Justice delayed

The news that long-awaited legal amendments to address court delays have reached “an advanced stage” is very welcome.

I, like many other people, have had my own experience of lengthy court delays  and it is about time that the authorities do something about this problem.

In the past, I had suggested the setting up of a standing working committee to address this issue. Retired judges, magistrates, prosecution and defence lawyers and court officials could all be involved.

Would it help if members of the judiciary are given additional staff? But the crux of this huge problem is that our courts are hampered by a procedure which is centuries old and completely obsolete.  Public opinion tends to blame the judiciary but is such criticism fair in all the cases? 

I would let the experts study, discuss and propose the best way forward. Would the legal procedures of other countries help update our system? Whatever the case, very urgent and immediate action is now called for. 

FRANS H. SAID – St Paul’s Bay

Thank you from Pakistan

I would like to thank everyone who sent donations to the Mission Fund based in Mosta.

As always, such donations are of great relief and joy to so many who are in need.

Last month, I received a generous donation of €2,500 from the Mission Fund, Mosta. A good part of this donation will go to Abid, who will be ordained a priest this year.

Also, we are helping poor children pay for their school fees, books and uniforms. We want to give these children a good education to help them have a better future.

A sum of €500 is sent to help people with COVID to buy medicines.

Please continue sending donations and used stamps to the Mission Fund, Eureka Court, Block A, Flat 6, Main Street, Mosta MST1018.

Donations may be made online or by direct bank transfer to one of the following accounts.

BOV: IBAN NO. MT70VALL22013000000016300798022; APS:  IBAN NO. MT67APSB77079005231820000820762; BNF: IBAN NO. MT94BNIF1450200000000087963101; LOM: IBAN NO. MT 65LBMA05000000000001440822115

More information is available at www.missionfund.org.mt.

With renewed gratitude and prayers for our dear benefactors, living and dead. God bless you all.

SR JOSEPHINE BORG– Franciscan Missionaries of Mary, Renala Khurd, Pakistan

Electricity pricing

When the government pumps money into Enemalta it is a form of state aid and may be questionable under EU law. Photo: Mark Zammit Cordina

The recent admission by the government that it is pumping over €200 million into Enemalta in order to ensure that electricity prices do not go up in spite of the extreme price increases for oil, gas and LNG in the world is surprising as the Maltese government owns only 67 per cent of Enemalta.

Many other countries are helping their citizens in different ways to ensure that the poorest do not suffer. This is commendable.

However, in the case of Malta, unlike all other countries in the EU, where there is open competition in the liberated electricity market, we do not have price increases met by government subsidies to consumers, we have a monopoly situation with only one supplier: Enemalta.

When the government pumps money into Enemalta it is a form of state aid and may be questionable under EU law. Secondly, by pumping money into the enterprise instead of allowing market-driven price increases covered by state subsidies to individual citizens, which would be allowed by EU law, Malta is keeping the market value of Enemalta stable without raising energy prices.

What is utterly wrong with this method to keep the credit rating of Enemalta is that the Maltese government only owns 67 per cent of Enemalta and, by pumping the necessary funds into the company, it is indirectly paying the other co-owner of Enemalta 33 per cent of all that is paid.

The other owner happens to be one of the largest economies of the world, the Communist People’s Republic of China.

Why should our tax money go towards paying China and why is China as co-owner not paying in its share of Enemalta’s potential losses? I presume that a board decision of the shareholders has been taken and recorded at Enemalta, whereby the shareholders agreed not to raise the price of Electricity but to keep it stable.

They took a decision to force Enemalta into losses but to cover these losses each year... Both parties took part in that decision and, in my opinion, both parties should pay in their share of these losses. I calculate that €200 million is 67 per cent (the share of the Maltese government) of €298 million. The other party, Shanghai Electric (sive the Chinese government), should be paying in €98 million to Enemalta for every €200 million paid in by the Maltese government.

If they are doing this then it is a fair deal. If not, we are sending our tax money to China because the value of their shares remains stable only thanks to the pumping of our Maltese tax money into Enemalta.

What would the governor of the Central Bank say to this?

What do Labour voters say to this? Don’t they feel as cheated as I do?

JOHN VASSALLO – St Julian’s