Good advice!
I was struck by what the Archbishop of York, Stephen Cottrell, wrote in The Sunday Telegraph (October 17) in the wake of the recent murder in cold blood of the British MP Sir David Amess. Here, especially in light of the situation in Malta, are just a few notable quotations:
“He exemplified that vital, but overlooked, root of our democracy that members of Parliament may get elected on a party ticket but, once elected, serve everyone… He and I did not see eye to eye on some political issues. But this didn’t matter. Or, rather, the fact that it doesn’t matter matters hugely for the flourishing of our democracy. Disagreement wasn’t a cause of enmity or division. Disagreement didn’t mean separation. Yet, it is precisely this that we see around us in so much of the trench warfare of current public and political discourse, the vitriolic and ever amplifying echo chambers of social media now invading other areas of life…
“The picture of humanity that God gives us in Jesus Christ offers something else. In this regard perhaps the most radical words Jesus ever spoke are the ones most of us know and many of us say every day ‘Our Father’. In saying these words, we don’t just acknowledge we belong to God, we acknowledge our belonging to each other as kith and kin.”
If only we could express ourselves similarly in regard to a good number of our local politicians!
Anthony Curmi – St Julian’s
A metro system
I received an attractive leaflet regarding Transport Malta’s ‘Public Presentation for a Proposal of a Metro System’.
Neither Nationalist governments over many years nor Labour ones over several years have ever succeeded in creating an efficient and reliable public bus service that should have resulted in reducing cars on the roads.
The bus service should have been easy to organise as the roads were ready; they only had to purchase buses, train staff to design and handle routes and employ drivers to drive. How can anyone possibly believe that they are capable of designing, let alone building, a metro system?
Derek Fenech – Sliema
Sleeping policemen
Whoever is laying out sleeping policemen on our roads does not realise that they are being made far too high, in that the vehicle passing through goes into a mighty bump when going over them. Control of the vehicle, in fact, is lost at the moment of impact with this “new design”.
In fact, they are so high that they are all being scarred by the oil sumps of vehicles. Why can’t we continue using the hard rubber ones, which are lower and require far less maintenance?
If one wishes to try them out, then he/she is welcome to drive up and down Dingli Street, in Sliema.
David Demajo – St Julian’s
Spineless local council
I booked a furniture removals company to vacate our mother’s flat in Sliema and I obtained the necessary ‘no parking’ signs for two parking places from the local council. On arrival on the due date, to my consternation, I found two cars parked there, blatantly ignoring the ‘no parking’ signs.
I immediately phoned the local council which, in turn, replied that they were not going to tow these two cars. So much for the €10 parking permit!
To add insult to injury, the bulky refuse which I had arranged with the local council to be collected the next day remained there without even being collected. Unbelievable!
Is this a sign that the local council is aiding and abetting the rampant impunity that is running rife in the country? I can’t help but think so
Helen Sciberras – San Ġwann