Ticket refunds

Air Malta refers to the letter by Anthony Curmi entitled ‘Refunds due by Air Malta’ (February 20).

Our records show that Curmi’s tickets were originally purchased through an online travel agency as part of a group. When flights were subsequently cancelled, the group applied to Air Malta for travel vouchers and these were issued accordingly. Air Malta wishes to reassure its customers that it will honour all commitments undertaken. We have been in touch with Curmi and resolved the matter to the satisfaction of both parties.

Air Malta also refers to the letter by Anthony Girard entitled ‘Air Malta refunds’ (February 23).

Customers who had booked Air Malta tickets through (traditional or online) travel agents or tour operators and had their flights cancelled should contact their travel agent or operator to request a refund.

Travel agents and tour operators are refunded by airlines through industry systems like the IATA’s Billing and Settlement Plan (BSP). Our records confirm that we have refunded in full the online tour operator from whom Girard bought his tickets. We have also contacted the online travel agent concerned to urgently review this refund request.

We have also been in immediate contact with the correspondent to assist and explain the matter.

Stephen Gauci, head corporate communications, Air Malta – Luqa

When life begins

Embryo on the stage of 16 cells on background with DNA. Photo: Shutterstock.com

Christopher Barbara (February 22) asserts, in his capacity as a doctor, that the fact of fertilisation being the point at which a new human life begins cannot be reconciled with the fact that one fertilised egg can occasionally produce two distinct embryos.

The fact of the matter is that the phenomenon of two living individuals resulting from the splitting of one individual is a relatively common occurrence in the animal kingdom. The list of single-celled organisms that multiply in this way is endless but the process is not confined to unicellulars alone.

It is quite easily demonstrated that a living adult flatworm (Planarian) can be cut into two pieces with a blade, each of which will subsequently develop into a separate adult organism. All neoblastic, mitotic and meiotic considerations apart, the point is that the emergence of two distinct living organisms from one single precursor is no justification whatsoever for concluding that the single precursor was in any way less ‘alive’ before the process of splitting came about. From one life two can emerge. It is a commonplace occurrence.

As for the definition of ‘life’, contested in Barbara’s letter, it should not be necessary to point out that what is meant by the statement ‘life begins at conception’ is that, at the moment of conception, a new, distinct, entire, living human being comes into existence, not to be confused with a living cell that is merely a component of a much more complex living organism.

The most critical correction, however, must be applied to the gratuitous assertion that a human being only becomes so gradually. This implies that there is some state of ‘partial’ being that exists somewhere between living and non-living. There exists no such state. The conclusion that human life begins at sperm-egg fusion is uncontested, objective, based on the universally accepted scientific method of distinguishing different cell types from each other and on ample scientific evidence (thousands of independent, peer-reviewed publications). Moreover, it is entirely independent of any specific ethical, moral, political or religious view of human life or of human embryos. An organism is either completely living from the very moment it comes into existence or not at all. There is no ‘degree of living-ness’.

In exactly the same way, there exists no such thing as an organism that belongs to one species at some point, then morphs by some mysterious process into another species at some other point. The fertilised human egg is an entire, living, complete member of the human species from the moment of conception and will remain so for ever. There is no ‘degree of human-ness’.

I suggest that, instead of pursuing statements of questionable accuracy and combining them with random spurious accusations, it would be far more useful to address instead the central ethical question surrounding the embryo: what value ought society to place on human life at the earliest stages of development?

Ivan Padovani – Msida

Not in the public interest

It is with shock and dismay that, each day, we read and, worse, see the total disconnect between the Planning Authority and the desires of the Maltese public and local officials.

The authority’s complete disregard for environmental, tourist, sustainable, aesthetic and heritage issues is completely mind-boggling.

Perhaps it should be renamed the Maltese Developers Planning Authority?

In the spirit of Daphne Caruana Galizia, I would suggest “follow the money” to see whose interests the Planning Authority truly serves. It certainly isn’t the public’s.

Maria Zammit – Sliema

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