Repairing the whistleblower legislation

I refer to the editorial ‘Whistleblower law needs repair’ (June 25) whereby, among other things, this newspaper laments the fact that this law restricts protection to “employees” and gives the justice minister sweeping powers to decide who is or is not to be granted whistleblower status.

In this sense, one could easily suggest that an independent whistleblower office be set up composed of a sitting judge as chairman nominated by the chief justice and two other retired senior civil servants sitting as members, nominated by the government and the opposition respectively, which would have the power to interpret, investigate and report on cases of prohibited personnel practices brought by government and other employees. It could also operate a confidential whistleblower disclosure hotline and accept disclosures by mail.

The obvious advantages would be that confidentiality will be provided by law and that such office could order the department, entity or agency in question to investigate and report on the information disclosed.

Once the report on the information disclosed is received, that office would send the report with comments to the attorney general and the commissioner of police. Should that office deem that no investigation is called for, then it would be bound to return the disclosed information to the whistleblower with an explanation of why no referral to the department, entity or agency was made and also advise on any other avenues for disclosure of the information.

Mark Said – Msida

Biodegradable

I trust that we shall some day be enlightened as to why, in our saline climate, we persist in erecting monuments in biodegradable metal.

It is difficult to believe that the enigmatic ‘Knot’ monument, reportedly costing the nation €270,000, could not provide for a base in stainless steel!

Mark Miceli-Farrugia – Ta’ Xbiex

Death: the great taboo of our times

A sad phenomenon that has presently befallen many Christians is that, in their writings and conversations, eternity and the ultimate destiny that awaits us all is hardly ever referred to. It is almost as if the spiritual and the supernatural no longer hold much relevance in our society.

I remember distinctly, years ago, a nun, whose convent lies on a road where people, especially young ones, can be heard during the night driving fast to places of entertainment, saying: “Are they ready for eternity?”

Indeed, this is the question that we, especially Christians, should be constantly asking ourselves. Christ made it clear to His disciples that they should watch and pray because nobody knows the day or the hour when death comes knocking at the door. The great taboo of our times – death – has been removed from much of the public sphere and has been rendered practically invisible.

The fact that people now often die in the anonymous atmosphere of a hospital rather than at home amid familiar surroundings has helped to make this impression stronger.

Moreover, the advances in medical science have given us perhaps the illusion that death can be somehow conquered after all or postponed to such a time when life will not have much meaning. Yet, the grim reaper is here to stay, together with the fear and anxiety that inevitably accompany it.

It was the advent of Christianity that brought a fundamental change in our attitude towards death. The fact that Christ sweated blood at the thought of it gives us poor human beings immense consolation.

To believers, death is not the beginning of a life where all pleasures will be fulfilledin some Elysian fields but, rather, a longed-for encounter with Christ, resulting in a life of never-ending joy and happiness. Surely, nothing can be more comforting amid life’s trials than the words of The Apocalypse where God is described as wiping our tears and death is said to be no more.

What modern-day ideology or philosophical thought can ever put forward such a scenario?

Jacqueline Calleja – Naxxar

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