A few days ago your newspaper carried a letter (Labour’s perception of poverty, Louis Fenech, TMID 19 May) lambasting the government after seeing a person searching for some food in the garbage containers situated along the Ta Xbiex and Msida Yacht marina.
He seemed scandalised because in this day and age you still find lazy people who prefer to live in misery instead of picking some tools and do some work against a wage or salary. In a column long letter, the correspondent blamed the government because, according to him, this is the sorry state we’re living in because of the many austerity measures imposed on the people of Malta and Gozo.
He also said that our Islands are filled with people begging for necessities - all this because of our bad administration.
How unrealistic can some people be. Just for this correspondent’s information, such people are also seen begging for something to eat in rich countries. But this does not mean that that particular country is in such a miserable state.
When I was in the USA, I used to see similar lazy scroungers delving in garbage containers for pieces of pizza which were thrown away by other citizens. I also witnessed rows of paupers filing in front of convents for a daily bowl of soup. Is this because the USA is poor and because the government has introduced austerity measures? Or is it because some people in almost all countries prefer to be lazy and live on what is thrown away by others?
Your correspondent focused on this one person on the promenade. But conveniently he failed to notice the numerous luxurious cars and yachts, owned by the Maltese mostly, who come and go at the marina frequently. He failed to pick on the many women who accompany their partners in separate luxurious cars and park next to their yachts.
He also failed to say that nearly everyone in Malta and Gozo can apply for social benefits given by the government. But surely being one of those Labour gloomers and doomers, he gave the wrong picture because he only saw this lazy chap.
■ George Calleja
Sliema