Mater Dei Hospital is no longer a myth. It is no longer just plans and ideas being aired. Years of continual commitment, back-breaking effort and intense action from all those involved have given the desired result. Parliamentary Secretary Tonio Fenech’s financial team and the Health Ministry’s contributions together with the laborious work on the part of all involved have produced a work of art.
It’s no Picasso painting but it is definitely another Nationalist government success story. It is pleasing to the eye but practical and down to earth, meeting today’s demands. It will enable us to excel.
Mater Dei Hospital is no longer the subject of crossfire from the opposition. We have heard so much criticism, mostly from the leader of the Labour Party, with Dr Michael Farrugia turning out to be a devout and loyal critic in his leader’s footsteps. All their negative attitudes must have gone up in smoke the moment the Prime Minister, in his own right, uncovered the plaque in front of the hospital’s main entrance.
It is now a reality. On Friday 29 June, Skanska handed over the keys to the hospital to the government, to the Foundation for Medical Services that represented the government on the relative contracts. The opposition and its leader had to gulp down all their criticism. Many are convinced that the fuss they all made was a sure sign of sour grapes. If Dr Alfred Sant claims to be Prime Minister in waiting, how come he did not turn up over the weekend to see what he is about to inherit? Is he ashamed of his behaviour regarding the matter?
Once again the government has delivered and did so in excellence. Dr Gonzi has translated words into facts and the party’s promise to give Malta the best was once again fulfilled.
It is reported that during the following weekend, many more thousands visited the hospital. The 80,000 or so who found time to venture into the lobby of the new hospital by far exceeded the thousands who decided to go over to the sister island for the weekend.
Words of praise came from across the board. Dr Sant is reported to have said that were it for him, he would not have opened the hospital to the public. But then Dr Sant has been known to say many a fable. Obviously this time he had no decent criticism to make.
Was he lost for words? Why is this? Is it because he is unhappy at the fact that we have done really well and delivered? Last Monday, during question time in Parliament, he whined away that he was expecting the Prime Minister to make a statement regarding the opening of the new hospital. Is it possible that he did not read the weekend’s papers or at least glanced at the pictures?
This hospital is for us all. This is Malta par excellence.
Well, the Maltese nation, irrespective of its political beliefs, has nothing but praise for this project. This is no stillbirth. This is the starting block for us to achieve a health service that will be nothing short of state of the art. Thanks to the efforts by Health Minister Louis Deguara, we already find ourselves ranking in the top five in the world when it comes to public health. Now we have the means to make it to the top.
The building and its content alone will not be enough but, combined with the sterling service that our medics, doctors, surgeons, professors and nursing staff are known to be capable of delivering, we can make the grade. This we shall do. The second stage of the operation now kicks off. The cumbersome exercise of transferring the services from St Luke’s to Mater Dei has to take effect. May it be done causing the least inconvenience to both patients and staff.
It is true that delivery was somewhat late in coming. This is, in part, the fault of the party in opposition. The Opposition Leader tends to forget that in his heyday, when in government, some 11 years back, he had decided to double the number of hospital beds at the Tal-Qroqq Hospital. He chose to opt for a larger-sized hospital in spite of the fact that he had criticised the construction of this hospital ad nauseam prior to the 1996 election. But then, with him, any thing goes as long as it means getting votes.
But forget Sant. Think the Gonzi way. Our Prime Minister delivers; all in good time. He has, for the last four years, been delivering all that had been initiated by our previous Prime Minister Dr Eddie Fenech and much more. If you decided to sit down and think, compare and jot down where Malta left off in 1987 and where it stands today. One finds himself believing to be in a totally different country. But for the opposition, nothing good has come out of it.
Congratulations all around are due. May we all do our bit to keep Mater Dei in tip-top condition.
Tony Abela is parliamentary
secretary in the Office of the Prime Minister