Justice and Home Affairs Minister Carmelo Mifsud Bonnici said yesterday that the Whistleblower Act is expected to be introduced shortly, possibly towards the end of the year or the beginning of next year.

Speaking at the end of yesterday morning’s parliamentary debate on the financial estimates of the Justice and Home Affairs Ministry, Dr Mifsud Bonnici said the Police Corps has been working very effectively, particularly since it is better equipped than ever before.

He quoted a number of achievements in law enforcement, such as the record drug hauls this year and an increase in the number of vehicle check points, for instance. The street value of the drugs found by the police last year was about E2.6 million, while this year this value went up to E4.7 million.

He said the police will soon be able to make use of a DNA analysis machine, as well as a more efficient machine for the analysis of fingerprints.

Dr Mifsud Bonnici also said the crime rate has been on the decrease; in fact it fell by 12 per cent over the past five years and 17 per cent over the past decade.

Among the new equipment the police can now make use of, the minister mentioned new vehicles, radio and new breathalyser machines.

Speaking about irregular migration, Dr Mifsud Bonnici pointed out that migrants started coming to Malta before we joined the EU. This year more EU funds are available and he also mentioned the European Pact on Immigration and Asylum, saying he was thankful that the pact was signed, despite the Labour Party’s criticism.

Apart from laying solid foundations for a common policy on migration and asylum, the pact includes the need to introduce a burden-sharing mechanism to reduce the difficulties faced by countries, such as Malta, who are experiencing pressure that is disproportionate to their size and resources.

A number of EU member states are now committing themselves to take in migrants, he said, adding that the number of immigrants in Malta has actually decreased.

As he went on to mention the Labour Party’s motion on irregular immigration, Dr Mifsud Bonnici said the impression given is that migrants are our enemies and that they are invaders.

Racism has increased because of the panic created, he said, adding that despite the huge migratory flow, government has still managed to keep the situation under control.

This year, said Dr Mifsud Bonnici, the government has also managed to strengthen cooperation with the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR).

“The PL’s 20 points are irrelevant, because they do not address the issue of migrants who do not deserve protection. You are not going to manage to solve the immigration problem with those 20 points,” he told the opposition, before going on to say that the Labour Party should stop criticising Libya because Malta has found collaboration from that end.

He said the Cabinet has now approved one agency for both open and closed centres for immigrants.

Michael Falzon, Labour’s main spokesman for home affairs and security, mentioned the employees of the Organisation for the Integration and Welfare of Asylum Seekers (OIWAS) and those of the Detention Services.

OIWAS employees’ collective agreement has not been concluded, he said, while the Detention Services employees are under enormous pressure and tension, he added.

“Just because Detention Services employees are on casual contracts, meaning they are entitled to practically no protection, they should not be treated badly.”

He said the same goes for the police, who should be treated with more dignity and respect, even though they do not have the right to strike. The opposition is ready to consider that the police have a representative organisation, said Dr Falzon.

The Labour MP brought up a number of other issues, including the recent find of two containers with fireworks that arrived illegally from China.

He passed on the information he received to Dr Mifsud Bonnici, saying that one of them was stored at the Civil Protection Department’s (CPD) premises in Corradino, just beneath a school.

“The other one was apparently sold to a commercial company. But how was it really bought?”

Commenting on this matter, Dr Mifsud Bonnici said the Labour MP was making a storm in a teacup, because the situation is not as alarming as he makes it seem.

The containers were both sealed, he said, and one of them was kept in Corradino for a short while until it is taken elsewhere. As for the second container, the fireworks were purchased by a band club and the whole procedure was perfectly legal.

The Labour MP brought up a number of other points, including the state of the vehicles of the Civil Protection Department and the Police Corps.

The CPD, he said, needs a good shake-up. He spoke about, among other things CPD employees who work normal daytime hours but get paid for shift hours. “This is a case of institutionalised corruption,” he said.

Dr Mifsud Bonnici, in yesterday’s closing speech, also brought up the issue of domestic violence, but he said its message did not seem to be getting across quite well.

Earlier in the session, Jose` Herrera, Labour’s main spokesman for justice, spoke about corruption, and Dr Mifsud Bonnici defended the government’s position in this regard, insisting it will always be totally against corruption.

On the Family Court, which was brought up by other speakers during yesterday’s session, the minister referred to the radical reform that had come into force in 2003. Among other things, he said, the reform ensured that children are much more protected in court.

Dr Herrera spoke about a number of issues related to the Law Courts, including the corruption tribunal, which he said only saw to five cases in two years.

He said certain magistrates and judges have been giving the judicial institution a bad reputation and insisted on the need to widen the concept of accountability in the law courts.

Nationalist MPs Edwin Vassallo and Franco Debono also contributed to yesterday’s debate. Mr Vassallo spoke specifically about the pain and difficulties faced by children in cases of separation.

He said it was important to find ways of reducing pain for children, and proposed that this issue be tackled on an inter-ministerial level.

He also suggested that the government introduces some form of legislation to protect unborn babies, and said the Social Affairs Committee, of which he is chairman, would be discussing the problem of abortion.

Quoting an EU report about families, he said the EU wants to promote a family-oriented culture.

Dr Debono, on his part, spoke about issues related to the Law Courts, insisting on the need that people undergoing a police interrogation be given the right to have a lawyer with them.

He also spoke about the need for the police to have a state-of-the-art forensic laboratory and about the situation of the Family Court.

“The situation there is far from rosy. Mediators, for instance, only spend 10 minutes trying to save a marriage from breaking up completely. We need to see what is really happening on the ground,” he said.

Dr Debono also proposed that judges’ and magistrates’ retirement age is increased, while the number of years of experience they have before becoming magistrates and judges should also be increased, he said.