MP sees savings in use of English by Maltese MEPs

Labour MP George Vella said yesterday that Malta would make considerable savings should the Maltese members of the European Parliament declare that they prefer to speak in English and listen to other speeches in English.

Speaking during the debate on the Maltese Language Bill, Dr Vella said he was criticised recently for having spoken in the European Parliament in English.

He loved the Maltese language and while he would continue to insist that all documentation, legislation and directives in the EU should be in Maltese, as well as other languages, he preferred to get his message across in the clearest possible way, and to the greatest audience, without leaving it to translators.

Maltese MEPs, he said, should be asked if they required translation. A translation requirement for speeches during meetings would mean a need for some 80 interpreters. Malta already had enough expenses and a financial deficit problem.

If there was someone who was not comfortable speaking English, he should have translators. But unless this was the case, having translators was a waste of money and resources.

Dr Vella stressed, however that it was positive that Maltese had been accepted as an EU official language.

It was essential that the translation of EU documents was made in proper Maltese. Cases such as that for the translation of the draft EU constitution should never be repeated.

This bill, Dr Vella said, was welcome, if belated. Unfortunately the Maltese language was often abused and misused. Some unfortunately even felt an inferiority complex using Maltese.

Even the Maltese version of the bill could have used better Maltese. For example, skambji was used instead of bdil, jivvaluta instead of jizen, frekwenti instead of spissi, jimplimenta instead of iwettaq. Why?

The bill declared that Maltese was an essential part of the national heritage. But what was the state to do to ensure that the Maltese language was not lost?

The bill stated that Maltese should be given priority in schools. This was a very important declaration because until sometime ago there were schools where only English was spoken and students were punished for speaking Maltese.

Dr Vella regretted that in official correspondence, English was sometimes unnecessarily used instead of Maltese. One also automatically said ID and telephone numbers in English. A culture should be instilled in young children to say these numbers in Maltese.

Dr Vella said it was unfortunate that the grandchildren of Maltese emigrants were not encouraged to study Maltese. To enourage these people to learn Maltese, it had to be taught in English, which was their language.