Malta and the French occupation 

I think readers deserve to know what the document signed by Napoleon Bonaparte, still in the hands of the Church, actually says.  

According to Charles Testa, a former attorney general, in his famous book The French in Malta, Bonaparte only allowed the Church to conduct its services in the cathedral. St John’s remained the property of the French occupiers. It remains the property of the state to this day!

In anticipation of more untruths to be divulged for this period, I urge readers to keep in mind what the very man who signed the capitulation of Malta on behalf of the Order of St John had to say for this period.

When Vabouis ceded Malta to the British on condition that he and his garrison of 4,000, who had been dying of hunger, will be transported to their homeland, Bosredon Ransijat had to face strong criticism from the people of France regarding the Malta failure.

Writing his memoirs, he told his French compatriots: “The Maltese could not possibly ever experience worse hardship than what they had to go through since the beginning of the French occupation.”

Food for thought. 

Thomas Zerafa – Naxxar

Tomato’s origin

Photo: Shutterstock.com

I read Ranier Fsadni’s interesting piece about tomatoes too late to comment directly but it occurred to me that from his opening para some readers may have been led to believe that tomatoes in some way ‘originated’ in Italy.

Fsadni’s piece is clearly not focused on the history of the tomato but, as Wikipedia correctly points out, the species originated in western South America and Central America with the Nahuatl word tomatl giving rise to the Spanish word tomate, from which the English word tomato derived. The Spanish, who encountered the tomato after their contact with the Aztecs, brought the plant to Europe. Its use as a food spread there after it was initially appreciated as an ornamental plant.

The tomato was but one of the plant species which came to Europe as part of the so-called ‘Columbian Exchange’ which, among many other things, including diseases of various types, saw the arrival in the Old World of potatoes, tomatoes, maize, cacao, chilli peppers, avocados and tobacco.

In return, Europe sent wheat, onions, citrus, rice, coffee and even bananas as well as animal species such as horses, cows, pigs, goats, sheep and many other things besides.

Carmel Vassallo – Sliema

Dangerous cargo on Gozo ferry 

At last, Gozo ferry commuters have woken up to reality and this is only part of the risks involved.

This situation has been going on since 2016 when the cargo ferries ceased to operate from Sa Maison, which was eventually taken over to develop a yacht marina.

These hazards were staring Gozo Channel security personnel in the face but no one dared draw the attention of those concerned. They remained passive, immune to the existence of such dangers.

Throughout these years, this dangerous cargo was, and still is, being loaded from Ċirkewwa.

It is worth reminding all the authorities concerned, especially in the localities of St Paul’s Bay, Xemxija and Mellieħa, that they are being continuously exposed to these dangers by the heavy vehicles carrying dangerous goods passing through these localities.

These vehicles are not given adequate protection by traffic police to minimise the risk of accidents, avoiding greater consequences.

Last but not least I wonder why the Gozo Business Chamber, which used to pepper the local media promoting the Gozo tunnel, never uttered a comment or advice to safeguard all concerned when these cargo vehicles started using the Ċirkewwa terminal.

Commuters rightly refer to this situation as a ‘ticking time bomb’. It is time something is done before it is too late.

Emmanuel Galea – Victoria

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