As Stephen Calleja himself pointed out (TMIS, 5 July), he is not an expert in certain matters and yet he goes on to criticise people for not using the English language correctly. As someone who has been reading the Maltese papers for years now, I have never had a problem understanding anyone’s English comments. So they make a few grammatical errors – so what? It is to the credit of Maltese writers that their English is far better than that of many native British writers whose mangled English appears on UK newspaper blog comments. They still get their message across, which is more than I can do in Maltese! His patronising attempts to discredit dissenters closely resemble those of another Independent writer (she doesn’t deserve the moniker “journalist”) – it’s sad to see him stoop so low.

With regard to his comments on Ms Vella, I don’t even live in Malta and I seem to know more about the lady than he does. Perhaps it is a case of him not being able to understand the English language too well. I have read numerous statements made by Ms Vella in particular, and FAA in general, backing and giving support to certain developments.

I know for a fact because I’ve actually taken the trouble to read the various articles on the FAA site that clearly state they are not against development across the board.

What they are against, and what every right-thinking person in Malta should be against, are developments that go against the rules. They are against developments that take place ODZ. They are against the fact that an area that is and always has been ODZ until such time as a certain developer who supports the government or some architect who doesn’t mind bending the rules comes along, and then it suddenly gets changed to allow development to take place.

So, no, Ms Vella and FAA are not against all development, as Mr Calleja is suggesting, just the illegal ones that seem to flourish in Maltese society. These people care about the environment and the history of Malta and wish to ensure that as much of it as possible is preserved for future generations. The fact that Mr Calleja is obviously a supporter of the developmental rapists means that he is the troglodyte, not Ms Vella.

James A. Tyrrell

COUNTY ANTRIM

N. IRELAND