From Mr N. Hamilton

Your columnist, Daphne Caruana Galizia, should really be more careful and check her facts before rushing into print as she did last Sunday. In her column she attacked Michelle Muscat, the wife of the leader of the Labour Party, stating that “(she) forced her way into the simple opening ceremony of a block of apartments in London, built to house the families of Maltese children receiving cancer treatment, bypassing the chairman of the foundation – the Prime Minister’s wife – and turning up with Super One cameras to invade the privacy of the children involved”.

This is nothing but spin at its very worst. DCG would have done well to verify her story with people on the Puttinu Cares committee who are, incidentally, rebutting her comments in a separate press release.

The following is the complete account of the facts, which can be verified with the third parties being mentioned. Rennie Zerafa, the PRO of the Puttinu Cares Foundation, had a meeting with me a few weeks ago in which he asked how my Saturday night TV show, Bla Agenda, could help raise funds to help the foundation pay back some of its loan with a local bank.

We decided together that my production team would film a TV special from Sutton on the occasion of the official opening of the three apartments. We agreed that politics should never be involved where sickness is concerned; in order to show the unity of the Maltese and Gozitan public we agreed that the Archbishop of Malta, together with the wives of the leaders of the two foremost political parties, should be invited to attend. Kate Gonzi was to unveil the commemorative plaque (which she did), while Archbishop Paul Cremona would say Mass and bless the apartments (which he did). Together with Michelle Muscat, they would then meet with the patients and their parents, and on the following day visit the Royal Marsden and Great Ormond Street Hospitals (which they also did).

So where, Ms Caruana Galizia, did Dr Joseph Muscat’s wife “force her way”? The One TV cameras for which I was responsible never “invaded the privacy of the children involved”. The children who were filmed were only shown with the express consent of their parents.

Incidentally, there was another camera from Net TV, which filmed all the above proceedings, but your columnist very conveniently decided to ignore this fact. Also, your columnist stated that the Prime Minister’s wife is the chairman of the foundation. I’m afraid she got this one wrong, too. Mrs Gonzi is not the chairman of the Puttinu Cares Foundation, but of the HSBC Cares for Children Fund, which happens to be an entirely different entity.

Finally, if any of your readers (or columnists) would like to offer financial aid to the Puttinu Cares Foundation, they are invited to watch the special Bla Agenda programme from Sutton on One TV between 8:45pm and 11:30pm on Saturday 29 November for more details on how to help this truly worthy cause. Perhaps Daphne Caruana Galizia would like to perform a good deed for a change, and be the first person to dig deep into her purse and help out. This would be much better than spitting out lies and hatred as she does continually via her articles and vile blog.

Norman Hamilton