Sunday, 20th July 2008
HUMAN TRAGEDY
The only real story this week is the human tragedy that hit Marsaxlokk in particular and the country as a whole.
Our politicians and social leaders, whether they are bus drivers, church ministers, or band club presidents, and the rest of us, the commenting classes, would do well to take a few minutes from our precious time and reflect on the fact that while we were puffing our chests and making our oh-so-precious opinions known, the relatives and friends of the people lost at sea were going through a living hell. As were, forgive me for stating the obvious, the people who were on the fishing boat one minute and found themselves in the sea the next.
When I settled down to start writing this, I wasn’t sure what direction it would take. Somewhat surprisingly, I’m finding myself driven to apologising for amusing myself by teasing my many critics about their command of English while this tragedy was unfolding. I doubt that my flippancy registered on the consciousness of the people directly affected by what can only be called this disaster, but I still feel a bit guilty for going about my business as if nothing was happening out at sea.
I suppose it is only because I started thinking about the tragedy directly that these thoughts formed themselves. This blog started out as just another blog, a comment on current issues and when I cast around in my mind for a subject, the only one that stood out was this story: hence my opening line.
From this opening line came the thought that here I was, sitting comfortably at my computer, as I have been most of the time (when I wasn’t enjoying myself in other ways) while these people were slowly succumbing to the power of the sea, while others were conducting the search for them and, probably most awfully, while still others were waiting for news. It is illogical to feel guilty, I know, but perhaps the guilty feeling is just a reflection of the fact that – just maybe – there are more important things in the world than whether I should respond to some comment on my blog with a facile comment of my own.
Luckily for the human race, the world goes on, of course, and I’ve no doubt normal service will be resumed very soon, at least for those of us whose lives have not been destroyed, literally or figuratively, by this tragedy. The searchers will eventually come to terms with the fact that they had only partial success, friends and family will, in the main, mourn and try to move on. I have absolutely no idea how the immediate family and friends of the victims will cope: the enormity of the horror that has engulfed them is such that it defies objective measurement and it would be presumptuous of me to even attempt to encapsulate it.
I toyed with the idea, when starting this blog, of commenting about the way some people have been criticising the way the search and rescue was carried out, or about the way the media seemed to ignore the Somali crewman, apparently (but perhaps only apparently) because he was an immigrant or about the way many people resort to platitudes in the face of tragedy.
I think not: let’s just stop here, this time, and reflect on the fragility of life. Is this a convenient excuse for me to avoid writing any more in the heat that is beating down on Gozo, where I am enjoying the weekend? Perhaps it is: I’m as venal as the next man and I don’t pretend to have the answer to everything, for all that I try to give that impression most of the time.
RSS
Comments
The words are familiar-even trite it may be thought but here I am back from a funeral and very conscious, at my age, of mortality.
Then again Stalin is supposed to have said that whilst one death is a tragedy the death of millions is a statistic and whilst I express my condolences there are questions to be answered in this matter no matter what ABC may plead. We gentle readers are the arbiters of what we write-though we must heed Andrew’s words.
Then again the standard of Health and Safety at Work is pathetic in Malta. Think of that both Blue and Red.
Altogether there is a lot of soul searching to be done.
I end as I began with Donne:
No man is an island entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main; if a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, ...
Anyhow, the program raised more questions than answers....
1. Why don't the AFM start the search/enquiry imemdiately when the VMS does not register the boat's position? Is it maybe because the boat may be...errr...temporarily lost??
2. Why was the wife of the captain afraid of raising the alarm immediatley? I happen to come form a fishing village, know dozens of profesional fishermen - and all their families know exactly, minute by minute, what they'd be doing and where they are supposed to be. Even 30 minutes delay are alarming when they have made arrangements for the return, etc.
3. Cannot fathom how no one managed to get a tyre or a life jacket on.
4. Explosion. I'm not so sure about that - needs clarification as far as I can say
5. The AFM chopper took off for the search a bit late, I believe
6. There should have been a coordination between fishermen and AFM - the sea is a vast place. AFM please swollow some of your pride.
7. Was the area where they were found 'normal' for fishermen?
Concerned, because Brig. Vassallo claims that they did all they could as a search mission. All they could? I don't wish to trash the AFM, but a public inquiry is necessary to ascertain what possible mistakes the search mission could have done . We must not forget that just some 3 weeks ago a small cruiser sank and the occupants were spotted in the water by fishermen. On that occasion the survivors claimed the AFM did not even pass information to the next shift! Clearly we could have had 2 tragedies in the space of a month!
Lets take these incidents seriously and LEARN form our mistakes and have proper procedures for search missions. Why wernt patrol boats deployed?
What if a greater number of people were involved is that Malta's best search effort!
Re the near miss of Airmalta by the small plane.. the culprit was just let off after 2 hours... did the investigators check if the plane was tuna spotting illegally and switched off the transponders purposely ???
This man truly went through hell and so did the families who were waiting for news about their loved ones. The Xlukkajri won't forget it neither - they were their friends and like them, they were fishermen.
May the deceased rest in peace - may Simon be cured soon and may the families gather enough strength to fight the enormous sadness that hit them.
A pure and lovely child,
He gave it to our keeping
To cherish undefiled.
But just as it was opening
To the beauty of the day,
Down came the Heavenly Gardener
And took our bud away
My heart and prayers go out to the victims and families.
Life is so ironic to understand fully, it takes sadness to know what is happiness, noise to distinguish silence and a broken heart to find true love.
Experiences like the Simshar tragedy sees us all united in grief .
How about having one national day 'Unity Day' that honours our tragedies that unify us, moulding our nation into a sturdy respectful and loving community throughout the rest of each year?
This was a tragedy way beyond our imagination.Fishermen going to sea in the middle of the summer with such a tragic outcome.One cannot imagine the ordeal these fishermen went through.I sit and wonder and try to understand how life can be so "cruel".
Whilst Malta was focused on the "Transport Fiasco",we had these fishermen trying to fight for there lives, against all odds.
I was thinking ti myself WHAT IF every available boat on The Island formed part of a massive search party and set out to try and rescue them,would it have been fruitfull instead of the few boats and aircraft used?
May strength come upon those directly hit by the tragedy.
On this tragedy I want to say that, my prayers are with the families involved, including Abdolrahman Abdala Gedi family the Somali fisherman. The reason his name was not published is, because any respected news agency, would not publish a name, without first notifying the family first. Once his family was notified, than it is appropriate to publish his name. God Bless the victims and their family. Lets pray for little Theo return.
However as you went on to say, the world moves on and perhaps it is wrong to isolate one particular tragedy and try to get an explanation why it happened or, to express more solidarity with the victims' families any more than for those whose dear ones lost their lives at work or through a traffic accident.
A few months ago we experienced another horrific tragedy in Naxxar and due to loss of life and property, fingers were quickly pointed out at deficiencies in our laws and the enforcement of the existing regulations. In the Naxxar case, there was evidence to be sifted through, a 'crime' scene could be reconstructed and definite recommendations made in order to avoid another incident in the future.
In the Simshar case, the sea swallowed the evidence, although a defective freezer was reported as the likely culprit.
More regular rigid inspections of sea craft by qualified experts may be a partial answer.
May the victims rest in peace.