Why bother with registered mail?

I wonder how much the government ‘paid’ MaltaPost to deliver something like 400,000 letters sent out by registered post.

Registered mail means a letter being delivered and a signature being obtained for its receipt.

But unless you live on the ground floor of a building we (and the government) know that’s not going to happen. Mail delivery people don’t do stairs because it would mean the security of the box on the back of their bikes (possibly containing valuable registered mail) would be at risk.

So a leaflet is left, inviting addressees to go and collect it at the (hopefully) nearest post office where they can (after queuing outside in the sun, socially distanced, for an hour or so) flash their IDs and sign for their mail as if they were at their own front door.

What a brilliant and pointlessly expensive exercise. Why bother registering it in the first place?

A better idea would be to equip the delivery people with a shoulder bag that would contain all the registered mail for that day (as was done before motorbikes were issued) and deliver the registered mail to be signed for at the door, which is what the post office was paid to do with registered mail.

Revel Barker – Għajnsielem

Children’s rights

It was in 1990 that the Convention on the Rights of the Child came into force. No wonder that it became the most widely ratified human rights treaty worldwide.

It encouraged governments to introduce policies to protect and promote children everywhere.

Eventually, in 2003, the Malta government established the Office of the Commissioner for Children to promote the protection of children. In 2011, the then Commissioner for Children appointed me to write a story book in Maltese on the subject. This resulted in the publication of Il-Kompetizzjoni, which was distributed among all the schools of Malta.

Unfortunately, this book does not seem to be on the shelves of public libraries. This is a pity because it was meant to be read by all children.

Tony Cutajar – San Ġwann

Vaccination policy makes no sense

We are a family of five from the UK and were looking forward to travelling to Malta for the tenth time in August.

Unfortunately, the covid policy for visitors does now not allow this. Our family is made up of two parents who are double vaccinated, two children who are just 18 and single vaccinated and a third child aged 16 who is not yet eligible for a vaccine. Malta is not allowing our children to enter the country without quarantine even though all of us, through work or school, are being tested for COVID twice a week.

The Malta policy makes no sense and is anti-children and anti-family. Surely, it would be better for all parties to obtain a clear PCR test before arrival as vaccinated people can actually carry the virus. Malta has the highest vaccination rate in Europe and claims to have herd immunity against COVID. If this is the case what is the issue for Malta?

We are all frustrated by our respective governments not explaining their decisions clearly so we have sympathy for Malta’s tourist industry. However, we are now not able to have our summer holiday.

Simon Brook – Fetcham, Surrey

I have been visiting the island for nearly 40 years with a steadily increasing family. Twenty-three members of the family were due to visit in July and August this year.

However, because Malta is now insisting that all over-12s up to 18 must be doubly vaccinated, none of my family will be coming as there are teenagers in each part of the family. It is not possible to be doubly vaccinated within a month in England. I do not fancy being on my own for a period, so I too will not be coming. I can only assume that there will be many more cancellations from England, much to the detriment of the Maltese economy.

Michael Barnes – New Malden, Surrey

I was looking forward to visiting Malta next month with my partner and two children aged 15 and 17 and had booked the flights and accommodation back in February.

Alas, thanks to the impossible rules imposed by Malta for 12+ to be vaccinated when the UK is not offering the jab to anyone under 18 years unless at risk, we will have to cancel.

If the Malta International Airport director expects 150,000 visitors from the UK, as written in Diana Cacciottolo’s travel article, he will be disappointed because families will choose elsewhere due to this.

One day we hope to visit.

John Le Ruez – Jersey

Letters to the editor should be sent to editor@timesofmalta.com. Please include your full name, address and ID card number. The editor may disclose personal information to any person or entity seeking legal action on the basis of a published letter.