Missed Opportunities

Some two weeks ago, I attended a conference “Dialogues in the Western Mediterranean – Regions & Civil Society toward decentralized cooperation and participating democracy”. This took place in Genoa, Italy and was organised by the Commissione Europa, Rapresntanza in Italia and the Reggione Liguria.

It took place in the renovated old harbour. It is a marvellous lesson of how to preserve a harbour while renovating it to have new uses. Its success can be easily seen by the fact that it is estimated that over 3.8 million visitors come to share this experience each year. The conference hall was located in the old cotton stores.

The first part of the conference was dedicated to the usual speeches including a video link with the Italian Foreign Minister Scotti. Most of the speakers came from Liguria region – a region viewed by many as highly unsympathetic to immigration. I must admit this surprised me at first, since immigration, though not in the spotlight of the conference, was surely to feature. In fact, this issue featured in the background throughout the whole conference.

But I was surprised with the sensitivity shown by speakers, mostly Italians, to immigration. They pointed out to the large number of Italians who immigrated both to the USA and to South America when Italy was facing economic hardship. This point was made for example, by Alessandro Repetto, President of the Genoa Province when he mentioned that his grandparents were immigrants in the USA.

The second point that surprised me was that Genoa looks at the Mediterranean Sea as the platform of expansion to its wealth through trade. This is in contrast to us, Maltese, who disregard the Mediterranean and look to Central Europe. We continually complain that we are an island surrounded by the sea and cut off from continental Europe whereas the Genoese look at the Mediterranean as an opportunity. If we were entrepreneurial like the Genoese, we would continually use our strategic position in the Mediterranean, our Mediterranean culture and our Semitic language to enhance our economic well-being especially nurturing the contacts with the other Mediterranean countries.

The third point was the fact that Genoa’s businessmen look at North Africa as the latest opportunity for them to expand. The same can be said to the Universita’ di Genoa which through collaboration with North African universities are attracting North African students to its campus. Again, this contrasts with what happens locally. Instead of looking at the North African market for opportunities by exploiting our relative advantage, we tend to look at the European markets where we face huge relative disadvantages.

Unfortunately, I attended the workshop regarding culture and education. This was one of the worst workshops I ever attended. It was not the organisers’ fault. It was the participants who created a sense of negativity which dominated the whole workshop. There was a speech by Professor Aziz, from the Mediterranean Observatory, who emphasised the need to coordinate the projects between the Europe and the North African countries as the resources were limited. One of the Tunisian delegates then objected to the fact that there was no Arabic translation and continued to put forward the name of an Italian girl as rapporteur instead of the one chosen by the organisers. The Chair said that he did not find any objection even though a rapporteur was already selected. From then on, the meeting degenerated rapidly with everyone speaking his piece and without any effort to relate it either to what was said by other people or to the subject. Two Italian girls were the most violent in their speeches as they were notoriously uncompromising and also provocative. On the other hand, one could also see that the priorities of the northern bank of the Mediterranean are totally different from those of the south. This is in regard to NGOs.

Those from the North Africa had two basic needs – peace and liberty. They want peace in the Middle East and liberty at home. They cannot understand the EU. On the one hand, the EU invites them for such meetings to get a dialogue going. They see these meetings as an effort to find congruencies and set up new relations which are reciprocally acceptable to both sides. Yet, they see that the political agenda of the EU countries as already set in two important respects. The EU supports Israel most probably because of geopolitical reasons and because of its anti-Zionist past. Thus they see the European interests as simply building a bridge for economic reasons. The EU is also interested in maintaining stability in North Africa and thus is supporting the governments including those which do not promote democracy. This is usually effective under the pretext of subsidiarity and tends to link the problem of democracy in these countries to Islam.

This last point was reflected in the concluding session where a Tunisian female NGO representative asserted (like many others) that the problem is not Islam. Islam is not violent, antidemocratic or repressive. It is many of the governments supported by the EU that are. To understand this point, one has to think of the Roman Catholic Church. It is undemocratic in its structure and nature but can it be accused of fermenting the Catholic/Orange split in Northern Ireland simply because it is so? Can the Catholic Church be accused, as Islam is, as being violent? The same point concerns democracy. Though it is an antidemocratic institution, it does not mean that where one finds lack of democracy this can be attributed to the Catholic Church.

Two other points that came out of the conference were the fact that the Italians are doing their best to integrate the immigrants especially the second generation immigrants. Some were asking whether the time has arrived to grant electoral rights to immigrants. The second generation of immigrants, whether legal or not, presents us with a big problem and shows our short-sightedness as Maltese. This problem will haunt us in the future as we’re doing nothing about it.

The second was that the main problem with immigration is not terrorism, religion or intolerance but gross mutual ignorance on both sides. I believe that this is also the main problem in Malta. We don’t know anything about these immigrants while they do not know anything about us. I know that I am generalising, as some NGOs are working with these illegal immigrants and running programmes which try to inform these immigrants about the ways Western society is structured and run. Unfortunately, these courses are being run for those with refugee status and are waiting their turn to leave Malta either to the United States or to other European countries. Thus the benefit will not be reaped by us but by others.

I was the only person from Malta. I’m sure that others were invited but did not attend. I believe that we’re missing out on most important things. It is easy and useless to criticize the EU for lack of sensitivity to the problems that immigration presents to our country. We need to ask some serious questions like - What are we doing to understand the roots of the problem we’re facing and also to bring forward initiatives to deal with these problems in a practical, humane way?

The last observation is that many Maltese are sensitive that many nations are being successful in taking most of North African market. We tend to envy them and yet do nothing. The way forward to exploit the benefits of this market is to take the plunge into this market, establish and nurture all types of contacts. We simply cannot continue to miss out at the opportunities!

Il-ħmar jikkmanda lil denbu

Is-saga tat-tariffi tad-dawl u l-ilma tidher li ma tista’ tispiċċa qatt. Jekk kien hemm xi ħaġa li ħawdet lil kul­ħadd – għax ħadd ma kien jaf fejn qie­għed – kienet din il-kwistjoni. Dan it-taħwid jidher li ma jista’ jispiċċa qatt.

L-aħħar żviluppi li kien hemm f’din it-taħwida jitfgħu dawl ġdid ta’ kif saru l-affarijiet. Żvilupp li kellna dan l-aħħar kien id-dħul fix-xena tar-Regolatur – l-Awtorità dwar ir-Riżorsi.

L-ew­wel, għal xhur sħaħ din kienet siekta – qisu dawk l-affarijiet li kienu għaddejjin ma kellhomx x’jaqsmu magħha. Wara l-MRA iddaħlet mill-Gvern stess meta l-PM bagħat lill-11-il unjin għandha, wara li dan kien qiegħed jużurpa l-awtorità tagħha għal xhur sħaħ.

Il-11-il unjin bdew jistaqsu lil din l-awtorità dettalji dwar kif il-Gvern wasal għat-tariffi l-ġodda. Biex iraqqgħu l-pannu bil-qara ħamra qabbdu lil kumpanija ta’ ’accountants’ biex tagħmel rapport. Ma kinitx sorpriża li din il-kumpanija qablet mal-kumpanija li kienet tqabbdet mill-Gvern għax it-tnejn huma kumpaniji tal-’accountants’. B’hekk, l-Awtorità qalet, il-kalkoli tat-tariffi li kien ikkalkula l-Gvern kienu tajbin.

Biss din il-bużżieqa mal-ewwel infaqgħet mill-11-il unjin għax dawn, megħjunin mill-ekonomista l-Professur Edward Scicluna, argumentaw li l-metodu jrid ikun differenti minn dak li jikkalkolaw l-’accountants’. Għal dan l-MRA ma kelliex risposta u wara taħditiet oħrajn mal-istess unjins kien jidher li l-Awtorità se tissuġġerixxi lill-Gvern biex dan ibiddel it-tariffi. Iżda lanqas kienu għaddew tliet sigħat wara li l-unjins ħabbru dan, li l-Awtorità ċaħdet li waslet għal dan il-ftehim. Kulħadd għandu moħħ biex jifhem x’seta’ ġara minn wara l-kwinti!



Konsultazzjoni

Hawn wasal l-aħħar żvilupp. L-Enemalta bagħtet numru ta’ principji fuq xiex bi ħsiebha tibbaża t-tariffi fil-futur.

L-Awtorità, minflok qabblet dawn il-principji mal-principji li suppost żviluppat biex tiffissa r-rati, reġgħet waqfet milli tiffissa rati ġodda bl-iskuza li hemm bżonn ta’ konsultazzjoni pubblika. Il-konsultazzjoni kien missa ilha li saret. Barra minhekk tista’ ssir indipendament mid-deċiżjonijiet li għandhom jittieħdu fuq it-tariffi.

Din is-sitwazzjoni tikxef ċerti affarijiet:

• Li l-MRA stess, wara dawn is-snin kollha mwaqqfa, għadha ma żvi­­lup­patx prinċipji biex tkun tista’ tirregola t-tariffi f’dan is-suq. Il-probabbiltà hi li la m’għandhiex prinċipji biex tibbaża t-tariffi għal dan is-suq, wisq inqas għandha għal swieq oħrajn. Jekk hu hekk, f’oqsma oħrajn bħal ma hu l-gas, il-konsumaturi, meta se jkollhom jiffaċċjaw monopolju privat minflok wieħed pubbliku, se jerġgħu jsibu regolatur impotenti;

• Li l-MRA qiegħda tagħmel il-konsul­taz­zjoni, issa wara li l-froġa diġà saret. Dan aktar qiegħed iqajjem suspetti li din il-konsultazzjoni hi waħda finta biex jintrebaħ iż-żmien u jkun hemm aktar direzzjoni mill-Gvern;

• Li l-MRA, wara dawn is-snin kollha minflok qiegħda tidderiġi s-suq hi, qiegħda titmexxa minn l-uniku operatur – il-Gvern, permezz tal-Enemalta. Dan ifisser li minflok ħallasna t-taxxi biex ikollna regolatur li jipproteġi l-interessi tagħna, ħallasna biex ir-regolatur iħares l-interessi tal-Gvern li ħatru;

• Li l-konsumaturi qegħdin jiffaċċjaw sitwazzjoni fejn m’għandhomx wisq għażla ta’ proposti għax dawn il-proposti ġejjin mill-uniku operatur u ma fihomx bilanċ. Li kien hemm principji oħrajn stabiliti, in-nies kien ikollhom xelta akbar ta’ għażliet.



Il-proposti tal-Enemalta

L-Enemalta (?!) iddefinixxit ir-rwol tar-Regolatur bħala wieħed li jara li l-Ene­malta ma tagħmilx profitti li mhux raġonevoli. Dan mhux ir-rwol tar-Regolatur. Bħal ma kiteb il-Profes­sur Scicluna, ir-rwol hu dak li tara li jkun hemm kompetizzjoni u t-tħaris tal-konsumaturi. Fejn ma hemmx kompetizzjoni trid tara li l-prezzijiet ikunu komparabbli ma’ dawk fejn hemm. Jekk l-MRA tadotta dan ir-rwol, ma tkun qiegħda tagħmel xejn għajr li tapprova l-inefficjenza li dawk li jmexxu l-Enemalta qatt ma ħadu ħsieb u tkun abbandunat ir-rwol proprja tagħha.

F’dan il-każ, aħjar ma jkollna l-ebda regolatur milli jkollna struttura li tagħti impressjoni li tkun qed tħares l-interessi tal-konsumaturi u fil-fatt ma tkun xejn għajr ‘rubber stamp’ ta’ dak li jrid il-Gvern per­mezz tal-Enemalta.

L-Enemalta ma tistax tagħmel telf. Naqblu, iżda dan isir billi tiżdied l-effiċjenza u mhux billi ngħollu l-kontijiet tan-nies. L-Enemalta trid tirkupra l-ispejjeż kollha. Jekk isir hekk, tkun qiegħda terġa’ tintuża l-formula preżenti. Il-prezz filwaqt li jrid jirifletti l-ispejjez, ma jistax jiddependi fuq­hom. Il-prezz irid ikun simili għall-prez­zijiet li tkun qiegħda tuża kumpa­ni­ja simili tal-Enemalta iżda li tkun qiegħda taħdem f’suq kompetittiv. Hu hawnekk li joħorġu l-ineffiċjenzi. Hu dan il-prezz li jrid jintuza biex l-Enemalta taħdem biex tnaqqas dawn l-ineffiċjenzi.

Dan il-prezz ikun qiegħed ineħħi l-ineffiċjenzi kollha. Bil-metodu preżen­ti hu impossibbli li tkun taf fejn huma l-ineffiċjenzi. Eżempju, il-prezz li bih jinxtara ż-żejt. Dan hu l-aħjar prezz li kien hemm jew li seta’ jinkiseb? Bil-metodu preżenti ta’ kif jin­ħad­mu t-tariffi, jinxtara kemm jinxtara, anki jekk min kien responsabbli ma mexiex tajjeb, il-konsumaturi se jkollhom iħallsu għalih. Dawn l-ineffiċjenzi moħbijin jittieħdu ukoll jekk il-prezz ikun dak li semmejt aktar ‘il fuq.

Biex jitfgħu dell ikrah fuq il-ħaddiema u l-GWU, issemma li dawk l-ineffiċenzi li jinħolqu minħabba ftehim kollettiv ma jkunux inkluzi. Hawn wieħed jistaqsi, minn meta ftehim kollettiv sar iwassal għal ineffiċjenzi. Ftehim kollettiv sura ta’ nies suppost li jwassal għal aktar produttività tal-ħaddiema filwaqt li jġib ġustizzja fuq il-post tax-xogħol. Jekk l-Enemalta tidħol fi ftehim kollettiv bħal dan, id-diriġenti tal-Enemalta jridu jġorru r-responsabbiltà għax qatt ma misshom iffirmaw ftehim kollettiv bħal dan.

Hemm il-principju li l-konsumaturi għandhom iħallsu għal dak l-ammont li huma jikkunsmaw. Prinċipju tajjeb iżda mhux kif qiegħed jitħaddem illum. Hemm żewġ raġunijiet. L-ew­wel għandek l-istima. Bis-sistema tal-istima dan mhux dejjem jiġri speċ­jal­ment jekk fiż-żmien li l-ammont ikun qiegħed jiġi stmat ikun hemm bidla fil-prezz. It-tieni, il-logħob bil-kontijiet hemm bżonn jinqata’ darba għal dejjem. Il-perjodi sti­pu­lati meta għandhom joħorgu l-kontijiet għandhom jinżammu. Il-kontijiet m’għandhomx jinħargu skond il-ka­len­darju politiku.



Bilanċ mal-konsumatur

Iżda biex ikun hemm ġustizzja, il-konsumatur għandu jiġi ggarantit li jingħata kumpens meta ma jingħatax servizz tajjeb jew meta ssir ħsara lill-konsumatur. L-MRA, u mhux l-Enemalta, trid tistabbilixxi standards ta’ kemm irid ikun il-qtugħ ta’ elettriku permessibbli matul sena u anki l-massimu ta’ qtugħ f’lokalità waħda. L-istess meta ssir ħsara lill-konsumaturi, l-MRA trid tistabbilixxi hi l-kriterji meta għandu jkun hemm kumpens.

F’każi bħal dawn irid jinstab mezz biex il-konsumaturi jkunu jistgħu jieħdu raġun b’mod imparzjali u b’ħeffa. Illum, l-Enemalta hi sew il-prosekutur u l-ġurija.

Dan il-mekkanizmu għandu ukoll jintuża meta jkun hemm xi kwistjoni dwar il-konsum. Mhux sew li l-konsumatur għandu jkun iffaċċjat mit-theddida li se jispiċċa mingħajr ser­-vizz meta jkollu kwistjoni dwar l-ammont. Għalhekk il-ħtiega ta’ mezz effettiv u mgħaġġel biex jiġi deċiż minn għandu raġun.

Tul dan iż-żmien għandu jkun hemm moratorju ta’ meta l-konsumaturi għandhom iħallsu, speċjalment meta l-ammont ikun kbir. Dawn il-kwistjonijiet jinqalgħu ħafna drabi minħabba ‘meters’ li ma jaħdmux jew ma jkunux qegħdin jaħdmu sew. Hu importanti sew għall-konsumatur u sew għall-Enemalta li kwistjonijiet bħal dawn jinqatgħu malajr kemm jista’ jkun.



Min qed imexxi lil min?

L-aħħar parti tal-lista li qiegħda tippro­poni l-Enemalta fil-fatt tiżvela min verament għandu l-poter li jidde­ċiedi. Dan għax l-Enemalta qiegħda tirriserva d-dritt li minħabba raġunijiet ta’ ġustizzja socjali jew ta’ interess nazzjonali tista’ ma timxix mal-prinċipji proposti minnha stess.

Dan minn meta l-Enemalta saret tiddeċiedi hi meta jidħlu prinċipji ta’ ġustizzja soċjali jew raġunijiet ta’ interess nazzjonali? Hawn joħrog ċar li l-id wara dawn il-proposti hi dik tal-Gvern.

Jekk dan hu hekk, ifisser dak li jemmnu ħafna – li r-regolaturi f’Malta huma daħka fil-wiċċ għax huma biss paraventu tal-Gvern. Hu r-regolatur li għandu jkollu d-dritt li jippermetti, għal żmien definit, li l-Enemalta ma tużax il-prinċipji stabbiliti mir-regolatur.

Dan għandu jsir wara li jkun hemm talba u raġunijiet mogħtijin li jkunu aċċettabbli. Ir-regolatur, min-naħa tiegħu, għandu jxandar din id-deċiżjoni u r-raġunijiet li wassluh jie­ħu din id-deċiżjoni u t-tul ta’ żmien.

Dan ma jnaqqas xejn mill-poteri tal-Gvern li jieħu d-deċiżjonijiet tiegħu. Dawn iżda għandhom ukoll jittieħdu quddiem il-Parlament biex jerġa’ jkun hemm skrutinju. Hekk jimxu l-affarijiet b’mod sura ta’ nies. B’dawn il-me­todi nkunu ukoll qegħdin insaħħu d-demokrazija għax nissalvagwardjaw il-kontabilità, it-trasparenza u li ħadd ma jkollu poter assolut.

L-Enemalta qiegħda tirriserva d-dritt li tiżviluppa principji ġodda u li se tavża lir-Regolatur bihom. Hu dmir tar-Regolatur li jiżviluppa prinċipji ġodda billi jkun sensittiv tar-riper­kussjonijiet tad-deċiżjonijiet tiegħu.

L-MRA ma tistax toqgħod ċiċċi bil-qiegħda u tistenna l-bajtra taqa’ f’ħalqha. Trid tqum mir-raqda li ilha fiha minn mindu twaqqfet, tieħu l-inizjattiva hi, u tara li l-istakeholders kollha jkollhom ’fair deal’. L-Enemalta tista’ tressaq proposti għal konsi­derazzjoni bħal ma jistgħu jagħmlu stakeholders oħrajn.



Kif nistgħu nimxu ’l quddiem?

Hemm numru ta’ affarijiet li hemm bżonn jirranġaw ruħhom. Fost dawn insibu dawn li ġejjin:

• Il-Gvern għandu jbiddel il-liġi tal-MRA biex din tiġi assigurata l-indipendenza tagħha. F’artiklu li deher f’it-Torċa xi xhur ilu, kont urejt xi nuqqasijiet fil-liġi li jorbtu dan ir-Regolatur mal-karru tal-Gvern. Barra dan għandu jkun hemm ċar li r-Regolatur għandu d-dmir li jħares id-drittijiet tal-konsumaturi.

Jekk dan ma jsirx, hu dmir tal-Membri Parlamentari Ewropej Maltin li jressqu lment formali lill-UE. Il-Kummissjoni Ewropea permezz tad-DG Kompetizzjoni tista’ tgħin ħafna. Naf li dan id-DG, ftit aktar minn sena ilu, beda jara kif ir-regolaturi fil-pajjiżi tal-UE qegħdin jaħdmu, peress li dawn huma t-tarka prinċipali f’dinja fejn is-suq hu l-bażi tal-ekonomija.

Tibdil fil-liġi biss mhu se jġib xejn ‘il quddiem. In-nies li jmexxu dawn ir-regolaturi huma l-qofol jekk ikollniex regolaturi sura ta’ nies jew pupazzi tal-gvern li poġġihom. Tajjeb li biex inpoġġu nies fuq dawn ir-regolaturi nużaw il-wegħda li kien għamel il-Partit Nazzjonalista qabel l-aħħar elezzjoni. Nemmen li jekk tintuża tajjeb din il-proposta, ikollna nies li jistgħu jassiguraw li l-konsumaturi għandhom ’fair deal’ filwaqt li tiżdied l-effiċjenza fl-Enemalta.

Li hemm bżonn huma nies li huma professjonisti – li minkejja l-politika tagħhom lesti li jagħmlu dmirhom. Irridu niftakru li l-konsumaturi huma sew Nazzjonalisti u sew Laburisti. Jekk ikun hemm xi ħaġa li tolqot ħażin lill-konsumaturi tkun qiegħda tolqot iż-żewġ naħat. Fuq kollox, il-prova ta’ kull regolatur hi waħda – jekk hux lest li jigdem l-id li titimgħu?!

Pass ieħor hu li r-regolaturi, f’dan il-kaz l-MRA, jibda joħroġ standards għall-Enemalta u entitajiet oħrajn li jaqgħu taħtu fuq diversi affarijiet.

Fil-kaz tal-Enemalta jrid jara kif se jiġu stabiliti l-prezzijiet kif semmejna aktar ‘il fuq. Il-metodu jrid ikun ċar u li jirrifletti l-prezzijiet tal-enerġija f’suq fejn hemm il-kompetizzjoni. Dan għandu jgħodd ukoll għal WSC. Issa hu ż-żmien li nagħmluh u mhux meta tinqala’ kwistjoni minħabba xi żieda kbira fil-prezzijiet. Hemm standards oħrajn, per eżempju, b’kemm hi obbligata l-WSC li taqta’ l-ħela ta’ ilma fis-sistema tad-distribuzzjoni tagħha. Hemm ħafna aktar standards li hemm bżonn jidħlu biex nassiguraw entitajiet li jaħdmu b’effiċjenza, filwaqt li jkun hemm ġustizzja mal-konsumaturi sew bħala konsumaturi diretti u anki ‘taxpayers’.

Hemm affarijiet oħrajn li hemm bżonn jidħlu fis-seħħ. Per eżempju, għaliex m’għandux ikun hemm rap­preżentanti tal-konsumaturi fuq il-bord tal-MRA? Hu b’hekk li jista’ jkun hemm aktar ħeġġa min-naħa tal-MRA biex tidba taħdem b’mod effiċjenti.

Il-Parlament, min-naħa tiegħu, irid jagħmel sehemu ukoll. Hemm bżonn li terġa’ tibda tiddaħħal il-prattika li min qiegħed imexxi dawn ir-regolaturi jagħti rendikont pubbliku anki quddiem il-Parlament. Dan għandu jkollu Kumitati tal-Kamra li jara dawn ir-regolaturi kif qegħdin jaħdmu. Sew ic-Chairman u sew ic-CEO għandhom jidhru quddiem dawn il-Kumitati biex jispjegaw u jwieġbu kif mexxew u jispjegaw il-programm tas-sena li jkun imiss. L-istess għand­hom jidhru n-nies li qegħdin imexxu dawn l-entitajiet tal-Gvern. Ma jistax ikun li min qed imexxi ikun biss kontabbli lejn il-Ministru responsabbli. Irid ikun kontabbli u trasparenti quddiem ir-rapprezentanti tat-‘taxpayers’.

L-aġenda ta’ hawn fuq la hi qasira u lanqas faċli. Iżda hemm bżonn li nibdew biex forsi xi darba naslu. Hemm bżonn l-isforz tal-istakeholders kollha. Sforz biex intejbu l-affarijiet b’mod ippjanat u sistematiku. Irridu nif­hmu li r-rwol tal-istakeholders hu wieħed kontinwu biex intejbu l-affarijiet u mhux biex jispjegaw lin-nies li d-deċizjonijiet li ttieħdu kienu tajbin.

J’Alla li minn din is-saga u froġa tal-kontijiet tad-dawl u l-ilma joħroġ xi ħaġa tal-ġid sew għall-konsumaturi ta’ dawn is-servizzi u sew għall-ażjendi u l-ħaddiema tagħhom. Biex isir dan hemm bżonn li dan ir-Regolatur jibda jmexxi u mhux jitmexxa minn ħaddieħor.

Published in l-Orizzont of the 10th March 2009

B’sens ta’ solidarjetà

Jien nemmen li l-Awtoritajiet f’pajjiżna għandhom rwol importanti. Dan għax is-sistema li tintuża fin-negozji hi s-suq. Id-Dipartiment tal-Konsumaturi hu wieħed minn dawn ir-regolaturi.

Mhux l-ewwel darba li kkritikajt dan id-dipartiment għax nemmen li jrid jieħu rwol aktar dinamiku u proattiv. Bħalma dejjem għidt, nemmen li d-difett qiegħed fit-tmexxija u mhux fil-ħaddiema.

Għalhekk, għandi rispett kbir lejn il-ħaddiema ta’ sew din l-awtorità u sew ta’ awtoritajiet oħrajn. Hu għalhekk li nixtieq nuri s-solidarjetà tiegħi ma’ dawn il-ħaddiema.

Hu għalhekk li bqajt skantat li minkejja li hemm kritika sħiħa fil-pajjiż rigward dawn l-awtoritajiet għax mhumiex jaqdu dmirhom, issa għax dawn l-uffiċjali kienu qegħdin jaqdu dmirhom sfaw attakkati. Iżda l-agħar parti hi li l-qorti minflok tat tagħlima lil min jattakka uffiċjal pubbliku waqt il-qadi ta’ dmiru, illiberatu b’kundizzjoni li ma jagħmilx reat ieħor. Il-messaġġ li ħareġ lill-pubbliku kien wieħed ċar – li dan it-tip ta’ reat ma kienx wieħed serju.

Allura kif jista’ jkun hemm ħeġġa min-naħa tal-ħaddiema biex dawn jaqdu dmirhom? Jekk il-poplu jrid jieħu ta’ kemm qed iħallas taxxi, irridu nassiguraw li dawn l-uffiċjali jagħmlu dmirhom b’mod ġust, trasparenti u kontabbli, iżda fl-istess ħin b’moħħom mistrieħ li għandhom l-appoġġ ta’ kulħadd, inklużi istituzzjonijiet bħall-Qorti.

Letter published in l-Orizzont, 24 February 2009

A tribute to my mother, Virginia – as I remember her

Few people knew her as she never fetched the spotlight. Yet even those who never spoke to her respected her. She was considered as a reserved person as she practised the principle ‘Habib kulhadd, habib hadd’. She continued to practice this principle even during the last two years when she lived in an old-people’s home. She was friendly with all, yet she was very reserved. The only long conversations she held were with her room mate, Michaelina. When she was alone, she will either say her prayers or put her glasses on and read Maltese literature, minding only her business.

When we used to visit her, she would only ask if the rest of our families were fine. Then she will just listen to our conversation, only answering when a question was directly put to her. Yet, if there was something which she felt that she needs to tell you, she will put it in simple words. She will tell you her opinion, but she never imposed on us. I believe that the following words which were written to me by Hans, Annabelle’s (my niece) husband described her:

Ghandek ommok tal-ghageb. Fehmet u ghexet xi valuri fondi u semplici tal-hajja. Mindu kont nafha, jiena ukoll stimajtha wisq.

Kellha relazzjoni pjuttost intimu mat-tfal taghha, imma halliethom helsin. Ma indahlietx hafna fil-hajja taghhom.

M'ghamlitx xejn speciali biex in-nies jiftakru minnha. Imma xorta thalli impressioni qawwija.

I left Hans’ words as they were written – a Belgian’s view. But I share his description. While we were young she was tough manager though she would try to fit our tastes in her tight schedule. One thing she wouldn’t compromise was our studies. She was tough but patient. Uncompromising but helpful.

I can say that I owe all I know to her. She always followed my studies. Even when I started my university studies, then married, she persistently asked me how I was doing in my studies. Small things that showed her support.

Yet, when we grew up, she never pestered us. We were free to determine our destiny. Guiding and supporting us yet leaving us free. This included our beliefs. She was a devout Catholic yet she never interfered in our beliefs. She would say her opinion but she left it to us to decide. When we disagreed, and I very often disagreed with her beliefs, she was sympathetic and never held it against me. Even when she was mortally ill.

When young she was energetic with a full time-table. If we learned anything from her it was time management. Even summer was a full schedule. At 08.00 we wake up and by 10.00 sharp we must be ready to go swimming. By that time she would have finished her chores including lunch. At 12 noon, we’re back home. We have lunch and then will we have two hours rest. At 17.00 sharp we proceed to St John’s Co-Cathedral where we used to say the rosary in the chapel of Our Mother of Carafa. Afterwards we proceed to the Floriana in front of the Phoenicia where we stay till 21 hours.

This was a tight schedule for her especially since we were three children practically of the same age. But she managed with a certain calmness. She was always sure of herself and determined. The fact that my sister, brother and myself are never daunted by any task is all due to her.

But there were two things that always marvelled me during her last years. The fact that when her legs started to falter and she because slowly but surely homebound, she accepted her faith and adapted to her new life. It was unfortunate that she, during that time, could not accept the wheelchair. This made her completely homebound. However, she never complained just as she never complained whenever she was hospitalized even though she could never accept either the hospital environment nor the food.

The second thing that surprised me was that finally she accepted to stay in an old-people’s home. I believe that she accepted it simply because she realised that in spite of his efforts, my father could not cope with her day to day needs.

The above are some of the memories that I will preserve as they remind me of the solid person my mother was till her death.