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MT 3 April 2016

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maltatoday, SUNDAY, 3 APRIL 2016 26 Letters STUBBORN and obstinate even in his twi- light: former premier Dom Mintoff, whose brinkmanship marked his bolshie style on the world stage, refused to pay a Lm1,230 energy bill until acolyte Karmenu Mifsud Bonnici had to step in to pay the bill himself, against Mintoff's will, to have his water and energy supply reinstated. Mintoff's constitutional case against the Water Services Corporation, which sus- pended his water and electricity for just one day after refusing to pay a bill tallying over seven years, was refused after Mr Justice Geoffrey Valenzia ruled that Mintoff had recourse to an ordinary remedy and did not have to file a constitutional case. The corporation suspended its service on 2 November 2004, and supply was reinstat- ed after a day, after receiving payment for the seven-year bill. In his judgement, Valenzia said the Con- stitutional Court was not intended to be in- undated by unnecessary cases which could be determined by other courts. Mintoff was assisted in court by both Karmenu Mifsud Bonnici, and constitutional lawyer Profs Ian Refalo, dean of the Faculty of Laws. Mintoff claimed the suspension of his wa- ter and electricity by the WSC had been dis- criminatory, and breached his fundamental human rights. Judge Valenzia however said the suspen- sion of the service for one day could not have seriously endangered Mintoff's health, as alleged by the former PM himself. "Perit Mintoff himself brought about this situa- tion, by never paying the pending bills for the water and electricity he availed himself of." Valenzia ruled there was no breach of Mintoff's right to a fair trial, the respect for his private and family life, his protection from discrimination, or his peaceful enjoy- ment of his property. "Water and electricity are not the appli- cants' property," Valenzia said in his judge- ment. "In order to enjoy these utilities they also had the obligation to pay for them, or else contest the amount owed. In the mean- time, the property in question was still the applicants' and they could therefore still en- joy it." Mintoff's lawyers even appealed to a breach of Article 1 of the European Conven- tion of Human Rights, which is not a right in itself, but the introduction to the list of rights. Valenzia said the article "could not be invoked". Despite not having paid his bills since 1997, Mintoff did not acknowledge repeated letters to pay his Lm1,230.97 bill, nor did he formally contest the bills issued by the WSC. Mintoff's lengthy and emotional palaver in his first appearance before Judge Valenzia last year was stopped after the judge said he could submit his testimony in an affidavit. The reclusive former Labour Party leader and prime minister had told the judge he was "ill and supposed to be in bed", and that his health had been worsened by the tam- pering (tbaghbis) with his telephone, mail and computer. He even said the guards out- side The Olives, his residence in Tarxien, were accusing each other of sabotaging his car. In a paranoid plaint, Mintoff claimed in court he had disagreed with Malta's acces- sion to the European Union, and former prime minister Eddie Fenech Adami's deci- sion to become President of the Republic. He claimed that under such circumstanc- es, he could not accept "the Gieh ir-Re- pubblika from Fenech Adami", referring to Malta's foremost honour. "And that is why I have to insist with this honourable Court that I will not accept this medal, and until the circumstances in which I would have to accept it do not change, meaning that I would be able to accept it with a clear con- science, the medal has to remain under the custody of the Armed Forces of Malta." The government later confirmed Mint- off's award was not the honour he created in 1975, which Labour governments awarded to Libyan leader Muammar Ghaddafi and North Korean communist dictator Kim Il Sung. Mintoff had been actually automatically entitled as a former premier to membership of the Order in the grade of Companion of Honour. In 1990, the Chancellor of the Or- ders addressed a letter to Mintoff inform- ing him of the honour, but never received a reply and the insignia was retained by the Chancellor. In March 2004 Mintoff's enduring con- fidant Karmenu Mifsud Bonnici informed the head of the public service that Mintoff now wished to receive the insignia. The cita- tion was drawn up and signed on 15 March 2004 by the Prime Minister and President. According to the Department of Informa- tion however, various suggestions made through Mifsud Bonnici as to how the rela- tive decoration could be conferred were not accepted. KMB pays Mintoff's electricity bill… against his will! 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. Gay marriages: when anything is possible The civil unions law, despite giving almost all rights as marriage, had at least saved the name "marriage" as being understood as the unity in the diversity of man and woman. Calling it gay marriage instead of civil unions means reducing mar- riage to love and commitment. And although marriage involves love and commitment, it certainly in- volves more than that. This is why we are now witnessing cases stem- ming from different parts of the world, where three people are ask- ing to get married, like the recent 'Anna, Lucy, Ben' case in Australia. If same-sex couples can marry simply for love and commitment, why shouldn't three people who love each other and are committed to each other enjoy all the benefits of marriage? Once you deviate from man/woman marriage, anything is possible. The most concerning of all this is definitely the impact such decisions have on children. Granting gay marriage will not only allow gay adoption – which is already in place – but will also give these married people their own children by al- lowing them to use eggs and sperm from a donor, thereby removing the genetic link from the child. It is encouraging that as a society we have moved towards greater acceptance not only of gay people but also of recognising love in gay relationships. However, trampling on the needs of children by cutting them from their roots, cannot be tolerated. Stories of donor-con- ceived children, even those raised in loving families, reveal much hurt and emotional pain which is always very difficult to deal with, and very hard to heal. Suzanne Vella Zabbar News - 2 April, 2006 God's chemistry Gozo needs animal welfare facility Starting from the premise that we are surrounded by marvels and mysteries, I dare write that the world's great- est sufferers have produced the most shining examples of unconquerable faith. The greatest Christians in history seem to say that their suffer- ings ended up bringing them the closest to God. At the time of the death of God himself on the Cross, nobody saw how anything good could ever result from this tragedy. And yet God foresaw it as the best thing that could happen, not the worst, the opening of heaven to human beings. Mystery of mysteries! But Mr John Guil- laumier (Letters, Sunday 27 March 2016) is an agnostic. "Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and of the knowledge of God! How in- comprehensible are his judg- ments and how unsearchable his ways! For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counsellor?" How can anyone understand God's proselytisation?" (Romans 11: 33,34) If I quote the apostle Paul, "Suffer- ing produces perseverance, perseverance character, and character hope, he would be insensitive to the mes- sage – he still doesn't know faith even exists. Scripture describes God as a hidden God and you have to make an effort of faith to find him. That's why Christians con- centrate on one person, who in reality bore the burden of the sins of all humanity – Jesus Christ. Expert testi- mony constitutes compel- ling evidence that the risen Christ was who he claimed to be – the one and only Son of God. The bright intellect, inquis- itive mind and grave doubts and scepticism Mr Guil- laumier has embraced for so long should buckle under the weight of historical truth, constantly derided by him. John Azzopardi Zabbar I write in response to the article 'Delays in rescuing injured strays increasing Gozo animal deaths' ( MaltaToday, 27 March, 2016). Gozo SPCA, which is the volun- tary organisation referred to in the article, has been in existence for 40 years and I have been happy to be involved in the society for the last 30 years. I have held several posts over these years and am currently chairman of the society. I am pleased to see the problems of ani- mal welfare in Gozo highlighted in your pages but I would like to clarify some points which might otherwise mislead your readers. It is true that our rehoming cen- tre in Victoria is small and that we can only house a limited number of dogs to keep within the require- ments of the Animal Welfare Act 2002. However, our work in pick- ing up sick, injured and vulnerable dogs and cats from the streets of Gozo is quite separate from our centre-based work. It is misleading to suggest that only one person is picking up sick and injured ani- mals in Gozo. Our Animal Welfare Officer has been seconded to us from his government post since 2002 and a large part of his working day is spent responding to calls from the public about animals needing help. If our Animal Welfare Officer is unavailable then volunteers from the Society will go out to rescue an animal in danger. One of the vets on Gozo provides a 24-hour cover service and he also has attended to callouts. I would therefore dispute the statement in the article that 75% of injured animals in Gozo end up dying due to the lack of immediate care by a vet. A number of injured animals, particularly cats, will unfortunate- ly die due to the severity of their injuries but our Animal Welfare Officer responds as quickly as he can and if the animal is alive he takes it to the vet immediately. The support we receive from the vets in Gozo is superb and the care they provide to these animals in need is excellent. The cost of such emergency care is borne by Gozo SPCA despite an agreement reached last year that such costs would be met by the Animal Welfare Department. It is true that over the last three years the situation improved when the Animal Welfare Department seconded a Gozitan worker to be an Animal Welfare representa- tive on Gozo. This person was provided with an ambulance and with the services of one of the vets on Gozo. However, one person working alone and without the status of Animal Welfare Officer is not suf- ficient to meet the needs of animal welfare on Gozo. Clearly Gozo is covered by Animal Welfare Regulations in the same way as any other part of Malta and its citizens are entitled to expect the same services as those provided in the main island of Malta. This will not be a reality on the ground until a fully financed, equipped and staffed Animal Wel- fare facility is established in Gozo – a requirement which has been conveniently overlooked by suc- cessive national administrations. Animal welfare in Gozo cannot be ignored any longer and I look forward to the day when I read in your pages that such a facility is operating successfully in Gozo. Thank you once again for bring- ing this problem to light in your newspaper. Joseph Camilleri Chairperson Gozo SPCA

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