It has been another week loaded with a variety of back-to-back events that fill up my days till very late, and not excluding weekends. Aware and proud as I am of my duties as Parliamentary Secretary, like all other fellow Gozitans, I cannot ignore the additional, time-consuming efforts to cross over to carry out my duties at a national level. We Gozitans have to face that challenge each morning and evening – or, rather, each night. As a daily commuter myself and as a mother, I live this reality and I know how hard it is both for myself and my family, especially my children. This issue was in fact taken up for discussion at the well-attended conference held last weekend. It gave a wider insight into the urgent need of a permanent link between the islands.
Gozo’s indispensable link
For years, we have believed that improving accessibility to and from Gozo is a must. People who enjoy taking the ferry for a holiday or any other odd errand cannot fully appreciate the plight of hundreds of Gozitans who have to cross over daily, rain or shine, to the main island for work, study, health or any other purpose. As the Prime Minister said, it is now beyond doubt that the idea of having an underground tunnel is visualised as the most viable option by all concerned. Dr Muscat also stated that the government intends to move forward with a project linking the two islands. This can, however, be realised only after the pertinent geological, environmental, technical, social and financial studies are carried out.
I was particularly pleased to hear the Prime Minister reiterating my own proposal, to introduce a fast ferry service between the two islands – a remedy I had personally and insistently advocated when compiling Labour’s manifesto. This will eliminate the uncertainty of travel in adverse weather conditions until the permanent link issue is definite.
A long but timely debate
As scheduled, parliamentary work started with the much-publicised no-confidence motion raised by the Opposition. As expected, we listened to a marathon of well-rehearsed speeches, unfailingly peppered with negative remarks and totally arid of the faintest solutions to the country’s challenges. From a chorus of polyphonic levels by a power-hungry group, we were not given the least idea of how they would manage the country’s economy, the employment and all other national issues.
It was, however, a timely opportunity for the government side to spell out a thorough overview of Labour’s performance mid-way through its first legislature. We spoke of real facts and achievements. We hardly need to quote local and international statistics to prove the highly positive results so far, since families and society at large are directly benefitting from what government is succeeding to perform. People have grown used to an Opposition that is diametrically against stating such facts. If anything, Monday’s sitting confirmed its ability to cling to straws in order to camouflage or sideline the importance of excellent results – so vital for the people’s economic and social well-being.
The lengthy debate came to a rationally obvious conclusion – a compact team of people’s representatives confirming their full confidence in the country’s dynamic chief executive, Dr Joseph Muscat. Everyone’s question remains unanswered, however: What exactly was the purpose of tabling such a motion, when its own movers have declared that they do not intend – actually unable and unwilling – to govern? Destabilising the political serenity through apparent unrest can easily be detected. The end result, however, induces us to work harder in the coming two years and beyond.
A full two years ahead
In my own field, in fact, the week went ahead with further commitments. My parliamentary secretariat is supporting the Social Innovation Challenge – Enable and Engage – in collaboration with the University’s Edward Debono Institute and Mapfre Middlesea. It is a competition aimed at individuals or teams who have innovative ideas in the field of active ageing and disability.
Speaking at the launch, I stressed the importance of the consultative stages of any of our projects. The input of stakeholders is further enriched with ideas coming from tertiary students from various academic fields. In fact, by virtue of a memorandum of understanding between my secretariat and the University of Malta, we are providing ample space to University students who wish to undertake research work or practice in the fields of the elderly and persons with disabilities.
Valuable input through consultation
We are fully aware that the country needs more professional hands on deck to meet the ever-increasing demographic challenges. We have, in fact, launched various full- or part-time courses in specific sectors such as dementia, besides sponsoring other studies leading to a Master’s level. Such initiatives prove to be mutually beneficial: they enrich students with a wider knowledge and further potential for employability while providing us with feasible proposals or solutions to requirements in both sectors.
Our collaboration with the University of Malta is amply proven through the realisation of fully fledged dental clinics at SVP Long-term Care Facility, where we also have specialised clinics for ophthalmology, dermatology, a pace-maker clinic and, very soon, a pain clinic. This is all functioning through close collaboration between my parliamentary secretariat and the University’s Faculty of Medicine and the Medical School at Mater Dei Hospital. While meeting the various medical needs of our residents, the whole structure provides clinical practice and professional experience to medical or dental students or junior doctors and ancillary professions.
Similarly, student architects and civil engineers from the University’s respective faculty have helped in converting all soft areas into healthy and friendly environs. We also have a number of University of Malta Social Policy students carrying out valuable research at SVP, which adds solid knowledge to their studies and which also provides us with further insight into all that can be improved within the line of services we provide. It is therefore evident that the ongoing exercise in the fields of teaching and training is in itself very helpful for my secretariat in exploring further hands-on experience with innovative ideas for our planning and policy making. It is actually another form of horizontal consultation with student input that further induces us to focus closer on specific situations.
A healthy and fair society
Good quality of life is our main goal, both for the elderly and for people with disabilities. We all know that the greatest wealth is good health and it is certainly a major cause for the demographic changes with a fast-growing population of older people.
This was basically the theme at another event this past week, where I spoke of the importance of promoting a healthy lifestyle for all ages, including nutrition, diet and sports. It was an interesting opportunity to expand on the importance of safeguarding the health of our people, through the government’s interventions and promotions for all – including children and adults, the elderly and people with disabilities.
From my end, I cherish the success reached through the activity programme for the elderly BeActive – a pilot project that is fast becoming a permanent initiative to be extended to other areas. My initiative was to prompt Malta’s Special Olympics to have their own organisation in Gozo, and their screening and training programmes are already yielding good results. I was really proud of Maria Pia’s achievements in Cyprus, since she is the first Gozitan girl to participate in the Special Olympics on an international level.
The conference on nutrition and healthy lifestyles showed the need for supporting everyone’s aim of well-being, irrespective of old age or any impairment. I emphasise my government’s commitment to narrow the gap between those who can choose a healthy nutrition and those who cannot. It is an additional task for us to further promote a healthy and happy fair society.