No lessons learnt

It is incredulous, to say the least, that leading members of the government, including the prime minister himself, are pondering whether or not to invite concessionaires to take over the running of three public hospitals following the damning civil court sentence.

Surely one can learn a lesson or two from the erudite judgment. Being pro-business, as the present government has reiterated now and then, is not a sufficient excuse to put the publicly owned treasures into the hands of private entrepreneurship.

Cannot this government handle these three hospitals on its own,  thus bypassing any lucrative profit from pending agreements going into private hands?

A strong government should avoid inviting profit-making companies to discharge their duties towards running these hospitals with the administration washing its hands.

The government’s responsibility lies in running these hospitals. On what pretext does it even conceive the idea of passing the buck? Is Malta up for sale?

Anthony Saliba – St Paul’s Bay

Closure of ATMs

Photo: Matthew Mirabelli

In its latest announcement of extension of office hours, BOV said that “our customers lie at the heart of goals and strategy”. I beg to differ.

After encouraging customers, including 60+, to apply for credit cards to lessen queues at branches, BOV has shut down three ATMs in Qawra/Buġibba/St Paul’s Bay – Malta’s largest town.

This has caused hardship to elderly people who still need cash or need to make deposits and who have to go to Buġibba branch, a long distance from Qawra.

How’s that for its “customers lie at the heart of its goals and strategy”?

Emanuel Borg – St Paul’s Bay

Two different anniversaries

Bernard Grech keeps inventing ways to ridicule himself and his PN. On the 10th anniversary of Labour’s historic election victory on March 9, 2013, Grech had the cheek to say that “Labour is ashamed to celebrate the 10th anniversary of its election victory”.

On that same day, Labour broadcast a video showing various people saying how their life has changed for the better due to the many benefits introduced by the PL government during the past 10 years.

A couple of weeks ago, the PL organised an open day at the PL’s centre in Ħamrun as part of the party’s 10 years in power. On March 12, the PL also organised various activities for all families at St Clements Park, Żabbar as part of the anniversary since the day the great majority of the Maltese and Gozitans booted out the ultra-conservative PN from power.

So, may I remind Grech and his gang at Dar Ċentrali of another 10th anniversary. I do not know if Grech had attended the PN’s last mass meeting at Naxxar on March 7, 2013.

Had he attended, he should certainly remember hearing Lawrence Gonzi saying: “On March 9 we vote and on March 10 we celebrate.” Gonzi and his deputy leader, Simon Busuttil, were 100 per cent certain that a historic defeat was just hours away.

Eddy Privitera – Naxxar