Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/720024
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 28 AUGUST 2016 Today, August 28th, 2016 Victim Support Malta celebrates its 10th anniversary. Back in 2006, VSM was still in its embryonic stage. Initially a part of Mid Dlam Ghad Dawl, an NGO supporting prisoners and convicts, VSM was formally set up to address the needs of victims of crime, a target group which was lacking in support and assistance. A lot has changed since then. Our team has grown, our services have expanded and the number of clients has increased. VSM is currently composed of five em- ployed staff members and over 10 volunteers. Its services range from the provision of emotional support, to legal information and practical assistance for victims of crime. Since 2014 VSM has been running the 'Care for Victims of Sexual Assault' service (previously known as SART) in cooperation with the Ministry for Family and Social Soli- darity. The service provides victims of sexual assault and rape with round-the-clock emergency social work intervention at hospital or police stations, free psychological support, free legal representation, liaison with the police and hospital, and any other practical assistance, as required. In April this year, VSM launched Victim Support Online (VSO), an online service providing emotional support for victims via chat and email. VSM is the only NGO in Malta offering support to victims of all kinds of crime. Over the years, VSM has assisted victims of sexual assault, rape, domestic violence, theft, usury, and cybercrime, among others. It has also engaged in awareness-raising and advocacy, and has been involved in a variety of projects, including VS4Y (Victim Support 4 Youth), Fighting Elderly Abuse, Project VINE, Strengthen- ing Crime Prevention between EU Member States, and more recently, Together against Bullying. While we look back on our jour- ney and achievements with pride, we are also starkly aware that our organisation would have no reason to exist if crime and victimisa- tion weren't so widespread, and if victims were in receipt of adequate support. Although Directive 2012/29/EU, establishing minimum safeguards, assistance and protec- tion for victims of crime, represents a welcome development in the area of victim support, there still remain numerous lacunae. The directive was recently trans- posed into Maltese law through the Victims of Crime Act, yet victims and professionals alike still lack awareness about its content and implications. Victims continue to suffer secondary victimisation at the hands of criminal justice of- ficials, and for this reason are often reluctant to report to the police in the first place. Many of VSM's cli- ents have chosen not to report for fear of being misunderstood, lack of trust in the authorities, shame or other. In this scenario, VSM's work ap- pears to be necessary and valuable. We do not know what our organi- sation will look like 10 years from now, but we hope that we will be able to continue offering a much- needed service to all the people who approach us for help. For more information on Victim Support Malta or to make a dona- tion, go to www.victimsupport.org. mt (to make your contribution click on 'Make a donation' in bottom right corner); or like our Facebook Page: Victim Support Malta. Roberta Lepre, Victim Support Malta 26 Letters Labour MEP Joseph Muscat has asked the European Commission if it will consider looking into the procurement procedure in the choice of Verint, an Israeli firm which will be supplying the Malta Security Services with its unified legal interception system. The Malta Communications Author- ity is being sued for damages by rival bidder RCS, an Italian firm, which claims that the MCA's decision was illegal and discriminatory. RCS was informed on 29 December 2005 that its offer had been rejected and the contract assigned to Verint. The company was told by the MCA it could not appeal the decision due to a "dispensation" which exempted the contract from public procurement rules. The MCA has claimed the contract was issued by the Malta Security Ser- vice, which is which is accorded spe- cial powers to spend money without having to account for its expenditure. But the MCA only signed its memo- randum of understanding with the MSS a week after informing RCS of its decision, on 5 January 2006. RCS was informed in a meeting held with the MCA on 3 January 2006, that its offer had been the cheapest and was also compliant and sound, but that Verint's offer was "holistically superior". Muscat has also asked the Commis- sion to look into reports in various media, including Le Monde, on Ver- int's link to a major espionage investi- gation after the September 11 attacks. According to a report by Fox News, the Drug Enforcement Administration had interrogated some 60 Israeli mili- tary spies who were parading as "art students" in areas close to DEA field offices and secret areas. Some of the spies were working at Comverse, the parent company of Verint. Comverse supplies US law enforcement with its interception technology. RCS sales director Luca Crovato has presented a court affidavit claiming that a Verint upgrade sold to teleph- ony company Go Mobile, could have served as a reason why the Malta Se- curity Services opted for Verint, even though RCS's offer was the cheapest. Both the Security Services and Go Mobile already operate Verint's legal interception system. In his affidavit, Crovato expressed his surprise at being informed by the MCA that Verint had sold to Go Mobile an upgrade on their lawful interception system. "What would have happened had the tender been awarded to RCS rather than Verint? Go Mobile would have acquired a solution that was not compatible and would have caused a problem in creating the fund neces- sary to pay the tender issued by MCA," Crovato said in his affidavit. "I do not believe that the 'upgrade' sold to Go Mobile was to be simply dismissed once the tender was award- ed, but was to be 'reused by Verint'… By reusing an upgrade, Verint was able to, de facto, change the scope of the supply for the tender." 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. 27 August, 2006 Our country and its land – what future? I am a fervent follower of anything that happens daily on these beauti- ful islands of ours. Non-government organizations should be commended for defend- ing our national heritage and the general environment of our country. I am using these two terms "herit- age" and "environment" in their widest meaning possible. One needs also to look into the future, not by remaining dogmatic about tradition but by making use of intelligent cross-fertilization of ideas to give our country the direc- tion for our future generations to enjoy. I see the general feeling one reads about ad nauseam in the media as being too pessimistic, just like dogma religions. In my view, the discussion, if it is to be of any value for recent and long term future generations, should be a proper one devoid of emotions and hidden agendas. There is so much to improve around us than just criticising any- thing to do with the explosive term "Outside Development Zones"; as if the "rape of the countryside" has happened just in the recent decades. The truth is that social and economic progress has caused our workforce to abandon their traditional ties with the production of agricultural products and nobody today has the will, the time and the need to till the land as it had been the case in the not too distant past. I urge the NGOs to debate how stretches of private agricultural land can be put to better use for future generations without denying the right of the owners to enjoy the benefits of their rightfully owned property in the countryside. The second point I wish to bring awareness to is about high-rise buildings. The Department of Architecture of the University of Malta has made massive progress over the years to remain progressive and in line with what happens else- where in the world. One objective of this branch of our mecca of studies challenges the students to come up with creative ideas. The scope of it is of course to create a symbol of modern contemporary architec- tural design that should have made proud the present generation that we are, and a landmark for future Maltese generations. I am sure NGOs understand this message. It is with deep regrets to have to say that their pessimism is leading this country to remain backward. If a modern design is by a local, the design must be censored and heavily criticised. If the design is a by a foreigner, it becomes a building monument. NGOs should be more proactive and less destructive in their very important role to influ- ence "positively" local cultural and social development. Anthony Borg St Julian's I refer to your front-page article in the Sunday issue of your newspa- per (Gozo diocese, Dominicans and nuns invested €1.5 million in Fort Cambridge, 21 August, 2016) and wish to advise you that the information published is mislead- ing and incorrect. The investment that is being re- ferred to, occurred 10 years ago at a time when the said construction company planned building struc- tures to the same height levels as the then existing buildings in the area, and not the high-rise build- ings that are the current issue. That was a short-term investment which as you correctly mentioned already matured three years ago. I feel that in order to keep your readers better informed you could have clarified that these invest- ments are nothing to do with today's high-rise buildings issue. Victor Gusman Administrative Secretary, Diocese of Gozo Editorial Note: The investment in question, which related to financing bonds for GAP Developments, was earmarked for a 16-storey two-building apartment com- plex that was later 'increased' to 21 storeys while retaining the height of the original 16-storey plan (the individual f loor- heights were decreased). This in itself meant that the GAP project was a high-rise develop- ment. Gozo diocese's investment policy Victim Support Malta blows out candles for 10th birthday For the last 10 months I have been attending regularly at Sir Anthony Mamo Oncology Centre at Mater Dei Hospital. On 15 August, I needed to be conveyed to Emergency, and, from there, after a number of tests; I was admitted to Ward AU 2. I write to put on record my appreciation and gratitude for all the care I unfailingly received, and am still receiving, from all staff – be they the Consultant Oncologist or the Cleaner. The service, professionalism and the facilities are simply first rate. Well done and thank you to all the staff. You are a credit to the institution. Wilfred J. Borg Attard MEP asks Commission to look into Verint procurement procedure Appreciation for oncology centre staff at Mater Dei