The former head of the Civil Protection Department Peter Cordina has been 'rescued' from retirement with requests to lecture children about his experience. Kurt Sansone catches a glimpse of this man's 43-year career.

There is something about the post-war baby boom generation; they simply do not know when to stop working. Peter Cordina, the former director of the Civil Protection Department, is no exception.

As Mr Cordina ascends the four flights of stairs to the studio where he is to be interviewed, the retired rescuer says he is inundated with calls from parish priests and schools to recount his experience to children.

The 61-year-old retired a few weeks ago and despite his pledge soon after to take things easy, he is busy evaluating all sorts of proposals coming his way. It is a fitting end to a 43-year-long career in various uniformed corps and possibly the start of a hectic retirement period where knowledge is passed down to the younger generations.

Mr Cordina, an affable and media-friendly character, is one of those rare breeds who started his career as a police officer in 1967, then served in the army, went on to become prisons director before taking up the post of Civil Protection head when the department was first set up as a separate entity 10 years ago.

He is popularly known as the harbinger of storms, his voice gracing the airwaves warning people not to pass through flood-prone areas each time the heavens start to open.

"I was once in Rabat and overheard an elderly man describing me to his friend as the 'man of storms', which is a good thing since people could relate positively to the work done by the Civil Protection Department," he says with a smile.

There have been instances when the CPD was accused of being alarmist with its persistent warnings to motorists but Mr Cordina is not fazed by the criticism.

"Sometimes we have warnings of major storms approaching the island but, given our size they pass us by. In such circumstances I prefer erring on the side of caution because flooding does worry me, especially during school opening and closing times when children are out and about," he says.

Flooding seems to be a perennial problem with politicians spouting a lot of talk but doing little to solve the problem in key areas like Birkirkara and Msida. The next phase of flood relief projects will see the creation of tunnels to channel storm water off the streets and into the valleys.

Mr Cordina is not one to indulge in controversy and gives the authorities the benefit of the doubt, expressing confidence that the project will be completed. He points out that some works carried out over the years have alleviated the dangers of flooding, especially in Birkirkara and Qormi.

"Maybe in the past, when we were still building up areas like Birkirkara and Msida, we did not realise the problems we would create in terms of flooding," he says.

People have started to learn, he maintains, and although some persist in indulging in risky behaviour whenever a storm hits the island, the CPD has witnessed lower incidences of stalled cars in water-clogged roads.

But flooding is not simply a concern related to his former post as CPD head. It also brings bad memories of a particular incident at the beginning of his police career, which remained imprinted in his memory.

"I had just been appointed inspector in charge of the mobile squad in the 1970s. We went to assist a woman from Attard who unfortunately drowned in her own well after flood waters burst the walls of her basement. It is a bad feeling when innocent people die like that," he says.

With the vivid scenes of Haitians struggling to survive after a devastating earthquake killed more than 200,000 people still fresh in people's minds, is Malta prepared to handle a similar situation if it ever arises?

His answer is an unequivocal "yes" but he is also comforted by the instant aid Malta would be afforded by other EU member states as part of a European-wide disaster relief coordination effort.

"In such situations it is not just the CPD but also the police, army and other voluntary organisations that would contribute to the effort and these amount to thousands of people. Over the years we have also trained rescuers abroad in urban search and rescue," he explains, pointing out that there is a national council coordinated by the minister which brings together all the important stakeholders.

However, he also banks on the Maltese people's generosity: "I am sure that if we were to ask people to help us in disaster relief efforts, the whole nation would respond positively."

A new headache for rescuers has emerged in the past 15 years with the construction of high-rise buildings that continue to sprout up all over the island. Is the CPD equipped to tackle a fire in these buildings?

"We are equipped to tackle fires in buildings that rise to 12 or 13 storeys. Going any higher would require bigger vehicles, which would not pass through our roads. However, not even in other countries with much higher buildings do they have fire engines that reach the top. Our emphasis has to be on safety measures implemented at construction phase. The CPD gives its advice to Mepa when construction applications come before it," he says.

Even though he shuns controversy, Mr Cordina's career was not shorn of it.

In the 1990s he headed the police's Administrative Law Enforcement unit and on one occasion they were called in to investigate claims that dogs housed at a sanctuary in Manoel Island were mistreated.

The police had come under heavy fire from environmentalists at the time for allegedly shooting the dogs, which were found in a poor state of health.

Mr Cordina says the police action was "misjudged" at the time and laments the unfairness of being labelled "monsters".

He recalls the episode with displeasure given that he loves animals - he has six cats and two dogs at home - and insists he has a clear conscience on the matter.

The police had gone on site with the government vet. The sanctuary was run by Freddie Fenech, a former policeman and founder of the Association for Abandoned Animals, who today faces charges of fraud related to the running of the association.

"We saw horrible scenes of sick dogs, cats and birds. It was the vet's opinion there was no hope of saving the sick animals and they had to be put down on site," Mr Cordina says, denying accusations levelled at the time that the police shot the animals.

"It was the vet who put them down in a very humane way. Mr Fenech was not there at the time and he did not see what actually happened. I feel sorry for the animals but we were only following the vet's orders. I have a clear conscience on the issue. Our hearts cried out for those animals," he says.

The Manoel Island incident was not the only controversy Mr Cordina had to face.

Public outcry had ensued over what was believed to have been rescuers' slow reaction when a mother and her 18-month-old son drowned after their car plunged into the sea during the 2001 Freedom Day regatta. The incident had shocked the nation.

The husband was subsequently found guilty of negligently causing the death of his wife and son after it was established that the car, which was parked on water's edge in Cospicua, had a faulty handbrake.

"I am not scared of criticism but I do not think it was justified. There was a patrol boat in the vicinity and people did jump into the sea to try and save the woman and her child. However, in the circumstances I doubt much more could have been done to rescue the victims," Mr Cordina says.

He defends the rescuers' actions and insists they have a protocol to follow. While doing their utmost to save lives, he adds, rescuers cannot endanger their own safety even if they would be more than willing to do so.

"We were often criticised over the handling of fireworks factory explosions. The most recent heart-wrenching one was at Naxxar. Everybody was urging us to enter the disaster area to save people. I could not do this because if there was still explosive material going off, and few people realise that water can make the situation worse, I would have endangered the lives of my people and possibly caused a bigger disaster," he explains.

It is a psyche that the man in the street, possibly influenced by the heroics seen in films, might not understand. The obvious question that pops up in the minds of common mortals witnessing a terrible disaster scene unfold in front of them is: 'why are rescuers doing nothing?'

However, for Mr Cordina those minutes of what seems like inaction are not "nothing" but serious analysis of the situation at hand.

"During an accident or disaster somebody needs to take a backseat and evaluate the holistic picture. The same holds for car accidents, which are among the worst scenarios that any rescuer in Malta could face.

It would be irresponsible for us to simply pull out victims from their vehicle without assessing their medical condition because we may be causing more harm than good," he says, insisting protecting people's lives is a rescuer's paramount priority followed by the protection of private property.

Time is of importance, he adds, but rushing simply because people are urging rescuers to do so is dangerous.

Danger is sine qua non for people like Mr Cordina but he has a different take on what is probably considered by many to be a very dangerous job, that of prison director.

The media-influenced images of hard-core criminals creating all sorts of trouble, abusing each other and constantly clashing with prison officials are not what Mr Cordina recalls.

He avoids the use of the word "prisoners" and describes his two-year stint at the Corradino Correctional Facility as a "learning experience".

"People think prison is a horrible and terrible place with God-knows-what kinds of people, but it is also a human place. People end up in there because they did something bad but they have a right to be treated in a decent manner and be given the chance to reform themselves," he says.

As director it is important to listen to their concerns, he explains, since it is one way in which they find some form of relief.

"From experience, many people end up in prison because life would have treated them badly; their friends or even family would have let them down. We condemn them for what they have done but I had to understand the circumstances that could have led them down the wrong path," he says.

But his compassion must not be confused with justification for the crimes perpetrated by prison inmates.

"I do not justify their crimes and I understand the pain caused to victims. They have to pay for their crime. However, prison must not mean retribution but a chance to reform. Everybody has something to offer society," he says.

It goes without saying that Mr Cordina agrees with the introduction of parole. He views this as a positive development for society as much as for the prisoners themselves.

Parole is a way in which inmates get a chance to integrate in society before their sentence is up, he argues, giving prisoners the chance to prove they have put their bad ways behind them.

However, he agrees that not everybody deserves to be granted parole.

Every inmate has to be profiled and screened to determine whether parole would be beneficial to him and society.

Mr Cordina's police career was somewhat of an inherited trait: his father, uncles and grandfather all served in the force.

He admits there are a few bad apples but is reluctant to tar everybody with the same brush when asked about the bullying attitude of some police officers.

Of course, the words "bad apples" are not his. He speaks in a more measured tone about his former colleagues. While condemning violence and thuggery he understands there may be circumstances when police officers lose their cool.

"We are all human and you have to see the circumstances that would have led to such a situation. Unfortunately, it does happen that sometimes a policeman loses his cool," he says, admitting it sometimes happened to him as well.

Mr Cordina insists the police are there to protect society and this should be the message schoolchildren are given.

He refutes any suggestion that the police force generally adopt a racist attitude towards illegal immigrants.

"There may be few who feel they are superior because of difference in skin colour. But I do not think there is a general problem of racism. We treat immigrants well and contribute to their wellbeing."

Watch excerpts of the interview on timesofmalta.com