interview

On anthrax scares and earthquake fears

He headed the ALE during one of its most difficult times and has endured great personal sadness. But as head of Malta’s Civil Protection Department, Peter Cordina at last seems to have found his ideal role, as MIRIAM DUNN discovers

To the man in the street, Malta’s range of rescue services can be somewhat confusing. Who carries out rescues at sea? Who cuts trapped motorists out of their vehicles? Who helps a cat stuck in a shaft? Is it the army, the SAG, the firefighters? And where exactly do those worthy NGOs fit in, such as the Red Cross and the St Johns Rescue?

When I arranged to interview Peter Cordina, head of Malta’s Civil Protection Department, I was keen to hear whether these diverse and plentiful services manage to co-ordinate their operations effectively or whether, as has sometimes been reported, bureaucracy or even inter-rivalry sometimes hinders the work at hand.

Mr Cordina smiles slightly when I put this line of thought to him.

"I don’t mind admitting that we did use to have problems of overlapping between services, which is very unsatisfactory, since it results in a waste of time, resources and money," he says. "But we sorted things out last year when things came to a head following a tragic accident in which a number of rescue services participated."

The CPD chief is referring to the incident at Birgu in which a young mother and her baby lost their lives when the car which they were in rolled into the water.

Some of Malta’s rescue services were criticised for being ill-prepared to deal with the tragedy.

Mr Cordina explains that following the incident, a parliamentary committee was set up, which provided a forum for the emergency services to explain their position and explore ways of working better together.

"Since then there has been better co-operation between all the forces," he says. "Of course, everyone’s proud of their own department, and I am no exception. But we must all recognise that co-operation and the elimination of overlapping is the key."

The CPD chief believes the fact that he has been in both the police force and the army helps him to ensure co-operation and co-ordination take place between the various services.

"I was in the police force for 13 years before I was transferred to the army where I worked on the administrative side, so I have experience in each area and know what the officers are experiencing in their work," he explains.

He returned to the police, where he headed the Administrative Law Enforcement section, before being made Director of Prisons - a stressful and demanding post for anyone - but one which Mr Cordina found impossible to carry out when faced with the tragic news that his wife was suffering from cancer.

"When I was told that my wife had only a few months to live, I decided that I wanted to care for her at home rather than have her admitted to hospital, but this meant having to relinquish my post at the prisons," he explains. "So I asked the Home Affairs minister to relieve me from the job and he very kindly accepted."

These were obviously difficult times for Mr Cordina, but he has come through them and found happiness, in both his personal and professional life.

"I seem to have found my niche here at the CPD and I married again in April 2000, so life is looking good," he says.

His second wife is the well-known TV personality Matilda Balzan and the couple are kept very busy, with four children between them and a number of pets – four cats and a dog.

Mr Cordina confesses that the animals rule the roost at home. He is, he stresses, an animal lover and still feels hurt that he was accused of animal cruelty during the controversial Manoel Island incident when the ALE, which he headed at the time, oversaw the slaughter of a number of dogs being kept in a sanctuary.

"We went there together with the government vet and under his instructions we had to put all the animals to sleep, both those that were really sick and others which had been in contact with them," he explains. "It went against what I wanted to do, because I love animals, but those were our instructions.

"I had great sympathy with the person who kept them, but we had to follow out our orders. It is, however, important to stress that there was no cruelty. We didn’t shoot the dogs as some people reported.

"Those were difficult times and they’re in the past now. But it’s something I hope we’ve all learnt from, especially animal carers, who do sterling work under great pressure."

Last year was a busy one for the CPD, which has been in operation for two years now.

The department dealt with a variety of situations, ranging from minor fires to major road accidents and flash-flood alerts.

The number of hoax calls which the department receives is both annoying and frustrating for Mr Cordina, who explains that from the 4,300 incidents his men were called to last year, 5% were hoaxes. These, of course, included the high profile anthrax scares, which took the country by storm last November.

The CPD chief is quick to say that he fully endorses the Home Affairs minister’s comments that such hoax calls must be viewed as serious offences and perpetrators should be given harsh penalties. But he adds that one positive outcome of the anthrax scare was the fact that it showed how quickly, when necessary, the departments involved could respond in a crisis and put a contingency plan into action.

"In fact, when the first call came through, a number of departments including us, health officials and the police, were meeting to discuss putting a plan into action," he says. "I am pleased to say that within two hours we managed to co-ordinate and implement the plan that was needed.

"We do not have many such incidents, fortunately, but we are gearing up to be able to face them when necessary."

Mr Cordina explains that whenever something serious happens in Malta the nature of the entire incident is examined. If it is decided that the incident is serious enough, a disaster would be declared and a contingency plan would be adopted.

"We have approved two contingency plans to be adopted in the case of flash-floods and fireworks factory incidents in Malta," he says. "We are now working on a similar contingency plan for nuclear incidents in conjunction with the International Atomic Energy Agency.

"Although we do not have nuclear plants here, we could be involved in a nuclear incident because of ships passing through Malta or by radioactive sources imported into Malta without permission."

Mr Cordina explains that the department also hopes to finalise a contingency plan for possible aircraft accidents which could happen outside Malta International Airport.

I ask Mr Cordina if Malta, as a small island, is vulnerable to any particular type of disaster.

He mentions earthquakes - a topical subject, since Malta felt a slight tremor just last week.

"It is difficult to say what we might encounter in this regard," he admits. "Fortunately, we have people who are trained to deal with certain aspects of crisis, such as medics, police and the NGOs.

"But it is worth remembering that we are also only a phone call away from Italy, where we have very good contacts if a situation is on such a scale that we could not cope."

The CPD chief adds that the extreme weather changes which we are experiencing due to global warming have heightened the number of flash-flood incidents.

"We have always had problems with flooding, but recently, when the rain has come, it has been in bucketfuls," he says. "I can recall that in Birkirkara, last year, there was a very severe flash-flood, in which one of my men – John Gera - rescued five elderly people who were stranded in their car.

"I am sure they would have died if we hadn’t got them out."

I can see that this rescue operation is firmly etched in Mr Cordina’s memory. When prompted, he also mentions another incident that sticks in his mind from last year. This one, he explains, remains a vivid memory, not because of what happened as much as what might have occurred.

"There was a big disco taking place at Ta’ Qali and a fire broke out," he explains. "We managed to evacuate everyone and fortunately, no one was hurt.

"But it could have been a disaster on a huge scale. There were so many people – youngsters obviously – in this place, and I wonder if there was negligence of some kind. "I’m not convinced that people – the general public, I mean - really realise the consequences of these things yet."

The CPD chief also cites the number of road accidents that his men attend, often caused by careless drivers, or even motorists who are drunk.

"There are so many, and they are traumatic for all concerned, whether it is those who are injured in them, or relatives who lose loved ones and even for my men who have to cut trapped people out of vehicles," he says.

"I’m not sure what the answer is – the police do their bit – but sometimes the whole situation simply seems out of control."

The CPD is trying to play its part in educating the public on certain matters, such as safety in the home. Mr Cordina points out that if people know how to deal with certain issues, it can prevent panic from ensuing.

"For example, we recently had a call from a family whose gas cylinder was leaking and then caught fire," he says. "All they needed to do was to turn the cylinder off. But people panic and that makes things worse, so we believe more educational programmes will help in this regard."

He explains that in line with the ‘Ewropa Major Hazards Agreement’, of which Malta is a signatory, more time is being dedicated to lectures for schoolchildren, from kindergarten to senior school age. There are also plans to produce more reports in the media and hold exhibitions which will inform people what they should do in the case of an emergency.

But Mr Cordina is pleased to confirm that people are gradually becoming more aware of the advantages of knowing what to do in an emergency.

"Although we are already providing educational programmes in schools and for government employees, the private sector, especially hoteliers, are now contacting us to help them do exercises in evacuation and fire drills," he says.

So what is on the horizon for the CPD?

Mr Cordina explains that the department is expanding its rescue at sea operations, which will complement the fire-fighting and land rescue work they carry out.

"We’re also planning to bring in and train a number of dogs to do search and rescue," he says. "Some German experts have been helping us in this project and we hope it will be up and running by the end of the year."

One thing is definite – Mr Cordina’s enthusiasm and obvious suitability to his role, alongside a committed team, will ensure that the CPD continues to carry out its work with dedication and zeal.