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MT 7 June 2015

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maltatoday, SUNDAY, 7 JUNE 2015 26 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. Letters The Mater Dei saga, the report and the police Poorly thought-out letters Permit me to say that in my opinion it seems to be escaping everybody's attention that the companies which supplied the alleged defective concrete for the construction of the Mater Dei Hospital acted under a legal frame- work of subcontracting to the prin- cipal building contractor, which in this case happens to be Skanska. This means that these contrac- tors, and all other contractors sup- plying whatever materials for the same project are answerable only to the principal contractor, Skan- ska. They have no other juridical relationship to any other party and they are not and cannot be held answerable to any other party, including the Maltese government. In legal terms, this means that whatever they have supplied and in whatever format can never be al- leged as being criminal or fraudu- lent unless their principal contrac- tor puts a claim accordingly. It also means that no authority in Malta, and including the Police, can pro- ceed against any of them directly for any damages and or criminal redress except under instigation of the aggrieved party which in this case means Skanska. Skanska is the only party that can open legal proceedings against them for any defective material and/or any fraudulent activity resulting in such defective works and Skanska is the only party that can refer the matter to the Police for their further action. It is therefore of no use sending a copy of the investigation report to the Police Commissioner and to the Attorney General's Office for their advice as to possible proceed- ings that can be taken against the perpetrators of this alleged crime and for the Opposition to insist on such a move. In my opinion this is all politically motivated and meant to win political points in the un- fortunate political match prevail- ing. Both the government and the opposition have enough lawyers in their ranks to understand and agree with the above. The only recourse for the govern- ment to recover damages is to initiate legal action against Skan- ska and then to be part as 'parte civile' in any resulting counter civil and criminal action that Skanska may eventually institute against the named contractors and this to cover its interest. All legal minds know with certainty, that the contract as it stands adequately covers the requi- sites that allow the government to be able to take action for structur- ally defective works. It is not pos- sible to delve into the legal niceties of this claim in such a short space, but again this point is somehow being possibly spun for political mileage and nothing else. Once more, a situation that should be of national concern has been turned into a political mudslinging match instead of the different parties joining forces and showing a common front to the as- sumed enemy, namely Skanska. Skanska will, of course, take note of this and will use this division in Maltese politics to its advantage. It has the financial clout to drag the problem into a never-ending legal battle knowing that it is fight- ing a divided enemy with limited resources. The above is based on material as commonly available in the local media and may stand to correction in the light of a more informative situation, though I honestly doubt that it will change anything to what has been stated. However, I will humbly submit to any correc- tions from any party who happens to be so enlightened. Frank Camilleri St Julian's I cannot see anyone sitting in a cell doing time behind bars over the oil trading scam. What must be the mother of scams for these islands, the plot has already begun to thicken so, has become so convoluted, that the Attorney General will soon find it easier to success- fully tail a bat in a blackout than to nail any of these prime specimens of an upstanding citizen. But the Mater Dei caper, may- be because it isn't the mother of all capers, should be a home run for the state prosecutor. No other case of this scale could have left such a long trail of fingerprints set in stone, and corroborated by such concrete evidence, leading to the villas of the perpetrators. It could lead them all the way to Zonqor point park, to ensure they are strung up from the highest tower crane or have their feet planted in a slab of cement and pushed out of a chopper over the Mediter- ranean. Joseph Genovese Birkirkara Mark Mifsud Bonnici com- plained (May 17) about the "poorly thought-out letters" against hunting published in MaltaToday. He himself wrote a poorly thought-out letter in which he resorted to name-calling and insults: "On reading 'Blasting birds from the sky', I cannot but laugh and attribute such writing either to a fool or to a person who has been confined to living in a box since birth." Mifsud Bonnici took the edi- tor of MaltaToday to task for "publishing such nonsensical letters" while being oblivious to his own juvenile, emotion- al-toned writing. He castigated the editor for "advocating a warped reason" by publishing a letter which condemned the killing of mi- gratory birds and which urged the boycotting of Malta for this reason. Hunters themselves advo- cate warped reasons for their mindless killing of migra- tory birds. As Henry David Thoreau wrote in his book Walden: "No humane being, past the thoughtless age of boyhood, will wantonly kill any creature which holds its life by the same tenure that he does." Mifsud Bonnici goes on to tell Sean Whyte, the writer of the letter, to "stop feeding garbage to certain obliging editors". If Mifsud Bonnici aspires to write properly thought- out letters, he should avoid emotionally charged language (such as calling other people's letters 'garbage'), name-calling and insults. He should limit himself to rational argument and neutral words. He does not help the hunting cause with his poorly thought- out letters. John Guillaumier St Julian's Jean Monnet, the French inspiration behind the European project once said that Europe would be made by crises and the solutions to the crises. There have been many storms but this storm promises to take Europe into unchartered waters. There can be little doubt that such a clear negative verdict from two of the founding members of the union cannot be taken lightly. The European project designed by the political class and the Brussels bureauc- racy is clearly facing a crisis. The message from the French and Dutch citizens is for a less formal Eu- rope with less emphasis on the Federal Europe. The electoral results suggest a widen- ing gap between the political class and the European citizen. This gap can only be narrowed by a clearer understanding of the needs of the citizens and society in general. The consequences of the vote are clear for it means slowing down the reforms necessary to make Europe a more com- petitive and viable economic reality. The popular verdict risks putting an end to these reforms and as a conse- quence endanger the whole sustainability of the social project. Europe is not just an economic bloc but most especially a social model. The way forward is to carry out the economic reforms, but surely the politi- cians have underestimated how distant they are from their electorate. The re- forms are more necessary in the light of severe pressure from the Tiger economy which threatens to undercut many of the expenses and salaries that cover the service and manufacturing industry in Europe. Furthermore, it is clear that the politi- cians have miscalculated the fears an enlarged Europe has had on European citizens. Enlargement will probably suf- fer as will the accession countries such as Malta. On the local level, the rejection of the Constitution has left a bad taste in all the political blocs. Alfred Sant's decision to embrace the Constitution is posi- tive, the way he went about it not. If Dr Sant faces an uphill battle convincing the delegates in the validity of accepting a doomed Constitution, similarly the Gonzi government faces a gargantuan task encouraging comprehension about Europe. After having sold Europe as a money basket, the realities of the EU are falling into place. The Maltese perception of Europe is no different to that of the French and Dutch voters and nothing should be taken for granted. On a purely egotistic note, Malta has lost the possibility of winning the sixth seat in the European parliament with the demise of the Constitution. The real message in the French and Dutch vote is that the citizen can never be taken for granted, that Brussels is too distant from the citizen, that national identity and singularity is not for sale. It also underlines that the necessity of explaining the importance of reforms re- quires far much better communication. It is an unfortunate time for Europe and for Malta too. Taking the citizen for granted Editorial • 05 June 2005

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