That other €17,000

In response to a question by opposition MP Kristy Debono, Daphne Caruana Galizia revealed on October 8, 2015 that: “Lydia Abela, the Labour Party’s former head of state George Abela’s son Robert’s wife, has been paid €17,000 by direct order from Gozo Minister Anton Refalo for ‘legal services’ on the Gozo Cruise Liner Terminal project.”

In May 2013 Lydia Abela had been appointed chairperson of the professions’ complementary in medicine board and, in November 2013, secretary of the cooperatives board.

What payments were made for these appointments and how long they lasted we don’t know.

Salvu Felice Pace – Għasri

Carnage on our roads

Doctors for Road Safety (D4RS) believe road safety is an important issue and that it is the time to set up an authority for road safety. Photo: Jonathan Borg

Ajay Shrestha. This is the latest traffic victim; he was killed recently when a truck overturned on the main road in Marsa.

The latest statistics show that 117 people died on our roads in the period of eight years (2014-2020). During the same period,  no less than 2,358 people suffered grievous injuries. Most of these were young people who were cheated of a long and healthy life. The injured were condemned to a life of pain and physical and mental disability.

A lot can be done to have fewer deaths and cases of mutilation. I firmly believe the first step is to convince our population that we cannot continue to drive dangerously because it is a serious problem. I don’t think that most drivers are aware of the consequence of bad driving habits.

It is important to start a nationwide information campaign. Another vital step is for our politicians to direct the police and wardens to increase enforcement of driving laws. We cannot continue driving when drunk or drugged, using our mobile phones when driving and breaking all rules and regulations. Finally, it is important to upgrade our roads and make them safer.

Recently some work has been done along these lines. Crash barriers are now higher than before and these are less harmful to motorbike riders who crash into them. There are also new lay-bys where roads have been widened, improving safety.

In a recent interesting article, Adrian Galea explained how insurances are concerned about road accidents. He emphasised that the subject deserves a lot more attention than it attracts and that all road users should take responsibility for road safety and that real discipline is needed among all road users. The Malta Insurance Association also suggests that a dedicated authority oversees the implementation of policies.

In another article in this newspaper in December 2018, the president of Doctors for Road Safety, Ray Gatt, also suggested establishing an entity which has road safety as its sole portfolio and agenda. Doctors for Road Safety (D4RS) firmly believe that road safety is an important issue and that it is the time to set up an authority for road safety which will tackle all factors of the problem with an educational, regulatory and executive function.

Now that the political parties are preparing their manifestos for the forthcoming election, we appeal to them to take road safety seriously and to consider pledging to set up a road safety authority.

Gordon Caruana Dingli, surgeon and vice president of Doctors for Road Safety NGO – Marsascala

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