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maltatoday, SUNDAY, 17 SEPTEMBER 2017 Opinion 26 MALTA'S two political parties have been handed the handsome sum of Lm1,0922,602 over the last 14 years – all taxpayers' money which have never been accounted for, sourc- es confirmed with MaltaToday. Yesterday, party whips Joe Mizzi (MLP) and Mario Galea (MLP) said they had no problem with presenting audited state- ments of the cash they received from the budgetary vote for the House of Repre- sentatives, effectively confirming they had never been obliged to account for the use of this money. But both whips also confirmed the money had been used to finance party operations and even handed to the political party functionaries – confirming that part of the cash from the parliamentary vote was used for activities or operations not directly related to parliamentary work. Mario Galea also confirmed that part of the money used by the PN went towards the financing of operations at Informa – the party's research library, which is a pri- vate commercial company on its own merit. "The PN uses the money for its library research services, which is backed by Informa, to assist the parliamentary group," Galea said. Asked whether this was used for the payment of services as well as financing the company's operations, Galea said the money goes towards "strengthening the library's services". "The parliamentary group needs this company. It needs this library to back it for research, otherwise it would have to resort to another service. We also use the money to employ a part-time secretary for the parliamentary group." Joe Mizzi also confirmed he passed on the parliamentary money to the Labour party's finance officer, claiming he was not informed on how the money was effectively used for. "We have used it for conferences to cover parliamentary work in the Mediterranean, but I cannot keep this money and issue cheques, so I pass them on to the party cashier." Asked whether he had any guarantee whether this money was not being used for party operations other than assisting the parliamentary group, Mizzi said he was "sure it was being used as supposed." However, he had no knowledge of how the money was used by the party, and whether this was used to finance other party opera- tions. Since injecting more cash into the financ- ing of the parliamentary groups' work, no audited statement of accounts has ever been presented to the Speaker of the House. As Speaker in 1994, Law- rence Gonzi increased funds from Lm6,389 to Lm35,125 for MPs involved in work abroad in Brussels. The funds were later increased by a Labour government in 1997 to Lm99,998 to cover "political party work in the Mediterranean". The groups receive a payment every month, in ad- dition to other funds which cover MPs' expenditure on stationery and telecommu- nications. Both party whips said they had no problem in audit- ing the money. "Labour has absolutely no problem with the introduction of any measures taken that would further ensure a better account- ability and transparency over the allocation of such funds," Joe Mizzi said. Mario Galea also expressed agreement in getting the use of the funds audited. On Monday the Cabinet approved a pro- posal by Lawrence Gonzi for the govern- ment to enter discussions over the funding of political parties. His declaration was made following a letter from PN secretary- general Joe Saliba asking him to set up a parliamen- tary committee to draw up regulations. Saliba had earlier on opened up a Pandora's Box when stating that it was common knowledge that building contractors had financed political par- ties, less than a week after taking a Mediterranean cruise with card-carrying construction magnate Nazzareno Vassallo aboard his yacht. He later wrote a letter to the prime minister asking him to discuss party financing, effectively deflecting the heat over his statements. Party financing had been discussed within the Galdes Commission, set up by then Prime Minister Eddie Fenech Adami in 1995. But no agreement had been reached on the allowable limit of donations or on which amounts should be declared. mvella@mediatoday.com.mt Taxpayers' Lm1 million financed party operations 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. News – 19 September 2007 A new definition for 'vulnerable' An article carried in L-Orizzont of 5th August, regarding hope for the future for those who have had a brush or two with the law and therefor have a so called tainted conduct certificate as well as other vulnerable members of our society, deals with two praiseworthy new schemes which would help such persons to join the world of remu- nerative work. To this end, enormous steps in the right directions are being achieved through the introduc- tion by the Education Department of innumerable courses offered in crafts, skills, professions and careers. These courses are open to all who have even the slightest inclination to improve their lot in life. Therefore, as the Minister of Education, Evarist Bartolo, rightly states, the aim of these new schemes is to further enhance and complement the work already be- ing done to help those looking for work. The two schemes, the first of which is known as 'The Vaste Programme' and the second which is being handled by Jobsplus, have between them been allotted the sum of €17 million for this very purpose. This laudable initiative reflects a new and higher consciousness which totally understands that unless even the most vulnerable are uplifted, we, as a nation and ultimately as global citizens simply cannot progress further because those in dire need of our help will surely negatively impact the very air we breathe through their silent cries of despair. In order for these schemes to reap the best possible fruit, those responsible for its future struc- ture must first of all be aware of the massive gap which exists in the services offered to persons suffering from what I term as unseen vulnerability. As things actually stand at the moment, a rather negative vicious circle of procedures is implemented and these procedures are very rarely successful and even more rarely work long-term. Discharging from hospital the vulnerable suffering from any kind of addiction, time and time again and this before they are not even remotely healed, will simply engender more and more relapses. This is the actual picture at the moment. Instead of just 'appear- ing' to help these persons why not really come to their aid by creating a structure which will really help them by providing an adequately supervised community with all the necessary support and therapy, while at the same time providing productive work within the same community. There would also need to be a measure of 'controlled' free- dom as this whole idea is not about locking people up but rather pro- tecting them from those dangers society has imposed upon them and which they are too vulnerable to handle. Above all we must keep in mind that every failure in the life of a vulnerable person is a living reminder of what we, as members of our society, have failed, if not to do, certainly to achieve. I feel that I must also draw at- tention to the fact that existing drug and alcohol rehabilitation programmes, both Church and State, should seriously review their selective and archaic policies re- garding who is accepted into these programmes. Also worthy of seri- ous mention is the fact that locally, those who for some reason do not make it to a programme, should not keep being discharged from hospital before they are cured. The moral responsibility car- ried by those professionals who constantly do this repeatedly is enormous. This is why it is so crucial that the long-term, if not life, solution of the establishing of a supervised community with in- novative ideas and structures is set up as soon as possible. Caring indi- viduals interested in learning more details are welcome to connect. Marina Lowell Swieqi Complaints and action If Malta wants to win an Olym- pic Gold medal it should ask for "complaining" to be an Olympic sport. Catch a bus and you will hear how badly the driver is driving, how bad the road is, how bad… is. Buy a pastizz and you hear how under- or overcooked it is, the size, shape, filling. In fact everyone has an opinion on everything and everyone voices it, often loudly. Of course there is nothing wrong with that but when it comes to the really important things like politics, the environ- ment, human rights, etc it is not enough. My experience is that people happily complain to each other but never to the agencies or to the government and indeed I have been told time and time again, 'wait it'll change, don't complain' by so many people. This passivity however is why things don't change or at best change too slowly. Whoever wins the PN leadership, we know there will be an avalanche of complaints, yet how many peo- ple will not only join the party but be active in its sections to influence the leadership? It seems to someone who loves this Island but has a degree of objectivity that the people are the problem all too often. We must go beyond the complaints written in newspaper comments sections or the occasional angry letter to effect change: we must act. Today or tomorrow, think, if it makes you unhappy what are you going to do – not say – about it. As Churchill said "war war not jaw jaw". Lauren Salerno Marsaskala Church disasters A correspondent in a local newspaper ascribed "two miracles" to a church in Rabat which happened to be empty when a part of its roof collapsed during the night. This was, in fact, nothing more than a matter of chance. He seemed to forget the many occasions when devotees were crushed to death in church while they worshipped God. Only recently on the feast of the As- sumption in Madeira, 13 people were killed and 49 were injured when a giant oak tree fell on them during Mass while they were singing a hymn to the Virgin Mary. In 2016 in Nigeria, 160 people were killed when a church roof collapsed on them while they were worshipping God. The ultimate proof of the futility of faith took place in Portugal in 1755 when a catastrophic earthquake devas- tated Lisbon. Within 10 minutes, 23,000 buildings were destroyed, and 60,000 people perished. The earthquake began at 9.30 a.m. on All Saints' Day, when nearly all pious citizens were attending Mass. Neither God nor the saints saved the 30 churches that were destroyed and the thousands of worshippers that perished. John Guillaumier St Julian's Financing the political parties Source – House of Representatives Lm 1994 6,389 1995 35,125 1996 37,090 1997 99,998 1998 95,000 1999 95,000 2000 95,000 2001 95,000 2002 95,000 2003 95,000 2004 86,000 2005 86,000 2006 86,000 2007 86,000 TOTAL 1,092,602