|
Your letters
Boathouses
at Armier
From Joseph Muscat, Mosta
Some
people call them boathouses, but are they? I think it is more
appropriate to call them summer residences: Still, whatever one
calls them they are illegal. It started by people realising what
a lovely spot Armier is, especially during the summer and before
you knew it we had every Tom, Dick and Harry bringing over a truckload
of bricks and building his heaven on public land. Grab wherever
you can, a very nice principle indeed.
Finally
we are doing something to protect this prime site which belongs
to all the Maltese and not to some few. It would be a great mistake
to allow discrimination. Whatever is illegal should be pulled
down without any allowances as to when it was built.
If
I have understood correctly, the Opposition is not against the
demolition either. If this is indeed so, I congratulate both the
Government and the Opposition because they are defending a National
interest.
To
be honest, the Government, on the other hand, should provide another
site for people who cannot buy or lease a property for the summer
which will be near the sea. This does not mean that the sea has
to be on their doorsteps.
Even
when people want to buy and are ready to spend good money, in
most cases it is difficult to find something that is exactly to
their taste. This government land should be leased to these people
against a moderate rent (not a commercial rate) and if possible
no business without the government knowledge should be introduced
in the area. The site should be designed with all the services
possible, especially drainage facilities.
One
last thing regarding Mr Gauci’s letter in your last issue
of your newspaper. He believes that if demolition occurs, the
Government should give something in return, on the basis that
the boathouse builders are tax payers. Everybody is a taxpayer
and the Government is already giving something in return; free
health services, hospitalisation, children’s allowance etc.
This
Mr Gauci started his letter with the phrase Leave Armier Alone.
The authorities would have left Armier alone if these people had
not invaded this place and made a jungle out of it, at the citizens’
expense.
The
Pope’s visit
From
Michael Grech
Now
that the fever generated by the Pope's visit is starting to abate,
the time has come to make a serious assessment as to the impact
that the visit has had on the local religious milieu. Personally,
I think that if one were to go beyond the heart-on-sleeve Catholicism
and beatification paraphernalia that have been all but too prominent
in the last few weeks, one would find that the Pope's visit has
had a negative effect on the local religious set-up. All the talk
about a religious renewal induced by the Pope's visit proves that
the event has blinded the local Catholic establishment as to the
crisis that the church has been undergoing over the past few years.
Fortunately,
the days when people followed blindly what their parish priest
said are gone. Yet, the church has moved from the extreme of being
an absolutist autocrat of the country's conscience to the irrelevant
role of moral non entity. Allthough it is still able to rally
the masses, it has lost the ability to reach people's consciences.
A dynamic church would provide constant food for thought for the
rest of society to ponder upon. In these days riddled by self-centredness
and consumerism, it should also provide a voice to the voiceless.
It ought to be a sign of contradiction. Unfortunately, the Maltese
Church is far from being such a sign.
The
local Church is undergoing a profound crisis. Not only has church
attendance dwindled. Even regular churchgoers seem to pay no regard
to the church's teaching in matters as diverse as religious doctrine.
The
Church has lost its semantic character, since a lot of people
simply choose to ignore it.
Notwithstanding
all this, those responsible remain oblivious to the situation.
This has inhibited them from asking important questions with respect
to the causes of the present crisis. The Pope's visit did not
prove beneficial in this regard. Rather, it has exposed the reactionary
facets of the local brand of Catholicism.
Papal
triumphalism was at its most reactionary best. Christ, who ought
to be the centre of any Christian manifestation was assigned a
minor role. Even the presentation of the persons beatified exemplified
the reactionary dogmatism typical of the local variant of Catholicism.
The three were presented as role models to be emulated literally.
No one dared to examine them critically; analysing their merits
and their limitations.
Finally
(if you allow me the digression), another facet that the papal
visit has definitely exposed is the pretentiousness of our political
set-up's European credentials. It has confirmed that our young
Republic has not yet come to terms with the secular implications
that its democratic institutions ought to imply.
In
this respect, the streamer displayed by the MZPN, ahna djjem warajk
stood out a mile. Not only is it wrong for a political organisation
to promise blind allegiance to any particular individual, one
should be faithful to principles, not persons, it also smacks
of bigotry if the person in question happens to be a religious
figure. It cannot but remind one of the Iranian youths pledging
their allegiance to Khomeni during the 1979 revolution. One definitely
cannot associate it with the Europe the MZPN wants Malta to be
part of, a Europe built on the secular principles of the French
revolution of 1789.
A
few suggestions
From
Luke Desira, Kirkop
I
am an avid follower of current local and international affairs
and as such I am a regular reader of the MaltaToday. I should
suggest that the MaltaToday include a weekly survey about hot
issues that affect the public directly in this way attracting
the attention of the local media through issues such as EU membership,
PN leadership etc. Everyone knows that surveys carried out by
Xarabank are given prominent media coverage and because of this
I am sure that the carrying out of such surveys would benefit
MaltaToday and its readers.
This
survey should be placed on the front page of the paper and it
should be extensively advertised in your campaign on Televixin
(Net TV) as well as on the magazine, Sunday Circle.
I
sincerely hope that you consider these suggestions.
Don
Bosco Oratory in Gozo
From
Raymond C Xerri. Qala, Gozo
It
is very encouraging to see new management in the Don Bosco Oratory
in Victoria, Gozo, one of the nation's oldest centres of its kind.
For years since I can remember this was a huge complex which was
left in an abandoned state with very little activity and lack
of organisation.
Today,
the Don Bosco Oratory has returned to its past glory, presenting
productions on a regular basis, showing films each week. There
is efficient organisation and the Oratory is fulfilling its mandate
not only to youths but also citizens of all ages in Victoria and
from all over Gozo. The Don Bosco Oratory is contributing to a
new cultural awakening in Gozo attracting not only Gozitans but
also many Maltese and foreign tourists visiting Gozo.
From
the archives
From
Mario Sant, Birzebbuga
Every
Monday on Super One Radio at 8.15pm, I present "From the
Archives" a 30-minute programme in which I take a look at
some newspaper pages from the past. Every week I go through some
oldies and comment on articles and news that I think would interest
my listeners most. News which was capturing all the headlines,
together with sports news, theatre, cinema, entertainment, culture,
literature, humour, broadcasting, anniversaries, obituaries, court
news and much more. My programme would appeal to veteran listeners
because it could help them recall some events, which they may
have lived through back in the old days. Youngsters would be interested
because they could easily hear something which although in reality
quite old is completely new to them.
Please
feel free to contact me if you are interested in participating
in my programme, especially if you have kept some newspaper cuttings
throughout the years, either in scrapbooks or tucked away in a
drawer.
I
invite you all to write to the following address: Mario Sant,
19, St Edward, Triq tal-Gebel, Birzebbuga, BBG 07.
|
