism, government must carry on investing in the product with the same enthusiasm it spends cash on market- ing campaigns abroad. The situation at the ports has to be addressed head on – it is an important factor in making in- dustry and business more competitive. Monopolies, restric- tive work practices and laid back attitudes adopted by various entities that operate in the port have to be hacked at. On health, Gonzi must set a date for the opening of Mater Dei hospital. This white elephant is a haemorrhage on public finances. The Prime Minister is right to expect accountabil- ity for all expenses made and still to be made. The effectiveness of consensus politics was experienced when Malta set up its financial services sector, a sector that has since proved to be vital for Malta's economy. The road to recovery is a long one indeed but consensus, even if limited only to some aspects of reform, would ensure that changes are achieved earlier. Reaching consensus Editorial • September 26 2004 The Church in Malta is very alive The dirtiest industrial zone in Malta The hardy Scots? Hardly Father Mark Montebello, O.P. has recently been reported in your paper as foretelling that the Church (presumably in the Maltese Islands) is due to become extinct. Father Mark has thus sounded the trum- pet of a prophet of doom. Of course, his blog contains some holes. It transpires that the "Church" he refers to is the people of the cloth, not the fold who are baptized and believe in Jesus Christ, the Lord. Now he hap- pens to be a clergyman (religious) himself, and so is his brother-in- religion, the present Archbishop of Malta. It is not the community of the faithful, who constitute the Church, whose future looks so bleak to the Dominican priest. In fact, according to him, lay people should take over! Now, according to Father Mon- tebello, the Church is Malta is not transmitting joy and hope (I presume he refers to the Council document: Gaudium et Spes), nor passing on a message of happi- ness. Father Montebello would have us believe that (his) Church is moribund. Her days are counted, or so he surmises. The present Pope's personality and style of guiding the "flock" ooze joy. His written and spoken word is constantly harping on Gospel Joy (Evangelii Gaudium) and the Joy of being merciful and poor with the poor. My question is about the Church in Malta…and by "Church" here I refer to so many priests and religious, so many "works of mercy" as we used to refer to them in our childhood years and which Pope Benedict XVI, in his first and marvellous Encyclical Letter, "God is Love", instanced as characteristic activities of Charity-Love. I should like to single out: Id-Dar tal-Providenza, founded by Dun Mikiel Azzopardi, and still a living monument of hope to so many children, their families, and Mal- tese society. Mgr Victor Grech, and Caritas Malta, and its sister-branch in Gozo, The many homes for the elderly run by religious sisters and the Catholic Action, a safe haven for elderly people, the assistance, caring benefits, sustenance offered by the uniting dedication of Mgr Philip Calleja and Father Alfred Vella, and by JRS Malta. What about Radju Marija, created and directed by the Domincan Fri- ars, and Church schools, the MUSE- UM, the Catholic Action, the Cana movement, the Legion of Mary, the male and female religious, whose convents and/or churches are a hive of all sorts of activities, assistance in hospitals and rehabilitation centres, Fr Tagliaferro's centre in Paceville? All this and much more, besides the many hours priests spend in the confessionals or counselling people, just for philanthropic purposes. The Church in the Maltese Islands, through the indefatigable dedication, hard work and commit- ment of many priests and religious, is constantly, nay, continuously contributing to strengthen families, bring peace where it is wanting, inducing and encouraging hope. The generosity of the Maltese and Gozitans is proverbial and shows itself in often church-promoted or church assisted concrete aid for people in distress, marathons and other athletic/sporting activities for charitable purposes. There are then those hidden right hands, unknown to their left counterparts, who following many a churchman, high and low, push their sealed enve- lopes unobtrusively under many a door… But perhaps Father Montebello expects and dreams of spectacular gestures of hope and manifesta- tions of joy on the part of the ministerial Church, which could and despite my present ignorance do feature from time to time on the foundations of such Gospel joy, of which the various instances hinted at above are proof positive. I should like to end by pointing out so many groups of voluntary workers at home and abroad who are the order of the day and whose one aim is to spread the "joy and hope" they have received from "the Church" and for which they are ever so grateful. I am positive that Father Mark loves the Church that is in Malta, and that his somewhat imprudent and slapdash remarks about the Church are not ill meant. Dear Father Mark, as a former teacher of yours, allow me to suggest you show a fellow brother of your Order your writings before publicizing them. Fr Charles Delia Via email This is the main entrance to the Mosta Industrial Area, where hundreds of people are employed with the numerous factories which operate there. We have been complaining for years about the dirt and disgusting state that this area is kept in, or rather un-kept. We have made several complaints with the Local Council, who responded that this area does not fall under their jurisdiction, the health department, who told us they will pass on the complaint, to be quite honest I do not know to whom, Malta Enterprise, whom we had been told, dur- ing the previous administration, that the Industrial Zones fall under their remit as well as the Ministry, who are well aware of the terrible state this area is in. The skip in one of the photos has been there for years. Apparently this has been placed there by one of the factory owners for their own personal use, thus creating a disgusting environment and depriving any person from parking a vehicle in such an area where parking is scarce. A skip contractor, who happens to have a storage area, dumps several skips outside his own area, full of material, one on top of the other, and these are left lying there for months on end. The surrounding area has been turned into a junk yard, with the many dumped vehicles thrown all over the place, as well as a rat haven, with numerous large rats roaming around, during the peak of the day and night. Heavy investments have been made in these factories, which employ a large number of employees and it is shameful and totally unfair for the authorities to leave an industrial area in such a disgust- ing and unhealthy state. To add insult to injury, the road leading to our factory is still undone. During the winter, clients, local and overseas suppli- ers, as well as employees have to pass over mud and puddles to get to our premises, and have to put up with the dust during the summer. The attached photos should make the people aware of the situation we have to endure, only because the powers that be are not interested. Richard Pace Bonello Via email The time-worn image of the hardy Scot who never took anything lying down, for Braveheart lived in each and every one, and the spirit of the nation wasn't necessarily the bottled variety, took a batter- ing last Thursday, when for all his bravado Jock told the world that it just wasn't in him to cut adrift from Mama's apron strings in Whitehall. No one is suggesting that Jock is a chicken, for he belongs to a large flock of sheep, a flock of ewes to be precise. Maybe his penchant for haggis has something to do with it. If his culinary predilections leave little to be said for, his dress sense is a gobstopper. Could it be the case that men who slip into skirts, or whatever they call them – for a skirt is a skirt by any other name – must have very little to hide and a lot less to protect? Doesn't Jock need a jockstrap? Is that why Jock in a skirt is never out of kilter? John Genovese Birkirkara