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maltatoday, SUNDAY, 1 MARCH 2015 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. Open letter to the new archbishop Hondoq application refusal desired More bus lanes will be making traffic jams worse Dear Friend, When you were appointed and con- secrated bishop I wrote you a public letter in which I prayed for you not to be another Curia administrator or a pompous celebrant in Cathe- drals, wearing nice clothes like those which Jesus compared to the kings in palaces ruling and suppressing people. In his ministry, Jesus was a preacher with the people. He was not found in the corridors of Ec- clesiastical Curias and Palaces of Power. Jesus was with the people and for the people. Jesus was feed- ing the sheep with the word of God. Jesus was with the sheep and for the sheep, to the point of giving His life. Dear Friend, you are inheriting a Church whose members, at least many of them, moved by the Holy Spirit, are really looking to grow up more and more in spirituality. Many of the members of the Body of Christ in Malta, both priests and laity, are trustworthy servants of the talents entrusted to them. ey are working all their abilities for the good of the whole body. Many members of the People of God are really experiencing great sacrifices to live up to the new commandment of Love given to us by our Master Jesus Christ. Dear Friend, to give a complete pic- ture, in my humble opinion, I have to say that those who in the Church are supposed to lead and give direc- tion, are stuck. ey are giving nei- ther direction nor motivation. From the part of its leadership the Church needs a great change in spirit, direc- tion and personal. Dear friend, I am really hoping that you will not be just one of the same. is has been happening for long now. And it is too much. To be sincere with you, as you always told me to be, you are already looked at by many as one who loves pomp- ous habits and ceremonies. As one loving to wear triumphal clothing which does not belong to the cruci- fied Christ whom Saint Paul, our father in faith, called as the only one true Christ. 1Cor1:22 While the Jews demand mira- cles and the Greeks look for wisdom, 23 we are preaching a crucified Christ: to the Jews an obstacle they cannot get over, to the gentiles foolishness, 24 but to those who have been called, whether they are Jews or Greeks, a Christ who is both the power of God and the wisdom of God. [Dear friend, take Pope Francis, who appionted you to be our shepherd, as your model and mentor. Everyone can see the fruit of this humble and strong man. His strength comes from his humbleness. Because filled by the Holy Spirit, he is very strong. So strong that he can humble and humilate himself like a little child. He is showing that the foolishness of God is stronger than the wisdom of the powerful. e strong and powerful are full of themsleves and they are afraid to be humble. ey love boasting and showing off to be popular. Mt11:25 At that time Jesus exclaimed, 'I bless you, Father, Lord of heaven and of earth, for hiding these things from the learned and the clever and re- vealing them to little children. 26 Yes, Father, for that is what it pleased you to do. Mary, our virgin mother, told us and taught us that Almighty God did great things with her because He looked upon the humiliation of his servant. Only the humble can be the servants of the Lord. Dear friend, Jesus is counting on you. e Church in Malta is count- ing on you. Malta is counting on you for spiritual light and direction. Give us your life in Love, modesty and humbleness. Jesus needs your best so that He can do the rest. Dun Gorg Dalli Madliena In January, the chairman of Mepa stated on RTK radio that work is continuing on the Develop- ment Planning Application Report (DPAR) for the Qala Creek project application, and that hopefully it should be put to the board for their final decision by April. It is now more than 12 years since the submission of the first application, and Moviment Har- sien Hondoq is looking forward to another recommended refusal from the DPAR. This can be added to the recom- mended refusals already made by Transport Malta, the Church Commission, Mepa's own Envi- ronmental Protection Directorate and Natural Heritage Panel, and numerous NGOs. Hopefully it shall be a total refusal and no villas or bungalows will be allowed. Many people have asked for this area to be returned to a national park and hopefully Mepa will listen to the cry of the public. We also wish to remind Mepa that 85% of the residents of Qala are against this project, and hopefully their voice will be listened to after all these years. Paul Buttigieg Moviment Harsien Hondoq In Malta we introduced bus lanes when our roads are either too small or too restricted for such purposes, but those who are giving the go ahead for "bus lanes" did not know or had not heard that in other countries they had found and declared them to be unfit. This happened in Belfast, Ireland, Liverpool, England and other countries too, where it was found they had exacerbated or created more traffic jams, and that is what so far has happened in Malta. Any sensible road designer would admit that the solution is elsewhere! If these are the cause of our traffic jams, then we must eliminate bus lanes, not just a few but all of them, not add more to make things even worse than they are. Our roads are limited in width or length, especially compared to those in other countries, so what could be good for others, would not be good for us. For example the bus lane cre- ated at the Ferries, Sliema and now even at the Strand, Gzira, are already causing traffic jams, yet the authorities have approved other bus lanes where there is just one lane left for other traffic. This is going to cause further confusion and delays. It is worth mentioning that the Irish and Liverpool councils decided to scrap bus lanes, they solved their problems otherwise. The new transport operator here, of Autobuses de León, recently stated on television that he intends to ask for more bus lanes, but did he realize that our roads are not capable of coping with more bus lanes when our roads are so limited, and more such lanes would be worsening the situation? The people will not blame this company, but the local authori- ties for lack of finding a better solution. The situation is also hurting sales in the business communities of Valletta, Sliema, Floriana and Hamrun if not else- where too, as people cannot do their usual shopping and other needs because of the delays and lack of parking facilities. Other countries have improved the situation by building flyovers and interception lanes above other lanes, creating under- ground tunnels and under- ground parking facilities close to city centers, making traffic flow faster and better. Cannot we do the same in Malta using EU funds? John Meli Ta' Xbiex With reference to the letter entitled "A distaster called Gozo!" published last Sunday, the Ministry for Gozo wishes to point out once again that the infrastruc- tural works being carried out during these last months at Independence and Sabina squares are the sole responsibil- ity of the Victoria Local Council. Marthese Attard Communications officer Ministry for Gozo Council works at Victoria The decision by the Nationalist Party not to contest the local elections in Zejtun and Marsa is politically short sighted and will have dire consequences on the party's long- term political interests. It smacks of abject cowardice. Surprisingly, it comes from the same party which proudly and so success- fully introduced local councils onto the local political landscape. It appears to be a knee-jerk reaction con- ditioned by the perceived likelihood of a bad mid-term electoral test. The repercussions of abstaining from the vote go far. The sig- nificant opinions in the media by Nationalist activists has drawn a wedge between the few persons taking decisions at the party central office and the core voter still emotionally linked to the Zejtun tal-Barrani incidents. The decision to withdraw candidates and cause the elections not be held was ill-ad- vised for a number of reasons. No political party worth its salt shies away from an electoral challenge. The PN's move will make it that more difficult for party activists to get the voter turnout in other districts being contested by the Nationalist party. It is also particularly of concern com- ing from a party which has insisted that po- litical parties should contest local elections and that has adamantly refused to pull out of contesting even in a situation where the Labour Party has repeatedly offered to with- draw if the Nationalist Party were to do the same. The decision belittles the democratic process. Democracy is all about voter choice and the withdrawal has left the citizens of Zejtun and Marsa – Labour, PN or with any other leaning - with no choice at all. Parties only decide not to contest where electoral rigging or gerrymandering is at stake which can hardly be the case here. The decision also de-motivates the candi- dates that showed a willingness to contest the Zejtun and Marsa localities. It certainly makes these candidates look stupid in the district, more so if proved that the candi- dates themselves did not know about the decision and where not consulted or as a minimum informed, prior to the decision being taken. It will make it all the more difficult to find the same or other candidates in three years time. The repercussions however of such a decision will be most felt on the emotional plain at grassroots level. Zejtun arouses high emotional responses from the average Nationalist. Nationalist voters cannot forget the thuggery of both Labour supporters and the police during the gas incidents at tal-Barrani. Zejtun in the mid-eighties was the Nationalists' most heroic moment. Retreat was not considered than. It should be even less on the cards today. The core group running the party must take note of the general confusion de- motivation and disbelief their decision has left among the grass roots. Significantly and for the first time, dissent is beginning to surface within the National- ist party. Ironically this may prove to be a very positive development as it will finally make the PN look like all modern parties, as a broad church with different currents of opinions that are expressed publicly. Although this certainly was not the inten- tion of the core group which, according to the Secretary General, took the 'intelligent' decision to retreat. The opinions publicly expressed by Frank Zammit a member of the party executive, Michael Mercieca a PN can- didate on the third electoral district, Marisa Micallef a former candidate and pro-PN columnist and Victor Ragonesi a former Sec- retary General of the party are significant. The party core strategy group would do well to take note. Their views are in synch with Nationalist public opinion and spot on. They are the voice of many Nationalists who fail to understand the strategic decision taken. The party would be foolish to dismiss their dissent as insignificant. The decision is inex- plicable save as an attempt to dilute a loom- ing electoral disaster or an attempt to foster voter apathy. Even if these were the reasons motivating the decision it remains a highly dangerous and short-sighted strategy. Would it not have been wiser to test ones strength at such a politically difficult moment? Would it not have been wiser to see if this poll tallies with the opinion polls of the political parties? Most of all would it not have been politically correct to inform the candidates and all members of the party executive of the decision taken prior to its implementation? It is debatable whether a decision with such far-reaching politi- cal consequences should have been taken privately by a restricted group. Here one is not simply talking about a strategic decision but about the future electoral fortunes of a political party. The decision should, as a minimum, have been debated within the party structures. Not surprisingly it is difficult to find a per- son outside party central office that agrees with the decision taken. Of Zejtun and all that Editorial • February 27 2005