It is a sad reality that most societies are losing the respect they once had for the elderly. Many older people who can no longer support themselves end up living the last years of their lives in an institution.

The least that a public institution for the care of the elderly can do is to offer a sheltered and safe environment with all the facilities that one needs for living comfortably. The dietary requirements of such people demand facilities and equipment that are indispensable to cater for their needs. A modern well-equipped kitchen is a must-have in every residential home catering for the elderly.

The announcement by JustyneCaruana, the Parliamentary Secretary responsible for the Elderly, that the kitchen of St Vincent de Paul is no longer fit for purpose and will be replaced by a modern facility may have shocked some people. Many still find it difficult to believe that older people are often treated as second class citizens. So the solution being proposed by Dr Caruana is most welcome not only to St Vincent de Paul residents and their relatives, but also to those who treasure the role of older people in society.

The government was wrong not to publish the report that has led to the decision to build a new kitchen atSt Vincent de Paul. It is importantfor the public to understand whythis facility was left to deteriorate, who was responsible for the lack of maintenance, and why it is now necessary to spend €3 million to build a new kitchen.

The €3 million price tag that has been put on this project raises a number of issues and caveats that need to be addressed by the government. This project is being financed by taxpayers’ money and, irrespective of the urgency, good governance of public funds demands that this money is spent in the most cost-effective way. Urgent public projects can still be completed expeditiously if the political will exists to conduct a transparent process for securing the best prices for the different components of such a project.

In the last few years the public was shocked by how certain big ticket items of public expenditure had been handled abusively by a few leaders of government organisations who were ina position of trust. These abusivepractices are often encouraged by insufficient overseeing of those who are appointed to serve on public entities.

The Auditor General reports on various irregularities that he comes across when auditing the way that public funds are spent by government departments and other public entities. However, it is often too late to take remedial action when bad practices or outright abuse in the expenditure of public funds is discovered.

The government will do well to entrust the management of major public projects to experienced privateproject management organisations that for a fee are held responsible for the delivery of public projects on time, within objectives, and within the budget set by a particular ministry. The money paid for such expertise is money well spent and in the long run will benefit the taxpayer who is fed up of seeing his hard earned taxes being wasted.

The kitchen project is a sizeable one that needs to be managed in a transparent way with no cutting of corners.