In her column in this newspaper, Marlene Farrugia was tempted, as I was, to write a light non-political piece about the beauty of life, and romanticize in poetic prose the wonders of a Maltese August holiday. Marlene soon found out that unfortunately we cannot afford to look away and be frivolous. Not in a time when the seriousness of what is going on around us does not permit us to do so.
Since Marlene wrote, one of the biggest scandals of this shameless government was announced by the government itself. Do you remember Konrad Mizzi’s absolutely “costed” power station? Do you remember how our breath was taken away when, in an absolutely unprecedented move, the government guaranteed a bank loan for the power station consortium to the tune of €88 million? Well, now we know that we had heard nothing yet.
The government waited till the eve of Santa Marija to announce that it was actually guaranteeing loans for €360 million. To save Muscat’s skin, the huge risk, which the free market itself is fearful of funding, is being passed onto all of us.
Of course, we will share none of the profits that will be made by the consortium if and when the power station begins to sell us energy, with prices fixed only for the first five years. After that, the country will be at the consortium's mercy.
Even without this big whopper of a scandal, however, there was already enough to disgust the most thick-skinned among us.
How can we look away when, last Sunday, Joseph Muscat, after claiming to be listening to the environmental outcry of so many Maltese, simply announced that his plan to build on pristine Zonqor still stands?
Or when one Minister after another, including the Prime Minister and Minister Carmelo Abela, deny written evidence which states that the shady dealings between our government and Gaffarena are far from over? How can we be frivolous when the state of our health services at Mater Dei Hospital and those for the elderly are a total mess?
Muscat and his inner circle try to distract us with their kite-flying tactics and reply to our criticism with lies.
As they sip their fancy cocktails on some luxurious boat for the Santa Marija weekend, we can ponder the Taghna Lkoll Hit Parade.
“Would I lie to you?” – whether that of the Eurythmics or Charles & Eddie – fits in perfectly. So would the Fleetwood Mac classic “Little lies”.
However there are many other songs which could easily make the top of the pops and remain in the charts for many weeks to come: “Lying Eyes” (the Eagles), “Fake Friends” (Joan Jetts & The Blackhearts) and “The Great Pretenders” (The Platters), for a start.
The Pods
Union Ħaddiema Maqghudin (UĦM) and the Association of Podiatrists of Malta (APM) this week announced that they have finally reached an agreement, with the health authorities, “on long standing issues pertaining to work practices and human resources within primary health care. In this regard UĦM is lifting all directives with immediate effect.”
I am very pleased that finally this issue is coming to an end (hopefully, permanently) for the good of all the patients. What I can’t understand is why did it take the health authorities so long?
The podiatrist (or pods), are to the feet what dentists are to the teeth. They are specialists who have been seeking professional recognition. The pods themselves produced a very detailed document with clear protocols and working practices which will finally be put into practice. Patients with severe conditions will be given more attention.
Government lost precious time and treated the podiatrist like glorified beauticians instead of dealing with them for what they really are: licensed, warranted professionals who can actually prescribe medication.
Rolling Stones
The recent incident at Delimara got me thinking. The rocks that came down into the sea, unfortunately injuring people, are very close to the site where Konrad Mizzi and Muscat have obsessively decided to place a floating gas storage for the new power station. In his comments to a section of the press, geologist Dr Peter Gatt diplomatically explained how this area is very fragile and how we are to expect similar incidents in the near and not so near future.
Dr Gatt could have told the journalists that he has been warning the authorities about this area for a very long time. Now that the rocks themselves have spoken, perhaps Mizzi and Muscat will listen. Or perhaps not.