Exemplary civil servant
I would like to thank those old friends who wrote to Times of Malta, and all who expressed condolences, on the sad passing of my father, Patrick Staines.
There have also been tributes from former colleagues who all spoke so highly of my father’s intellect, integrity, principles and the values he stood for.
Thank you. As was so rightly pointed out, he contributed a lot, both as an economist (since the 1950s) and also as a historian in his later years.
As a professional civil servant, my father served at the Office of the Prime Minister during the British period and during the Paul Boffa, Nerik Mizzi, George Borg Olivier, Dom Mintoff and Eddie Fenech Adami periods. He contributed so much in various capacities and witnessed so much that he was a veritable treasure trove of information about what happened in those momentous years.
He could have written a book but he wrote instead about the 19th century. He was brilliant and of unshakeable integrity and totally incorruptible.
In an age when people are fast losing faith in politicians and when standards in public life have plummeted, it is hoped that my father’s legacy as a public servant, etched in the memories of those who knew and worked with him, will serve as a shining and enduring example of exemplary and selfless public service and of a gentleman who served his country and the common good.
May the good Lord grant him eternal rest and may perpetual light shine upon him.
Stephen Staines – Sliema
International Day of Persons with Disability
Today is the international day for persons with disability. Unesco’s theme for this year is ‘Building back better: towards an inclusive, accessible and sustainable post COVID-19 world by, for and with persons with disability’.
It will be focusing on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on people with disability and on the immediate response and crisis through open, inclusive and innovative use of digital solutions, tools and resources.
The Malta Federation of Organisations Persons with Disability (MFOPD) strongly believes in this theme, so much so that its recent and various tackling of such issues, also through the media, says it all.
It is of utmost importance that services required by persons with disability are considered as essential services so that they are not stopped for whatever reason as has happened due to COVID-19.
Flexible and safe mechanisms should be put in place to authorise disabled people to be able to leave their homes during mandatory quarantines, for short periods and in a safe way, when they experience acute difficulty with home confinement.
Students with disability should receive a good quality education which caters for their full development of the whole personality including the ability to work.
The government should invest and put in place the measures and tools with which persons with disability can live a dignified independent life.
Personal assistance should be put in place and is accessible to all persons with an impairment who need it without any further delay.
It is imperative that persons with a disability, through their organisations, have a voice. The voice of persons with disability must be at the centre of all conversations and policymaking decisions at all times.
The United Nations Convention for the Rights of Persons with Disability (UNCRPD) should be implemented at all times for the full benefit of all persons with disability in the Maltese islands.
When we secure the rights of persons with disability, we move our world closer to upholding the core values and principles of the United Nations Charter and Convention.
Marthese Mugliette – president, Malta Federation of Organisations Persons with Disability, Santa Venera
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