Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/634260
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 31 JANUARY 2016 26 Letters News • 29 January 2006 THE National Council of Women has stated its opposition at allowing police- men to apprehend "indecently dressed women" found walking the streets of well known prostitution quarters. Government proposes allowing police to apprehend women who they believe might be loitering in streets or other places well known for prostitution if they are dressed in a "provocatively indecent manner". The women will be found guilty of loi- tering "without the need of proof of other external actions", according to a White Paper's proposals to render the adminis- tration of justice more efficient. Vice-president Grace Attard said the Council has made it clear to the govern- ment it would be very difficult to deter- mine what indecent dress constitutes. "It is not just a question of someone being provocative. It is a very subjective judge- ment, and obviously what might be inde- cent to you may not be indecent at all, considering today's fashion." Parliamentary Secretary for Justice Car- melo Mifsud Bonnici says allowing police to apprehend suspects without the need of proof of other action, will enable of- ficers to remove women from the streets who are not doing this work voluntarily. "When the proof of solicitation fails, it only serves to send these women back into the streets," Mifsud Bonnici said. It means police won't have to prove that any actual solicitation for sex occurred by an alleged prostitute. But critics say the subjective element will be a tricky legal point and that it will be left up to the ju- diciary to determine what is considered to be provocative or not. Attard however says the proposal may serve to send the trade even further un- derground, with traffickers and pimps devising new ways to keep the women out of sight. "It can make things worse, and make it harder for women to be tak- en off the street." The White Paper justifies its proposals due to the ambiguity that "while every- body condemns the exploitation and trafficking of prostitutes, there is a trend of tolerance towards the prostitution of certain women." Attard said the there was a dire need to create awareness in society of the impli- cations of trafficking. "It is a violation of human rights. The fact that there is lit- tle awareness of these crimes makes it all the more necessary for government to allocate the necessary funds and take the necessary measures to prevent and combat trafficking of human beings not only by organised criminal groups but also by individuals who seek to enrich themselves at the expense of desperate human beings in their attempt to seek a better life." 'Boarded out' to be reviewed in fight against fraud A total of 8,800 so-called "boarded out" receiving invalidity pensions will have their case reviewed in sweeping meas- ures to curb benefit fraud which will de- termine who is genuinely entitled to the pension. Amendments to the Social Security Act will abolish the lifelong invalidity pension, which totalled Lm16 million in 2005. The director of social security will now issue invalidity pensions for just a number of years before a review of each case. Invalidity pensions will also be issued in proportion to the extent of somebody's disability. The amounts receivable will be indicated in a series of impairment ta- bles, denoting the pension which will be issued according to the extent of some- body's disability. The medical panel, a body of 43 doctors set up to determine whether candidates were eligible for an invalidity pension, will also be scrapped. In 2005, the medi- cal panel cost the public purse Lm45,000 in sittings, transport costs, and other ex- penses. Government will appoint just two doc- tors to determine who is eligible for in- validity pension. They will also be inves- tigating their medical histories in order to determine claims of psychiatric prob- lems. Over 60 per cent of invalidity claim- ants were boarded out on the grounds of psychiatric problems. Over Lm16 million were paid in inva- lidity pensions to 8,800 people in 2005. The invalidity bill increased by 60 per cent since 2000. In an interview with MaltaToday, Min- ister for the Family and Social Solidar- ity Dolores Cristina said new measures were being contemplated to cut benefit fraud. These will include closer scrutiny of identity card information. The minis- ter said various social assistance benefits were being claimed by family members living under one roof by registering their names at different addresses. Women's council objects to 'indecent dress' proposal Blind faith in Jesus despite doubts 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. I am jealous of Mr Guillaum- ier's (MaltaToday, 17 January) easy access to correspondence space in the papers and his witty nutshell style of irrever- ent philosophy. To express my opinion, I re- quire a lot more space, which is not always conceded. What fol- lows, therefore, cannot possibly express fully my humble point of view of mother Teresa's let- ters's "confessions vis-a-vis her faith ". There are two kinds of ice: thin and thick. You can have enormous faith in thin ice, and you drown. You can have little faith in thick ice and it will hold you up just fine. It's not the strength of faith you can muster that matters up front. It may be weak, like a sesame seed but the faith must be in- vested in something solid. That's what mother Teresa manifestly did in dealing with doubt. Her only object of faith, Jesus, was solidly supported by the evidence of history, archae- ology, literature and experi- ence. Though having doubts in faith, she really did believe in the certainty that God would help her in her doubts. Her fundamental trust in Jesus progressively became stronger, more confident, surer and more steadfast because it had been refined through the purif ying fire of doubt. Ultimately despite obstacles, challenges and questions, her faith not only survived, it also thrived. Fully conscious that doubt and faith can co-exist, she did not have to fully resolve each and every obstacle between her and God, she lived an authentic faith in an overwhelming devo- tion to duty, to a heroic degree and "until it hurts". As the Church proclaims, God shows his potency at its mightiest exactly where there is weakness. (Martyr's Mass liturgy). Was she inspired by Christ's words? "As long as you did it for one of these, the least of my brethren, you did it for me." (Mat. 25:40) She took the ra- tional decision to put her trust in Him and held her peripheral objections in tension until the day when they were resolved by her very gargantuan humani- tarian work with the poor and sick. In her own words: "As to my heart, I belong entirely to the heart of Jesus." John Azzopardi Zabbar Muscat wrong to praise Falzon and Mallia Corruption is an old way of life, it's been here since man was cre- ated, and one has to be alert all the time about it. The authori- ties have to wake up and do their best to eradicate it, before it eradicates our nation entirely. Unfortunately two independ- ent watchdogs presented reports that do no honour to some of our representatives in Parlia- ment and Mr Saviour Balzan (24 January, 2016) tried to sugar- coat these acts by reminding us of the scandals under National- ist administrations, which he mentioned one by one. I have no need to be reminded of such, because I still remember everything: Tonio Fenech's trip on a private plane to see Arsenal play. Why did Mr Balzan not remind us of that blessed clock worth no more than €500 which a friend of the former minister donated to him? I remember how corruption was blared out, and it would have been so, had the clock not been so cheap. And what happened to these people? Nothing, they just change places in Parliament, moving from the front to the back, waiting to be called up again, as they will – but not all. The only one I know as a gentle- man, Dr Joe Cassar, was sold a used car at dirt cheap, and then had works worth a few thou- sands done at his home, and he resigned from parliament and the PN. It was wrong of the Prime Min- ister to praise Manuel Mallia and Michael Falzon last Sunday, after they were made to resign by Muscat himself; how can he tell the country he is 'sorry from the bottom of [his] heart' for them? Muscat is the prime minister first, not the leader of the party; he should take care of the national interest, not the party's. But no comments from Mr Bal- zan? I would be sorry if he loses credibility. Joseph Muscat Mosta Dr Falzon (left) and Dr Mallia, praised by the Prime Minister