Letters to the editor - January 3, 2026

Smoking areas at beaches

Anthony Saliba of St Paul’s Bay writes:

The minister of health has got it all wrong. He said that by providing dedicated areas for smokers at two main and popular beaches will save the environment!

There will be designated smoking areas. Photo: DOI

Are the smokers expected to inhale the venomous smoke resulting from smoking? It will spread all over the beach depending on the way the wind is blowing.

Ta’ Qali gravel problem

Carmel Sciberras of Naxxar writes:

If only Jason Micallef had said “Sorry, my mistake” or, even better, “Sorry, I was given the wrong advice”, he would have come out of this sorry mess smelling more of roses than…

Making comparisons

Andrew Borg-Cardona of Lija writes:

Eddy Privitera’s letter (December 31) is the kind of bloated, self-aggrandising claptrap that passes for profundity only in the minds of those who mistake volume for virtue. 

Privitera takes great offence at Giovanni Bonello – a jurist of international stature, former judge at the European Court of Human Rights and one of the few Maltese voices willing to speak truth to power – because Bonello refuses to join the choir of complacency and euphemism that has allowed our system of administration of justice to drift into the realm of the grotesque.

Let’s be clear: Bonello’s critique of how some (and even one is too many) of our judiciary have handled, and continue to handle, some of the most consequential cases of our time is rooted in a lifetime of deep legal reflection and a genuine commitment to the rule of law. 

That his words are uncomfortable is precisely the point: robust democracies do not blanch at rigorous critique – they thrive on it. Privitera, by contrast, offers a defence so brittle and defensive that it shatters on contact with the simplest facts. Calling Bonello’s observations “unwarranted” reveals far more about Privitera’s own insecurities than it does about any supposed attack on judges and magistrates.

And then there’s the hauteur – the bizarre claim that because Privitera’s own inanities aren’t contradicted every time someone with a functioning brain reads them, he should be hailed as a fearless truth teller. 

This is narcissism masquerading as patriotism: the delusion that silencing dissent is the same as defending honour. Bonello doesn’t need Privitera’s approval. His long, distinguished career speaks to a depth of insight, nuance, and courage that Privitera could only aspire to if he spent half as much time learning law as he currently spends having hissy fits about critiques he clearly does not understand.

In the end, Bonello’s value is measured not by how many egos he bruises – but by how many truths he brings into the public square. 

Privitera, meanwhile, has confused the sound of his own voice with the weight of reason, an ailment from which he has suffered for as long as he’s been writing.