Last week was not any different from the ones before; another eventful week for many with the opening of schools after summer holidays and politicians, some more than others, making the news. The resignation of the AFM Commander Brigadier Martin Xuereb raised many questions, more so when an official statement said he will continue to serve Government in a similar position. This resignation is far from transparent and is raising many questions.
Our Prime Minister piloted a delegation to the United States, the highlight of which was his address to the 68th session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York. During their visit Dr Muscat and his delegation met leading world-wide personalities including US President Barack Obama and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, prime ministers and senior ministers from various countries, the benefit of which we should see in future unless these were just photo sessions.
Closer to home, Minister for Energy and the Conservation of Water Konrad Mizzi unexpectedly entered into a vortex. His wife has been head-hunted by Malta Enterprise to act as an investment envoy to Malta in Asia. This has caught the public’s attention and within hours Dr Mizzi was cornered by journalists eager to uncover a scoop. Rightly so, people ought to know about such an appointment on the principle of transparency, widely promoted by the PL prior to the election. Who took the decision to engage Mrs Mizzi and why was this not publicly announced but hushed-hushed raises many questions.
Economy Minister Chris Cardona, responsible for Malta Enterprise, quickly washed his hands and claimed that he had no idea how Mrs Liang Mizzi was employed, but in comradeship with his cabinet colleague, he expressed total confidence in whoever made the appointment. Like many others, I find Minister Cardona’s reply rather wishy-washy. No pun intended.
As if this was not a big enough mess, it was reported that Malta Enterprise Directors were not informed about the appointment of Mrs Mizzi either. Like us, they came to know of this through the press.
If for a moment one had to accept that the previous government used to act in a similar horrendous and haphazard manner, the PL had promised a different new transparent style of government. Those who were quick to show their face on billboards, address mass meetings and make testimonials must be looking for a total make-over to hide their identity now. It is gradually unfolding as to how irrational and rash they were in their judgement. Today they have to shoulder the huge responsibility when, out of spite, they encouraged others to follow in their footsteps.
People are waiting and will continue to do so until they have proper explanations from whoever was responsible. Irrespective of qualifications, capabilities and skills Mrs Mizzi possesses, a call for applications should have been issued. This could have saved all the embarrassment both to the Minister and Government, unless they wanted to appease either the minister or his wife.
It is now divulged that Mrs Mizzi will be operating from an office in Shanghai on a salary of €40,000, excluding other allowances and travelling costs. Whether this is nepotism or not I am not certain, but it is certainly a clear statement from our government. The promises of meritocracy and transparency before the election are forgotten. The new administration is adopting a bulldozer approach, the very same accusation the previous administration was vociferously slated for. Today many are already realising that some try to get away with murder even in broad daylight.
Fortunately not all news was of this ilk. Last week we were informed by a team of researchers led by Pierre Schembri Wismayer and Christina Fiott that their three year research has enough evidence that prickly pears may be used to alleviate the hardship of patients suffering from cancer. Prickly pears may possess substances that could contribute to curing cancer and help diabetes patients, according to the results of a study published by the University of Malta and a local biotech company. Due credit and recognition should be bestowed on these people who must have laboured for hours on end to give us such heartening findings.
While on the subject I take cue from an article penned by Stephen Calleja on the sister newspaper under the heading “Are we Beggars or Givers?” in which he made pertinent questions as to why we have grown into a nation of money collections, albeit for good and just causes. My thoughts on this have been going through my mind for some time, and dovetail in his writing.
Let us say that we stop collecting money, if even for a short time, for the many good causes we currently donate to. Both private and church institutions, that we are blessed with, would probably face insurmountable financial challenges to continue to give the sterling services they provide. In all probability we would end up with a large hole in our social safety net and people in these institutions will suffer as their quality of life will deteriorate. So basically, we are partly financially supporting the people within these institutions by collecting and making donations. Do we really need to watch the sufferings of others on our television screens before we pick up the phone and make a donation?
People living in institutions should and must be financially supported from public coffers and not from donations. The quality of life of these people should not depend on money collection. Over the years, unfortunately we have relegated solidarity to a media circus in its worse forms. We have become a nation in which we express solidarity through collections while keeping important organisations living on hand-to-mouth donations. In my opinion donations should be of benefit to the whole society rather than to meet the day to day requirements of these philanthropic organisations or the selected few. Funds collected by the Community Chest Fund should be used entirely for medical research which ultimately will assist the many who with their close relatives and friends unfortunately suffer sickness in silence.
Rather than through donations, the social security system should have enough elbow room to assess people, while an apolitical, independent, multi-disciplinary team should make recommendations to the responsible ministries to assist in whichever way is possible those who may have been hit by the unexpected.
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