You cannot act unless you have a base. That is why we call it ‘home sweet home’. Many public and voluntary institutions cannot operate efficiently because they do not have adequate premises.

This is why, this week, I did the rounds of places being set up for immediate use by officials and volunteers falling under the Secretariat of People with Disability and Active Aging.

I am pleased to say that a pioneering project is progressing satisfactorily. The new premises for the activities of the Guardianship Board will soon be ready to accommodate this essential public body and, for the first time, we will have a board for the specific purpose of deciding whether or not certain people should be placed under an order of guardianship.

This board will be able to give parents of children with disability the ability to register as legal guardians. It will guarantee that those with certain conditions will be placed under the guardianship of a qualified person. The law uses the umbrella expression “certain conditions”, because it needed to be more politically correct and include not only people with disability but also those who are incapable of looking after their own affairs.

This was an electoral promise we are seeing through. Guardianship orders have a restorative aspect. Guardians will be there to safeguard the personal and proprietary well-being of these people and act on their behalf as and when necessary. 

The Guardianship Board will be taking a load off the shoulders of the law courts and hopefully speed up procedures for those concerned. It will be better equipped to tailor guardianship orders to the needs and wishes of each individual in need of a legal guardian.

This is why the Guardianship Board needs adequate premises and we are providing them so it can start off on the right foot.

It is the same story with the Centre for the Visually Impaired. We visited the new premises that are currently being prepared and discussed with the Centre’s staff what is required to ensure the good service that those who visit the Centre deserve.

These new premises are to be called Outlook and will be replacing the old centre in Santa Venera where for years the users – both the visually impaired and the staff and helpers – have been complaining in vain about the lack of basic requirements. This is another one of our electoral promises: we will provide the place and guarantee the standards.

This is what we are discussing at the series of on-the-spot meetings at various Old People's Homes: standards. We began with Zammit Clapp Hospital where, I am pleased to say, some of the residents took an active interest in the discussions.

We are making it clear that before we establish national standards for residential homes for the elderly, the residents themselves must be given the opportunity to give their ideas. 

We also want the official minimum standards to be compiled by the residents for the residents, which is why I made a point of thanking Dr Miriam Azzopardi, head of the Directorate for Health Standards, and of course Fondazzjoni Xjuhija Malta, (Old Age Foundation) and all those who have participated in this exercise over the previous months.

One step at a time, we are making progress in the where and the how. There are those in this world who make a lot of promises and never deliver on them – or deliver badly. I would like to think that we are different. It is up to you to decide: talk is cheap but seeing is believing.

Dr Caruana is Parliamentary Secretary for the Rights of People with Disability and Active Aging