Tonio Fenech asked: “On what basis is the government morally bound to return VAT on car registration? It’s enough that this VAT had been removed.”

Well, I’d like to give my two cents, worth by presenting a hypothetical situation: Imagine, Mr Fenech, that I robbed several banks and your house. Later, I give up my life of crime; I am a reformed character. Then you discover and have proof that I was the robber. Now, what would you do? Would you:

a) Do nothing, expect nothing based on the argument that I am no longer a thief

b) Do everything in your power to get what was unlawfully taken from you

I will present you with another situation, this time not hypothetical. In the beginning I had been employed as a teacher on a casual basis, in spite of having qualifications including an MA and teaching experience. The argument given for being employed on a casual basis was that I was a foreigner, and was thus given less than 30 per cent of what I really should have received. To me, this seemed discrimination. To make matters worse, when dual citizenship became law, the cover letter from the Office of Expatriates states that those like me “became Maltese citizens in September 1964” and “were deemed never to have ceased to be Maltese”.

Ergo, I was a Maltese when employed as a teacher and should have never been treated as otherwise. However, on presenting my case to the Department of Education, personally and through the help of the Ministry for Gozo believing that I was entitled to some form of compensation, I came up against a blank wall. The only answer I received from the department claimed that, contrary to what the government says, I was not a Maltese citizen and that all was done according to law, according to their legal adviser.

I have repeatedly asked where I can look up the law that states that the department, or anyone for that matter, has the right to pay someone less because he/she is a foreigner —that echoes the days when women were paid less than men. So far, Mr Fenech, I have received neither compensation nor an apology, or a convincing explanation — and I ask myself: is legal/illegal in parallel with moral/immoral?

I’d like an answer. Oh, and don’t forget the multiple-choice question above!

Joe Falzon

QALA