|
Your letters
The
forced repatriation of Muslims
From Andrew Sultana, Sliema
I REFER to
the letter by Carmelo Micallef, (MaltaToday 24 June, 2001) who
stated that, ‘I am not worrying about myself since I am 52
years old. I am worrying about Maltese future generations. We
cannot ignore that at the moment we are witnessing a peaceful
penetration of Muslim men into our very small society of unmarried
Maltese women.
‘Intermarriage
between European Christian Maltese women and Muslim men will lead
to a natural Malta conversion from Roman Catholic (sic) to Islam.
Malta’s female population is only 175,586!’
‘Take
action now’
Apart from
puzzling briefly on the intriguing question as to what action
Mr Micallef expects to be taken (curfews and chaperones for our
unmarried women? forced repatriation of all Muslims?) and by whom
(the Sex Police? vigilantes? ecclesiastical crack troops?) one
would be tempted to simply shrug and turn the page. Some people
are just like that. Sad, but there’s nothing you can do about
it. Possibly the kinder of us would feel vaguely sorry for the
nearest and dearest of someone who so obviously wears his underpants
on his head.
Which is
where we’re wrong. Mr Micallef definitely comes under Type
B, a sort of miner’s canary telling us that odourless, invisible,
gases are seeping through the coal-mine, which will, unless unchecked,
make the world a highly explosive place to live in. Most of us
would distance ourselves from the contents of this letter, but
can we honestly say we’ve never thought anything along the
same lines? Has no one you know ever expressed a (let’s be
nice) concern that there might just be a mite too many of our
brethren from the South around?
If I didn’t
know for a fact that racism doesn’t exist here, I’d
be tempted to say that Maltese are just the tiniest bit selective
when handing out their famed friendliness and hospitality. Any
film featuring the Ku Klux Klan horrifies us and fills us with
righteous indignation (it couldn’t happen here), and half
of us wouldn’t mind seeing Slobodan skinned and then boiled
in lemon juice. So I’m sure that Mr Micallef is a lone voice
crying in the wilderness here. Right?
By the way,
the editor inserted a disclaimer to the effect that the contents
of the letter did not expess the opinion of the paper. I’m
sure he felt that any other comment would be superfluous, the
letter damning itself, as it stood. In fact, I have a feeling
he feels the same way about this as I do, and wanted to give the
extremists enough rope.
And I’m
sure our church leaders, famed for their tolerance, were just
as shocked at this supremely intolerant, bigoted, crass and ignorant
letter, as I was. I must have missed their letters of protest,
but I’m sure I can find them if I look hard enough.
Nothing
new indeed
From A
Spiteri DeBarro, General secretary MGRA
The editorial
of one of our local newspaper, commented about ‘Tourism:
Points to reflect upon’. The points that were brought up
are nothing new. The truth is that nothing has been done and the
country kept on deteriorating to the worst. May I bring some vital
facts this industry is facing, facts we must reflect on seriously.
Let us start by refreshing the comments made by the Chairman of
The International Federation of Tour Operators, Mr Martin Blackenbury
nearly two years ago, where he was reported saying that Malta
is fast becoming a third class tourist destination.
The first
blow that hit this sector was the implication of VAT and the way
it was implemented. Malta and Gozo Restaurant Association (MGRA)
warned then, that this tax will have an impact on the tourism
sector. Since then, tourist earnings and incoming tourists dropped
gradually, the results speak for themselves, as was reported recently
by statistics.
To add insult
to injury, The Malta Tourism Authority (MTA) recommended that
the Minister of Tourism, Dr Michael Refalo increased the contributions
(NTOM) tariffs by 500 to 300% in some sectors by 1000%, without
consultation and without realising the consequences that such
moves would have on our competitivity. The introduction of 50
cents tax daily to use a skip, plus the monthly rental, which
works out to Lm396 yearly, and the implementation of the VAT on
Travel Agents.
When year
after year,Malta is experiencing these negative results in this
sector, is it sensible to continue implementing more tax?
Despite the
protest warnings to Dr Michael Refalo by constituted bodies and
in Parliament, by the Shadow Minister for Tourism Karmenu Vella
to re-think and revise this tax, this so far has fallen on deaf
ears.
What has
been done to protect our environment? The MGRA and others warned
several times that something has to be done to control the infrastructure.
Unfortunately
the country has continued at a fast pace in the construction of
hotels and projects without adequate planning and serious studies,
thus resulting in a negative impact on the environment. The Minister
of Tourism, Dr M Refalo also commented about this.
The MGRA
asks whether anything is new about the critics we read in local
newspapers about the disgusting state of some areas with piled
up garbage, the degrading state of St Julians and the Paceville
area has been left in. Public cleaning, broken pavements and potholed
roads, lack of public conveniences, now the country is being classified
as the Islands of sun and garbage.
Is it new
that very summer some of our beaches are unsuitable for swimming
due to the overflowing of sewage into the sea or overflowing into
the streets? Numerous times the electricity is cut off, especially
in the tourist areas. The MGRA asks what has been done by the
Authority in the past years to avoid all this? What must be reflected
on seriously to strengthen the tourist industry is by not hammering
more nails in the tourism coffin, by introducing more tax on this
sector so we keep this industry competitive with our competitive
neighbours. It is also vital to protect the environment.
The Authority
must stop encouraging speculators to destroy our historical inheritance
like Cottonera, where every house in the Three Cities has a story
behind it. Not neglecting our historical sites, monuments and
old churches like the oldest church in Bormla that fore told the
birth of Christ.
Finally,
before the MTA continue spending millions of pounds on advertising
Malta to attract more tourists to visit our country, they must
reflect on all this. The MTA must also bear in mind that the best
publicity for Malta is that each visitor to the Islands is considered
an Ambassador. They are the ones who will recommend to others
whether to visit our country or not.
To conclude,
I would like to bring to your attention that the MGRA do not exclude
the fact that some restaurants offer poor service. Why does the
finger always point at restaurant owners? Has any survey been
carried out to see what quality of service is being provided in
hotels that cater to tourists on package tours, such as the all-inclusive
and full-board?
|
