Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/604914
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 22 NOVEMBER 2015 26 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. News • 20 November 2005 EU awards €565,000 contract to Nationalist party THE Nationalist Party has been awarded a major €565,000 (Lm244,000) contract by the EU for providing a daily press review to the Commission representation in Ta' Xbiex. The European Commission is however claiming there is no "situation of conflict of interest" in the fact that the company that will be carrying out the daily review is owned by the PN. The PN will effectively be paid Lm200 every day for a press review prepared by its in-house research bureau, which also provides the par- ty with its own press review every day. The contract for the press review was won by Media.Link Communications, which is owned by the PN. Deputy Prime Minister Tonio Borg, is both a nominal shareholder and a director of the company. But a spokesperson for the Commission's vice-president Margot Wallström, has insist- ed the Commission was aware that the con- tract had been concluded with a PN-owned company. "The fact that a tenderer was owned by a political party was not considered to be a situ- ation of conflict of interests as defined in the tender specifications," Mikolaj Dowgielewicz said. According to the service contract, contrac- tors have to "abstain from any contact likely to compromise his independence" and "take all necessary measures to prevent any situa- tion that could compromise the impartial and objective performance of the contract. Such conflict of interests could arise in particular as a result of… political or national affinity." Dowgielewicz said excluding Media.Link for this reason "was considered as unjusti- fied with respect to the public procurement regulations." The head of the representation of the Com- mission in Malta, Joanna Drake, said she had nothing to add to the Commission's reply: "it happened before my time and I have no com- ment to make," Drake, a former PN candidate to the European Parliament, said. Drake took over from former head of representation Ronald Gallimore in October 2005, just a month after the PN clinched the half-million euro contract. Commission spokesperson Dowgielewicz said Gallimore's involvement had been "very limited" and that "he was not involved at all in the proposition of the award made to the committee in Brussels which adopted the binding opinion on the award." But Dowgielewicz was unclear about what trust the Commission representation could enjoy with such close ties to a political party: "the important element for the Commission in public procurement is value for money for the European citizens… in the case of Media. Link Communications, we are happy they are able to provide the most cost-effective serv- ice for the Commission as they have for their other customers." Media.Link operates the Informa bureau which will be providing Drake's office with a daily review of the written and audiovisual press. The two contracts have netted the PN €235,000 and €330,000, spread over five years. Media.Link first won the audiovisual con- tract in July, in a competition which attracted three bidders. The press review contract was not awarded to any of the five bidders, "all of- fers being irregular or unacceptable." The company later also won the press re- view contract on the strength of a negotiated offer, in September, beating another bidder for the €235,000 contract. 26 The knot that must be unknotted We live in an age when the copy and paste method has become a convenient form of expression in all fields. Many consume their energies lifting ideas and finding solu- tions executed by others on the internet. In art such practice is abundant. The contemporary art scene is full of cliches and emulations while each artist wants us to believe that he is the authentic author. The public is often abused and treated like a fool because information is lacking. If one looks carefully at the submitted examples one should not find it difficult to identify the source of the 'knot' in Cas- tille square. Needless to say that similar sculptures are abundant everywhere because the knot is a cliché. When one considers that the commissioned artist has not ex- ecuted the marble piece himself, since he is no sculptor, the inevi- table question follows: "what has he executed?" Today we are all fascinated by the term con- ceptual art, which is any weird art form that is tagged with a pseudo intellectual blurb. Could it be that the artist is paid for providing such blurb so that we, ordinary citizens could be elevated to further intellectual heights. I am not of the opinion that our knowledge would rise higher than the rusty plinth after reading the blurb for the knot. It is a definite not. Paul Camilleri Valletta Be prepared It is nice to forget all worries and just relax and enjoy life. However, there is a limit to how long one can afford to do this as finally all bills have to be paid and one has to see that one is well prepared to meet current and future expenses. Unfortunately most Maltese, and especially the young genera- tion, are not aware enough of the fact that within a few years, when they become pensioners, it will be impossible for the government to distribute enough money in pen- sions for them to live decently, due to the fact that there will be too many pensioners and not enough contributors towards pensions. It is already very difficult to make ends meet for pensioners to maintain their standard of living. Wake up before it is too late and start thinking about your future. The only way you can look forward with hope of a better future is to ensure that you invest enough during your working age so that when you become a pensioner you have enough to supplement your pension to be able to keep up your living standards. The Malta Association of Small Shareholders is working hard to persuade people to save enough and invest wisely so that their investments will ensure a good standard of living, especially when they grow old and they are not able to work hard. Now is the time to become members of the Malta Association of Small Shareholders and start looking with confidence towards a bright future with peace of mind. All those interested to know more about the Malta Association of Small Shareholders can visit their website: www.mass.org Saviour Buttigieg Malta Association of Small Shareholders Bezzina's 'people's parliament' a winner It is most unfortunate that in Malta there is a significant dearth of men and women of the calibre of this superb social educator who is once again addressing the Maltese nation on a regular weekly basis on Smash TV. Emmy Bezzina's unfailing recipe keeps intelligent televi- sion viewers glued to their sets, using simple facts and logic, plus the proverbial balls to call a spade a spade whatever the subject under discussion. He is at once insightful and meticulous whenever he is explaining a particular situ- ation or scandal. TV viewers and telephone communicators, who are invited to contact Bez- zina during the programme, are normally left without any doubt where the wind might be blowing. I sincerely hope, together with disillusioned Maltese citizens, that Bezzina's 'Il- Parlament tal-Poplu' acts as a catalyst to make Malta a true democracy and a much better place for ordinary citizens to live in. Keep it up! Vladimir Cini Marsaxlokk