Last Saturday, we celebrated the 55th anniversary of the enactment by the Maltese Parliament of the Social Security Act.
It was in the year 1956, under a then Labour government, that this legislation was enacted and one can say that formally the welfare state was born. One has to say that before this year some schemes of assistance already existed; however, the milestone was reached when this piece of legislation made it through Parliament. Of course, on behalf of the Partit Laburista, I rejoice with what was accomplished in the past, primarily thanks to successive Labour governments. In celebrating this event, however, we cannot forget the present. Our wish is that we celebrate the achievements of the past to hope that the present and future will be better.
It is no news that today we are living in difficult times. The Maltese families have to struggle hard to earn a living and also to make ends meet. This is not only the fault of the economic or political situation elsewhere.
We have to look at what is happening locally and what measures the current government is taking. For sure, with fiscal measures and the energy bills, the government is contributing in no small way to the hardships of these families. For a number of families and individuals the social benefits are a must and they cannot cope if they do not receive this contribution from the state. I believe that a close examination is required to see whether the current benefits are suitable for these families and individuals.
However, I believe that we should aim that people who depend totally on social benefits, in particular, but even others who need the social benefits for their everyday life, should strive not to continue to be totally or partially dependent on these services. Society should help these people to make it and little by little be less dependent on these services. Of course if need be we should increase the help to those in need or otherwise think of new benefits that are required in today’s society.
I am not going to mention the whole range of benefits which were introduced along the years. However when one looks at the history of these benefits one will easily come to the conclusion that between 1972 and 1987 a lot was achieved. If the Partit Laburista is elected to govern this island state, our promise is to continue giving attention to this sector since we are aware of its importance for a better quality of life of a number of individuals and families.
Osama is dead
On a different subject, the current turmoil in the world is not only in the Mediterranean basin. There are a lot of places around the world where problems and war dominate the news. Especially after 11 September 2001, when the United States was attacked on its own land, a name that dominated the international scene was that of Osama Bin Laden. Since that time an international search for this man started. Last week we heard the news that Osama is dead. There are some sceptical people who still do not believe what was announced. However I have no reason to doubt that this happened and now the former al-Qaeda leader is dead.
The question that comes to my mind is will the world be a better place because this man is now dead. Seeing what is happening around us, especially in Libya, it does not seem so. Of course the death of Osama has nothing to do with other conflicts around the world. People who are loyal to Bin Laden have already promised to make the Americans pay for this and that they will have their revenge on them. From the outset therefore it transpires that his death is going to bring about more death and terror.
In this atmosphere another question comes to mind. What role should the international community play in this scenario? Is it in a position to take some sort of action or play a vital role to help the world be a better place? Because after all this is what counts. It is useless to have people like Osama Bin Laden killed if the result will be more bloodshed. I am sure that another person will follow in the steps of Bin Laden and the same action will be taken by him. Sincerely I do hope that this will not be the case and my hope is that all the people in the world will tolerate each other and live together as one as the famous song ‘We Are the World’ augured many years ago.
Carmelo Abela MP is Labour Main Spokesperson for Social Policy
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