Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/755517
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 27 NOVEMBER 2016 28 Letters Malta's local councils are facing up to hundreds of thousands in unpaid traffic fines, as an enormous backlog threatens the councils with greater cash f low problems. The Msida local council alone has Lm100,000 in traffic fines which remain uncollected, some even dating back five years, but the council is solely responsible for collecting the debts. And that involves the gargantuan task of having to send out letters to each defaulter, sometimes through the law courts, informing them of their dues. "In this sense, there might be a cash f low problem for certain councils. Proceeding through the courts would cost money, although a defaulter would then have to pay the court expenses incurred by the council. So the snag is cash f low for a council, and whether it has enough cash to recoup all those thousands in fines," councillor Mal- colm Mifsud, the president of the PN councillors' college says. The local enforcement system in fact transferred part of the police force's administrative work onto the councils. But the accumulated backlog of unpaid fines, is now clearly becoming a bur- den. The sole enforcement the councils can take recourse to is having to file civil action against defaulters, in some cases even filing a warrant. Even traffic fines issued by police of- ficers, are ultimately the responsibility of the locality in which the contraven- tion occurs – which leaves councils taking charge of getting people to pay. "The problem is effectively the backlog. Today anyone renewing their licence has to settle all their traffic fines. But before it seems many car licences were transferred to somebody else without paying the pending fines – a husband transferring their licence onto their wife so as not pay fines, for example," Kalkara mayor Michael Cohen says. It would appear that the loophole has generated part of the current backlog currently facing local councils. Cohen says a revision of the local enforce- ment system is required: "it means trying to end the discrepancy between councils which have a lot of cash at the end of the year and others who don't. It doesn't mean getting more money from the government or scrapping the wardens." Malcolm Mifsud says the huge back- log of unpaid traffic fines is certainly unfair for those who pay their dues promptly. "Somehow there are those who bypassed the system because in the past they had their licences renewed without paying their fines, be- fore the new system was introduced; or because a scrapped car has been dereg- istered yet. Otherwise there are those who are driving without a licence." A fair share of local councils end their financial year with thousands in debts yet to collect, usually from traf- fic fines and other dues. St Paul's Bay still had Lm170,470 to collect at the end of this year, with Qormi and Zab- bar close to Lm150,000 in debtors, and Mosta with Lm137,407. Councils struggling to collect unpaid traffic fines 26 November 2006 Health hazards of mobile phones Last May, the National Toxicology Programme (NTP) of the USA issued a preliminary report about a study that produced unexpected results on the issue of mobile phone safety. The study, conducted over a number of years, on the exposure of rodents to microwave radiation from mobile phones, is the largest of its kind and has cost 25 million dollars. The results caused quite a stir in the mobile phone world. Exposure of rats to long-term mobile phone radiation caused an increase in the incidence of malignant tumours in the brain and in the heart. The cancer types, glioma and schwannoma, are the same as those found in the brains of people who, according to some studies, use mobile phones for long periods of time. The study also found DNA damage in brain cells. Damage to DNA is the first step in the potential development of tumours. The results support the decision of the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) which in May 2011, classified wireless radiation as "possibly carcinogenic to humans". Following the issue of the NTP preliminary report, the American Academy of Pediatrics, an organi- zation of 66,000 pediatricians, reinforced its recommendation to parents to limit the use of mobile phones by children and teens. Children are known to be much more vulnerable to radiation ef- fects. Many scientists who have conducted research on microwave radiation have been warning that the current radiation safety limits being used in many countries, including Malta, are out of touch with reality and they are asking for a major revision to take into account recent findings. Their concerns are not only limited to mobile phones but also to other devices, which emit microwaves continuously even when not being used, such as wi-fi hubs and mo- bile phone base station antennas on roofs. It is evident that it is time that this health hazard is seriously tak- en into consideration and action is to be taken by the responsible authorities in Malta to protect the public, especially children, from excessive radiation exposure. Louis Gatt St Julian's 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. The draft Guidance for Pharma- cists on the safe supply of Lev- onorgestrel 1500mcg (Plan B) and Ulipristal Acetate 30mg (EllaOne) issued by the Medicines Authority cannot in fact be safe at all. How can a 1-, 2-, 3-, 4- or 5-day old embryo be safe when the guidelines talk of pregnancy, thus not recognising the first five days of the embryo's life? If a woman ovulated yesterday and had the pill today, how can the claim of the pill working only "before the ovum is released from the ovary" make sense? These guidelines refer to the WHO (World Health Organisation), which though being a glorious organisation in many areas, is in favour of abortion as it does not recognise the first five days of the embryo. Proper safety includes both the safety of the woman and that of the embryo. It is imperative that it is made clear to the public that these two pills are different. The Parliamentary Committee has already made it clear that EllaOne can prevent a living embryo from implanting itself in the uterus or even kill an embryo after implantation, so much so that EllaOne is efficient even 120 hours after it is taken (Parlamentary Committee Report Pg 7). On the other hand Plan B, if taken at a certain time before ovulation, can act as an anovulatory, which means that it prevents the ovary from releasing an egg and therefore is not abortifacient. Plan B, after appropriate testing, (such as a urine test on the woman to check whether she has ovulated or not), has been used in hospitals abroad which acknowledge that life starts from fertilisation. Thus, only Plan B with ovulation testing should be allowed. EllaOne is against our laws and should not be licensed – "Maltese laws determine that life starts with the fertilisation of the ovum. Thus, any product which terminates a pregnancy after fertilisation can be abortive." (Parliamentary Committee report, pg 8). Getting it right the morning after, for us means that women, especially those who end up victims of rape, are to be protected as much as possible but we cannot afford to have "second victims" – an innocent newly conceived embryo, through a chemical abortion. Martha Fitz, Marisa Gatt, Mariella Catania, Suzanne Vella (we are women and mothers who work in social, educational and youth fields, not members of an organisation) EllaOne and Plan B are not the same thing