Reference is made to the Times of Malta article ‘No comment by civil service head on minister’s solo trips’ (June 15).

For reasons known only to your correspondent, he was, yet again, neither accurate nor factual when referring to what was said by the principal permanent secretary.

The principal permanent secretary explicitly informed the correspondent that he had already submitted a Freedom of Information request about the subject. The request mirrored the same questions he fielded during the press conference and, therefore, he ought to wait for the formal reply. Your correspondent also knows all too well that the minister concerned had already answered, on a separate occasion, your correspondent’s queries and comments.

The insistence for an answer, as reported by your correspondent, does not equate with one resorting to a shouting match and not giving space to other journalists to field their questions. It equates to a matter of journalistic decency or a lack thereof.