We are all talking about the heat and our Secretariat for the Rights of People with Disability and Active Ageing has launched a campaign appealing to everyone who has friends or relatives who are elderly or have a disability to do whatever they can to protect their loved ones from the excessive heat. It is impossible to say too often that older people should not be exposed to direct sunlight during the peak hours from 11am to 4pm. Please make sure to keep those in your care well hydrated and protected from sunburn. This advice also applies to any worker at his/her place of work.

Unfortunately, I now need to make another appeal – of protest, this time, directed towards the Opposition. Following the setting up of the Guardianship Board and the structure required for it to operate, we were faced with baseless criticism for not doing so. We issued a press release about this achievement but apparently the Opposition was so concentrated on useless and futile criticism that it failed to note the press release that had been issued a good three days earlier. The Guardianship Law was promulgated by the previous administration after years of insistence from the Labour Party in Opposition and we also contributed strongly to the making of this law. Our government acknowledges all the good that was done in previous years and is prepared to build on this, but it is not a matter of who thought of it first that counts but who acted on it with positive results.

We are only doing our job and duty. The Opposition is more than welcome to collaborate with us, but work for the disabled and the elderly should never be used as a political punchball. These are matters of such importance that all of us, as a nation, should be involved, and the Opposition should be sufficiently mature to realise that the rights of those with a disability should never be the subject of petty partisan politics. It is true that the Secretariat for the Rights of People with Disability and Active Ageing hit the ground running when Labour was empowered to show its mettle and the Opposition has no choice but to do its elected duty and collaborate.

We are now asking the public for nominations of an active senior citizen of their choice for the annual Active Senior Citizen Award. You will notice we have changed the name of this award slightly by adding the word 'active' – because we wanted to modify it slightly. We are now focusing on the current activism of our older citizens, rather than acknowledging past achievements or levels of popularity – what we hope is a change for the better. Nominations close on 12 September and details are available from www.activeaging.gov.mt and nomination forms are available from our offices and those of local councils.

Currently, we are also discussing the standards required in homes for the elderly. This week we have continued our consultation meetings in care homes and are trying to cover as many homes as possible. So far we have held four such meetings, including one at Villa San Lawrenz in Gozo. It is very important that the residents of care homes are actively involved in these consultations because, ultimately, they are the beneficiaries of our services. I am strongly advocating active citizenship on the part of the elderly because, at the end of the day, an effective ageing strategy requires the active participation and involvement of older people themselves. The need for these standards is long overdue and, once in place, failure to meet these standards will not be tolerated because our older citizens deserve good quality services.

The fact that Gozo has an ageing population is why we had our first meeting there with the local mayors, as we considered this was the most effective way of reaching the grassroots. It was a very interesting meeting at which we discussed the ways in which we could collaborate in order to implement the active ageing and dementia strategies. I was impressed with the mayors’ keenness to address the needs of older residents in their respective localities and am quite sure that, once we start working with them, the difference will be felt immediately.

In the meantime, we will be meeting again for an informative weekend starting on 19 September with a seminar on the subject of dementia and on the 20 there will be an informative meeting regarding the services that are available for people with disability. Both of these events will be open to members of the public. The call for expressions of interest for the establishing of homes for the elderly in Gozo has now closed and we are now working to conclude this process and commence on the actual project itself.

We are also looking at another home in St Julian’s and architects are already working on the plans. For us, this is not a point of arrival but a point of departure. With the support of everyone, we intend leaving our mark on this section of our society so that its more vulnerable members will receive the help and support they have been promised and so truly deserve.