Some e-scooter riders need to be tamed

As the Maltese have given up on cycling as too hot or too steep, technology has produced a new fold-up transport mode ideal for storing in rental apartments where bicycles can’t be kept.

Let’s face it, turning each and every one of those scoots into cars instead ‒ cars that would need even more space to park ‒ doesn’t bear thinking about. Nor do the fossil fuel emissions fines to the EU, that all drivers would then have to pay for, if we did that.

Love them or hate them, e-scooters are here to stay.

Certainly, some riders need to be tamed. So isn’t it time to consider “presumed liability” as a way of helping to protect pedestrians?

This is a simple enough legislative and relatively fair fix. Cheap as chips and already law in all but three EU states.

Jim Wightman – St Julian’s

Pope John Paul II monument

Former PM Eddie Fenech Adami (right) and Archbishop Joseph Mercieca inaugurating the monument.

I am the author of the Pope John Paul II monument at present installed on the Republic Street facade of St John’s Co-Cathedral’s Annex.

About three months ago, I was casually admiring the restoration works when a man in the street informed me that the monument was going to be removed. As one can imagine, I was somewhat perplexed but some frantic checking confirmed this assertion.

I’m told that some ‘czar’ or ‘czarina’ is absolutely adamant to have it removed. I am also told that an application and tender for its removal has been filed without stating the place for its relocation. A letter to the joint administrators,  namely the prime minister, the archbishop and St John’s Co-Cathedral Foundation, was sent on May 6 but, to date, it has been acknowledged only by Archbishop Charles Scicluna.

The monument was originally commissioned by the Office of the Prime Minister in 1991. Faced with location problems posed by a full three-dimensional sculpture, the OPM decided to go for a relief sculpture. St John’s Annex was chosen (by OPM) as the ideal location and the work to be installed in lieu of the central window of the first floor.

This window is situated in the staircase, so no room was going to be compromised.

It is most important to note that the work was designed specifically for that location, hence the dimensions and proportions. The monument was eventually cast in Rome by the famous Fonderia Cavallari and was inaugurated by Eddie Fenech Adami on January 24, 1992  and blessed by then Archbishop Joseph Mercieca.

The complete artefact weighs over two tons. Its installation proved quite challenging and it would be more than a little reckless to dismantle as the back of the monument was filled with concrete to hold everything together for posterity.

The risk of major damage to the bronze is very real. At the time, I thought it looked quite ‘bomb proof’ but, alas, it turns out that it is not human proof.

After 30 years one can safely say that it has blended in well and has become an integral part of the facade because by retaining the same dimensions of the windows it does not break the symmetry of the architecture. Rumour has it that the shops at street level on Republic Street and St John’s Square are under scrutiny and also in peril.

The monument should stay where it is. All it needs is some basic cleaning and state-of-the-art lighting.

Noel Galea Bason – Floriana

Sharp tongue

It is obvious to many that all Bernard Grech has to offer is to throw stones at the adversary.

His tongue is like a guillotine and if he were a serpent, every time he opens his mouth, more poison would come out against the Labour Party.

What has he offered up till now? Surely those who voted Nationalist deserve to know!

Valerie Borg – Valletta

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