‘Wagging tails’ and ‘wagging tongues’            

Mark Montebello, the friar and philosopher, is at it again.

His monumental tome about ‘The life and struggles of Dom Mintoff’ took seven years in the making. This is attested by the author himself. It surfaced in the local market in June 2021. It is heavily annotated.

Throughout its 640 pages, there are miles and miles of minutely printed detailed sources. These are to be read through aided by a strong magnifying glass if the reader wants to respect his/her eyesight.

The furore ignited by the popular and populist local printed media arising from the listed salacious references about Dom’s libido should only be a tangential aspect in this study of the man and myth.

There are other, far more deep-rooted, aspects of Mintoff’s life and his inner demons that need to be digested.

The book has to be read thoroughly and holistically for its virtuosity.

It must not be looked at as if it is part of a picture on page three in a smutty tabloid.

I have read it conscientiously. I suggest that others do the same.

Richard Matrenza – Valletta

The elderly deserve dignity

Is it impossible for Mater Dei Hospital to find some quiet, secluded space where our dear relatives die in peace surrounded by their loved ones?

A few weeks ago, l wanted to visit my dying relative at Mater Dei Hospital. I could not find the ‘ward’ indicated, until I was told to go to the furthest end of the hospital and ask for an ex-canteen.

As soon as I went in, I thought that I was dreaming. The ‘ward’ was a large hall with an immense glass window in one end. About 50 patients, the majority of them old, some very old, were lying in beds covered with white sheets. They were placed around the hall with some distance from one another. There was no privacy, no screens and no curtains.

Doctors, other medical staff, carers and cleaners were going round silently doing their different jobs. It looked more like a field camp hospital for the elderly in a third world country than what we have been used to in our beloved Malta.

To add insult to injury, when I asked to see my dying relative, I was guided to a bed right in the centre of this ‘ward’.

I am sure that she had been given the very best medical care available but now she was fighting for every breath in full view of all present, no curtain, no screen. A screen would have shaded the patient from the harsh light of the huge window and given us family space to accompany our departing relative in private.

Only two people could stand at her bedside and it was only when my poor relative passed away that all the family was asked in for a few minutes.

No solace whatsoever was offered to us, the mourners. The staff just gave us the instructions as to what had to be done by the family.

It seems that, nowadays, our hospital thinks only about the medical well-being of the patients and not the holistic requirements of the human being. This is shameful.

Does anybody think that that is a dignified way for an elderly person to spend their last few days? Is it impossible for Mater Dei to find some quiet, secluded space where our dear mothers, fathers and other relatives die in peace surrounded by their loved ones? Can there be a trained member of staff to help the mourners to cope with their loss?

Would this happen to the ‘more equal’ people of Malta?

Josephine Agius – Paola

Stop the construction frenzy

The present planning situation is out of control. Allowing mayhem to flourish anywhere without consideration of the area is not, as some claim, improving the bottom line of the homeowner who wants to turn his house into flats but destroying the value of the property in that area.

Other homeowners have rights too, not just to build flats but to live in a house by choice. The tourism and film industries, to think of a few important old and new niches of business, will suffer the consequences once competing countries find their feet. We will be left with an ugly mass of concrete buildings, sun-scorched little barren piazzas and some tortured trees in street pots!

I ask: is their someone out there, any legal profession, body or NGO ready to take action against policymakers and the Planning Authority? Discussions are important but parallel legal action on a large scale is a must to stop this madness.

Are citizens ready to test the grounds and seek court action for compensation for the loss of value of their properties?  Why should house owners be buried under six-storey projects and then forced out of their house for the benefit of appeasing a wealthy contractor?

The economic benefit of building flats anywhere is not long lasting like building a hotel or factory. The importance of this industry to the country has to be reviewed.

Politicians are obviously too keen to stay on the sidelines.

Should we test the courts?

Lino Busuttil – Iklin

The state of pavements

Our pavements are dangerous and littered with dog and pigeon dirt and, to make things worse, we now have to tolerate the inconvenience of e-scooters being driven carelessly on pavements with complete disregard for people walking by. 

Sometimes, these scooters are even left lying on narrow pavements, making it impossible for a wheelchair- bound person or a woman with a buggy to use the pavement. And what about a blind people?

I am pretty sure that Transport Malta will take action when a fatal accident happens (God forbid). This is the norm in our country.

I often ask myself why is it that certain wrongdoings are ignored and action not taken? An example of this is a car tyre left on the pavement for months. At one time, it was also serving as a rubbish bin. Now, it’s lying against a tree near a photography shop in Eucharistic Congress Road, Mosta. How is it possible that no one in authority has removed it?

On Sunday, July 4, about 10 black bags and other rubbish were seen on the pavement on the road leading from Mosta to Rabat (opposite the service station). Come Sunday, July 11, they were still there (one can imagine the state they were in). Again, I ask: is it possible that no one noticed them?

Emily Barbaro-Sant – Mosta

Last but not least

In my article ‘Reminiscences of a boarder…’ (June 27) I inadvertently forgot to mention Sister Mary.

In the early 1950s, she was already advanced in age but always ready near the main door of St Emilie de Vialar School, Rabat to greet students and their parents.

Frail and thin, she was in Rangoon, Burma during WWII and patiently endured the Japanese occupation of that country from 1942 to 1945.

She returned to Malta after the war.  Sr Mary hailed from Birżebbuġa.

Alfred Conti Borda – Mosta

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