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For my sins, last Sunday I listened to Tonio Borg, the deputy to the PM, castigating this newspaper once again for having revealed that a Nationalist activist had his rent bill of Lm110,000, owing to the Lands Department for the lease of land in Tigné, forgiven.
The Mediterranean Conference Centre’s chairman, who happens to be a Louis Galea acolyte, together with his father ‘owned’ the ugly and unsightly Jumbo Lido off Ghar id-Dud. Backdated rental payment to government for the lido had skyrocketed to 110K and demolition costs to just under Lm5,000.
Just in case you did not know, the rent was completely cancelled and the government is 116K poorer – the demolition costs being paid by my taxes and yours.
Now Tonio was obviously unaware that some minutes before his radio commentary, Radio 101 was all over the place with the MaltaToday survey showing that Gonzi had regained lost ground from Sant. But Tonio argued that the rescinding of the rent for Jumbo Lido’s owners was a completely normal thing.
He explained that limited liability companies cannot be forced to pay. In his usual verbose manner he pontificated, lecturing about the law, saying that MaltaToday should know that companies with limited liability cannot be cornered for their debts.
What he did not say is that the Fenechs, who I can imagine believe that the New Testament is scripted by the Nationalist party, are shareholders of other companies and their financial situation is clearly not an unhappy one. Dottor Peter Fenech is after all a leading lawyer with Malta’s leading legal firm.
But let us not be personal, this is after all a private affair. Unpaid rents to government and tax payments are private affairs, are they not? All the people who have received tax assessments for their parents who passed away a decade ago or more should also express their solidarity to the sufferings of Peter Fenech & Co, and applaud the fairness and even-handedness by the one and only Tonio Borg.
And he continued, in his inimitable Monsignor’s tone, that MaltaToday were untruthful when they insinuated that PN activist Peter Fenech was given special treatment. Indeed, there was no such insinuation: it was Tonio who suggested that.
The cherry on the cake, finally descended on us as Tonio in his booming voice said this kind of action is taken when the administration wishes to avoid court litigation. Which led the Radio 101 presenter to remind good old Tonio Borg that Peter Fenech and his pop had lost a court case on the infamous Jumbo Lido with the Lands Department, and it was only after the court decision that negotiation over the annulment of the contract and the rent were concluded.
Tonio continued babbling, saying that there were other cases so this was not a precedent.
Well, it is important to say that Tonio Borg has an e-mail on his desk asking him to provide all the cases where rent defaulters have been given a Nelson’s eye.
Needless to say, he will not be losing any sleep on the matter so we can all go back to sleep and dream of a life where everyone is treated equally and fairly.
Dream on.
Which brings me to Joanna Drake, the woman whom we shall always remember for her publicly-declared statements about her self-sacrificing work for Malta.
One thing that worries me dreadfully is not the work that is carried out at the delegation of the European Commission, but the unfortunate, camouflaged soldier that stands 24 hours guarding the beautiful building at Ta’ Xbiex with his sub-machine gun.
I am not quite sure who the hell would want to slay Joanna Drake – apart perhaps all the Nationalist diehards who applied for her job and did not get it. Or maybe, the activists who were led to believe in her altruism. But no, I do not believe that people are that foolish. Who is that mad man or woman who would knock the poor soldier down, snatch his gun, break down the front door, rush up the stairs and enter Drake’s room… only to find her reading fun mail on her computer and planning her next vacation abroad.
I have absolutely no control over the expenses of the European Commission: they can go on having parties and perks all their life. But when it comes to Maltese money then I think we all should have a say. Guards and sentries cost money, and all these silly guards wasting taxpayers’ money should be stopped. It costs the taxpayer at least Lm16,000 or four months of Joanna Drake’s wage to keep sentries cooped up in a silly wooden box in front of the delegation’s office.
I would have expected Drake, who has a very sensitive appreciation of money, to turn to the Brigadier to take back his sentries for some constructive work. She could also suggest he deploys them at my office: I could do with a handful of camouflaged guards… to ward off all my ‘friends’.
Workers, I am sure, are feeling that they cannot possibly feel more unrepresented. Gejtu Vella of the UHM has offered to mediate between the once-upon-a-time GWU workers and the rest at Sea Malta: it very much sounded like an Israeli offering his services to negotiate between the Iranians and the Iraqis.
Well, the real protagonist in this reality show is Tony Zarb. If he has not been told, then he should. The union has been so weakened after this episode that Austin Gatt can play his balalaika on the doorsteps of the Union without being lynched.
The workers asked a lawyer who shares an office with Labour MP Jose Herrera to declare that they did not support Tony Zarb’s conditional acceptance of the proposals at Sea Malta. If the workers are hoping for their terminal benefits, which amount in some cases to an average of 50K, they have made one big miscalculation.
Tony Zarb has been led into a string of cock-ups that can only be forgiven if one considers that the man is not the awful person painted by the PN media. But he has weakened his position and that of the union.
First he organised a protest, bang in the middle of CHOGM week, and dragged the Labour party into the arena. Then he used war-like metaphors that led the PN spin doctors to awake from their Cinderella sleep. Finally he led the Sea Malta talks down the Titanic way.
He has effectively weakened the situation of Maltese workers to such a degree that any GWU directive to strike will be reneged by the workers. Who in their right senses will want to lose a wage and risk losing a job?
As one good veteran Labourite told me, to protest is cheap, to strike is losing a wage.
The two people who have permanent smiles on their faces are, needless to say, Signor Grimaldi and Signor Gatt. The latter must be on a high. There is little doubt in my mind that he has learnt much from this saga. I have taken the liberty of listing them down:
Number one – never fool around with a woman chairman. Women always win media wars; brusque ministers do not.
Number two – Privatisation is no longer a dirty word, as long as you leak to the press the inflated salaries of the employees who are dependent on the taxpayer for their wage.
Number three – The GWU is no longer a force to be reckoned with, so it will be far easier next time round.
Number four – If you are on a high in public perception, do not say something silly that will let you slip, such as, screaming at the top of one’s voice about the MCESD being one big talking shop.
Yes, yes, we know it is all very true that the MCESD is a talking shop, but in politics one does not say it as it is. Leave that to ‘humble’ opinion writers such as yours truly.
Hey, has anyone seen my sentry…?
sbalzan@mediatoday.com.mt
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