I have read with much interest MEPA's response (The Sunday Times, July 20) to Dr Saliba's letter titled MEPA's failure to act which appeared a week earlier.
I too was expecting some similar response to my correspondence entitled Appeal for Appropriate and Correct Application of the Law (The Sunday Times, July 6). But I reminded myself, that my correspondence had referred to grave abuses in detail, not only at MEPA, but also by a good number of departments and other authorities. Perhaps, these authorities are still deliberating whether to mock-up jointly or individually some form of reply in an attempt to justify any of the abuses described. To date, this reply has not materialised.
On the contrary, it was Dr Saliba and others who replied to MEPA's response. These letters provided more relevant details and further interesting questions for MEPA to answer. But will MEPA respond? My experience, in a very similar situation, suggests that MEPA will keep mum.
I recall that when a letter of mine appeared years ago in The Malta Independent, MEPA's PRO replied with a brief letter entitled Wrong entry: Sorry. My response to the PRO's succinct apologies drew his attention to corrupt acts at the PA (now MEPA). This latter was never answered. For those who may have some interest in such matters, I refer them to The Malta Independent of April 28, May 5 and May 29, 2000.
My experiences convince me that the authorities (at all levels) do not treat the complaints raised by the citizen objectively. Each authority, for its own particular reasons, manages to manipulate and confuse matters so that many legitimate complaints are ignored or shelved. The authorities also manage to treat with complete disregard articles appearing in the press.
This is a reflection of the abhorrent arrogant attitude of the men who wield temporary usurped power only in their own interest. It is most deplorable that the media make little effort to expose this festering rot gnawing on the authorities' actual and perceived integrity and respectability.
As a typical example, I once again draw attention to the Administrative Secretary's failure, over a period of ten years, to respond to hundreds of letters addressed to his office and to the press. And yet, the Administrative Secretary frequently reminds us through the media of the introduction of Quality Civil Service Charters. But when did the media ever report on the effectiveness of these so-called Civil Service Charters?
Another glaring example: the attention of responsible ministers has often been drawn in the press regarding abuses on a particular pig farm, complete with pictures similar to the one above. Yet, high ranking Health Department and Veterinary Services officials, as well as MEPA, either ignore such reports completely, do not take action or else provide statements contradicting evident facts, such as:
¤ "No dung was found on site except for a very small quantity",
¤ "The pigsty was found to be clean even before cleaning had taken place",
¤ "No goats were found on site" (department files indcate the very opposite)
¤ "The PA could not determine whether buildings erected around 1998 were illegal or not as the PA could not trace any permits issued for such buidings"
¤ reports regarding regular transfer of pigs illegally were never acted upon.
Perhaps worse, responsible ministers refuse to meet complainants to discuss such acts of corruption within organisations falling within their responsibilities. Is it the ministers then who are corrupt?
Everyone knows that even the President's and the Archbishop's references to corrupt practices must have fallen on deaf ears. Then the media acquiesces by remaining quasi silent and practically dormant.
However, I can personally affirm that I do receive support from the press. But did the press, utilising its potential clout, take this and similar cases seriously? How many leading articles in the press or discussion programmes in the media have treated the subject matter 'institutionalised corruption'?
It is therefore the citizens who must somehow get to grips with the situation. The citizen's rights are a fundamental issue and as citizens we cannot permit our administrators to ride roughshod and arrogantly and abusively continue to ignore our rights. If the media continue to avoid playing their part, I urge all those who have been deprived of their rights to get the courage to publicly voice their grievances, as Dr Saliba and Ms Bartolo have done.
I also remind our parliamentarians that their contributions in parliament should primarily reflect the citizens' needs. Their participation in parliamentary debates, bar exceptional circumstances, should not be influenced, much less dictated, by party or personal interest. I remind our members of parliament that they represent the citizens, not a party and certainly not themselves. Or are all Maltese a flock of naghag ta' Bendu?
I close by encouraging other citizens to emulate Dr Saliba and others. Citizens must learn to endure all forms of intimidation but still persist in fighting for their rights. Maltese citizens must learn to start showing respect and/or reverence to men in office only when they deserve such respect, to men who without any shadow of doubt do genuinely respect the citizen, whoever that citizen might be. Respect is not a deferential attitude but a reciprocal one.