One joke of a road

It took nearly two years to finish the Iklin Road. Somebody from the government department responsible for the roadworks said on national radio some time ago that they had to change the contractor because he was not keeping to the target dates.

To tell you the truth, I did not see any difference from the first one. The work was still going slowly. He promised that the Iklin Road would be finished by the first week of June.

That was not to be; it was finished by the first week of July. It took them more time to finish the road than the time which was taken to build the Eiffel Tower.

What a joke.

Well, we thought that they were finished but,  within a month, workers came five times to do some repair work on the gutter at the top end of the road.

To protect the concrete by the side of the gutter, they put big metal sheets which make a very loud noise every time a car drives over them. It is very annoying during the day and you can imagine how much more annoying it is during the night.

I really do not understand why they have to do repair work on the same spot five times in a month on a newly surfaced road. Couldn’t they do it right the first time?

Furthermore, they still have not repaired the gutter where, lately, a motorcyclist had an accident because there was a big gap in the gutter.

This is no joke and if they think it is a joke, I can assure them that we are not laughing. In that case, I suggest that they should change the road name from Iklin Road to Joke Road.

Joe Ciappara – Naxxar

Investigating allegations against the prison and detention services

Corradino Correctional Facility. Photo: Matthew Mirabelli

I refer to the various allegations being made in the press against the prison and detention services.

Without entering into the merits of these allegations, it is clear that there is no appropriate permanent supervisory structure in Malta that can deal with such allegations effectively and speedily.

Further, it does not make sense to have complaints against the detention and prison services investigated by the management of these services who do not satisfy the requirement of objective impartiality.

What is thus needed is to extend the remit of the security service commissioner to the prison and detention services. In such way, there would be a retired judge who is tasked with investigating any complaints made against these services.

It is imperative that the reports in question are published forthwith and laid by the speaker on the table of the House of Representatives once received directly from the commissioner.

If the complaints are malicious, the commissioner can declare so; if the complaints are correct, either in whole or in part, the commissioner can suggest to the House the necessary legislative and/or corrective measures that need to be taken.

Extending the remit of the security service commissioner to these two services would be a better solution than appointing an ad hoc board of inquiry under the Inquiries Act that will not address any problems that there might be holistically.

Nor should a magisterial inquiry be carried out in such instances until the commissioner would have concluded his/her inquiry as magistrates are too much burdened with their judicial duties and will not have time to devote to investigate such complaints. A magisterial inquiry should be conducted only if the commissioner has reason to believe that there has been an infringement of the criminal laws of Malta in terms of the Criminal Code.

Kevin Aquilina – Gżira

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