Punish miscreants

I reply to Roger Mifsud’s letter ‘Ministerial liberality’ (December 21), not vis-à-vis Justyne Caruana’s deed or his gratuitous assertions but his political comments at a national level.

He rightly states that Caruana’s deal with Daniel Bogdanovic was “calamitous” and “condemnable”, then justifies it saying previous ministers had “done the same”. Mifsud is saying that “two wrongs make a right” or, in plainer language, if a thief robs you, a second thief’s acts are justified. This is fallacious and unacceptable, especially if the malignant circuit is to be broken.

Mifsud correctly says that Caruana may resign and that “it is the thing to do”.

And he asks: is there… “a foolproof way to stop such inroads into the public purse?” Or, I add, to stop carrying out gross misdeeds politically, fiscally – criminally punishable?

There is no foolproof way to prevent it totally. Some knave will pass under the radar, even of the most scrutinous honest voter.

But there is a way to prevent its recurrence and the word – alien to Maltese political practice – is accountability.

Administrative, hence guardians such as the ombudsman, the police, etc, and political, that is, the vote at general elections. Such “condemnable” people should not be re-elected or, indeed, receive one vote.

Only if they are not re-elected will a country manage to eradicate or minimise misdeeds, to stop the impunity of liberality and other misdeeds.

Illogically, Mifsud then says that he will once again vote for Caruana.

But how can a right-thinking person vote for a candidate which he himself declared “condemnable”? Such a vote would condone and encourage further misdeeds.

Mifsud does not want to make political accountability count; he intends to award and perpetrate such misdeeds.

Mifsud expresses his condemnation, his concern to stop the rot and then declares that he will vote as before, thus, not act in the only way he can to punish miscreants and stop the rot.

The mind boggles.

Hugh Peralta – Valletta

Incomplete information

Photo: Matthew Mirabelli

Like most people, I follow what Health Minister Chris Fearne has to say about the coronavirus (for one reason or another).

Also, like most people, I note he has the tendency to offer up information that is incomplete, leaving us to scratch our collective heads. On Friday, he announced that our current virus certificate will expire nine months after our third jab. For me, it will mean that we won’t be allowed to take our summer holiday abroad.

Dear Minister Fearne, did I miss something or did you forget to tell us something? Kindly inform us what you failed to mention.

Alan Zelt – Naxxar

Social distancing at the airport

I travelled by air some days ago and I noted many efforts by MIA to deal with handling crowds in times of COVID.

However, there were three instances where social distancing was disregarded.

In the vicinity of the enclosed departure gate, most passengers were huddled together, sitting or standing. It was just about possible for a few passengers to voluntarily keep some distance from other passengers until boarding started as there was limited space available.

The bus ride from the boarding gate to the aircraft was much worse. We were packed in like sardines on both arrival and departure. This was quite unnecessary as passengers can be allocated to several vehicles, with boarding and exiting called by seat rows.

Finally, passengers collecting baggage at the carousel were standing shoulder to shoulder but it was possible to self-regulate as there was space available to stand back until the right suitcase could be seen.

Nicky Bianchi – Lija

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