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16 Letters maltatoday, SUNDAY, 27 DECEMBER 2015 16 Letters News • 25 December 2005 THE mortuary at the Gozo hospital is the source of consternation on the sis- ter island, as the bodies of five foreign- ers, believed to be immigrants who were crossing through the Mediterranean, have been kept in body bags at the mor- tuary for months on end pending a court decision to release them for burial. The bodies had been fished out of the sea, and remain unidentified. The decomposition of the bodies has been further aggravated due to a break- down in the refrigeration system of the mortuary. The smell at the mortuary has been described as "nauseating", and worms have set in into the bodies still locked inside their body bags. Problems with the refrigeration, sources said, worsened the situation to such an extent that worms can be seen creeping out of the refrigeration system itself. Gozo Minister Giovanna Debono has told MaltaToday she was aware of the problems with the refrigeration system but that necessary precautions had been taken straight away. "The problem concerns the order from the Courts to bury the bodies. I am in constant communication with the Com- missioner of Police, making pressure for these bodies to be released from the mortuary, but the Courts have still not decided," Debono said. The minister even spoke to her cabi- net colleague, parliamentary secretary in the Ministry for Home Affairs and Jus- tice Carmel Mifsud Bonnici to put pres- sure on the courts to issue the order for burial. "I don't know exactly what he has done, but I am sure he is doing his best," Debo- no said. "I am placing as much pressure as possible to get this order out to have the bodies buried." Carmel Mifsud Bonnici told MaltaTo- day however there was little he could do: "I told the Commissioner of Police to see that they collaborated as best as possible with the Gozo magistrate on the case, and they did. But now it is in the hands of Magistrate Paul Coppini, and I cannot force the hand of the magistrate." Mifsud Bonnici said it was up to the magistrate to compile the inquest re- port: "There is a backlog of some 1,500 inquests before Magistrate Paul Coppini, some of them going back 12 years. So it is up to him to complete the inquest and order the burial of the bodies. "From our end we are doing our utmost to reform the criminal court by cutting out inquests on energy theft next year, and also decrease the laborious process for the compilation of evidence." Lilli Gruber highlights "anomalous" Maltese media The situation of the Maltese media has been brought to the fore in a parlia- mentary question by Socialist MEP Lilli Gruber, the former RAI television jour- nalist. Gruber has asked the European Com- mission whether it was aware of the unique situation of TV broadcasting in Malta where the political parties and the Church own radio and television stations. "Together they dominate the audio and audiovisual media," Gruber said, refer- ring to an October 2002 survey showing Maltese spent 78 per cent of their radio listening time following a radio station owned by these institutions. The MEP has asked the Commission whether it intends taking action with the Maltese authorities to ensure the "anom- alous situation" is rectified so that other political parties, minorities and civil so- ciety are given the opportunity to voice their opinions on all Maltese TV media. Gruber highlighted Malta as a particu- lar case where the media sector has be- come more problematic due to conflicts of interest, where the board of the na- tional Broadcasting Authority is nomi- nated by the Prime Minister after con- sultation with the Opposition leader. Secretary-general of the European Green Party Arnold Cassola, a candidate to the European Parliament elections for Malta in 2003, said in a statement that the Maltese people "could never expect their representatives in the European Parlia- ment to speak up on such issue" since all five MEPs would be "sanctioned" by their respective political parties. "It is very important that a journalist of international repute like Lilli Gruber has had the foresight to speak up in the Eu- ropean Parliament about such an anom- alous TV media situation as the one in Malta," Cassola said. Gozo court delay turns morgue into macabre spectacle Remembering the Christmas spirit It was good of Pope Francis to denounce the culture of consumerism in his Christ- mas homily. For if he doesn't, who will? Some have taken the liberty of commenting that a man wearing gold and sitting on a gold throne should not be pontificating about the evils of capitalism. But I ask you, how is this even the point? The fact that such sneering individuals – who I'm sure must be feeling very clever in their cocoon of cynicism – feel the need to make such superficial com- ments, says a lot about the society we live in. Remembering all that's most important for our society to thrive is crucial during Christmas time. Not just for the obvious reasons, and not just for practising Catholics. It is because Christmastime is when we all get together and pay attention to our loved ones. So it shouldn't be too dif- ficult for most of us to expand that circle of compassion a little bit wider and think of all the people in the world as well. But this is not possible if all we're concerned about are material goods. The worst part of all this is that consumerism always makes you think you need more of it – that there is never a point when it's enough. We justify our pursuit of mon- ey in various ways. We will tell ourselves that we deserve it, or that we are shoring the funds up for the sake of our families and our future. But if we were to really take a long hard look at ourselves and our way of life, I'm sure that most of us will realise that we have more than we need to live comfort- ably enough, and if we find it difficult to make some neces- sary adjustments it's simply because we're not ready to part with some excessive comforts. Another reason why I believe Pope Francis's focus on consumerism is positive, is because it's something we can agree on (or disagree on!) without too much ideological fuss. Various non-religious people – and all due respect to them – may not be in line with the Church's teachings on same-sex marriage or con- traception, for example. But to lessen our annual quota of greed should be a message that transcends all such barriers and looks forward to the hope of a better and more equal world. I would also hate it if the Pope's message is misinter- preted as being some kind of 'lefty' propaganda: that the so- cialism of the Pope's upbring- ing is somehow inf luencing him in a negative – or as one Statesman may put it, 'absolut- ist' – way. This is because the facts speak for themselves: everyday we are inundated with images of and stories about communities who are impoverished due to indus- tralisation – and it doesn't take much to imagine such a set- ting to be conducive to other forms of "extremist" behaviour – and the facts behind the global recession in recent years bears out just how mistaken it is to "place our bets" on such a morally bankrupt system. Of course the economy is im- portant, and of course money makes the world go round. But we cannot forget that human beings deserve to be treated as more than just numbers, and that the pursuit of happi- ness and the pursuit of wealth do not necessarily go hand in hand. Pope Francis's message is ultimately a reminder of the challenges that we will con- tinue to face as a society. No matter your race or creed, the reliance on money affects us all somehow. And it is during this time of genuine emotion and solidarity that we should remember this most clearly. Damien Sant St Paul's Bay 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.