editorial

Waiting for decisions to be taken

The recent furore over the Commissioner of Police has taken many journalists by surprise. What is worse is that some of them have opted to take a stance which stinks of servile-ism and bigotry.

Now that the surface water appears more than murky, we still see signs of intransigence from the politicians.

We have to say it but government handled the whole episode in an admirably quixotic way.

The government, as we have said before, stood its ground, unwilling to let any cracks shows.

But cracks have appeared.

There is need for a decision here. The worst thing in politics is to have a decision taken for you.

The problem with the Commissioner is not what has happened but rather what will happen.

If one thinks that the Media will rest as grass grows over this story, we are all very mistaken.

The credibility of this institution is at stake and with it, that of the Government.

As we focus on the Commissioner one cannot help not linking the Secret Service with a throwback to an American spy film.

When MaltaToday published a story that secret service men were following the woman who reported that she had allegedly been sexually abused by the Commissioner, there was no reaction.

No one seems to have noted that the Commissioner is also the Head of the Secret Service.
What will it take to rock the government into making some clarifications?

Abuse at the Planning Authority

Another story we carry in today’s issue refers to abuse or, better still, a case of corruption at the Planning Authority. We are shocked to learn that corruption exists at lower levels at the Planning Authority and other levels. More so, when we know that this Institution is a relatively young institution. The stories that this newspaper will be publishing in the near future uncover very serious abuses.

They are very worrying and they call for a governing body within the Planning Authority that double checks on the activities of many of the officers who work within the structure.

We are talking here of projects that cost or are costed at millions of Maltese Liri, if the future of a project depends on a small number of individuals, there is no doubt that time and time again, there will be events that will lead to pressures on certain officers.

This is not an untimely suggestion or a speculative shot in the dark – it is based on the information that has been gathered by the MaltaToday news team.

Once again the credibility and function of this Institution lies with the government.

Are we missing something here?

On rain and roads

The Summer will soon be over and gladly the heat will be replaced by cooler weather. But those who live in valley bottoms or waterways will be praying for no rain.

The rains will bring floods, disaster, damage and occasionally, death.

The new roads that are being constructed have integrated proper canal systems, but many others cannot take normal rainfall.

Year in year out, the media laments the disasters that confront our roads and little is done. A combination of retarded planning, financial constraints and limited expertise does very little to help.