|
It has got to be a mistake. Claus Sørensen is the Director General for Communications in the European Commission. He is also, as far as I know a Dane.
Last Thursday a messenger from the European Delegation office rushed over to MaltaToday with a letter which started off as follows:
“Given that you very politely characterise the Commission as a bitch maybe you would allow the bitch to answer back.”
All important things at the EU Commission get done by Thursday, they simply love to leave Friday to chatting, browsing on the net, ‘business lunches’ and SMSing in the corridors before their long deserved weekend break.
I turned round to the unfortunate messenger and informed him that I was not accepting such a conceited piece of arrogance. Sørensen was writing about the EU’s U-turn with their contract on media monitoring awarded to a PN subsidiary.
Lo and behold, they have now come to appreciating the sensitivity of the matter. And this is not thanks to Drake and her entourage but only because of MaltaToday.
Indeed the contract was revealed by MaltaToday and as expected taken up by the Labour party, namely MEP Joseph Muscat.
Sørensen is a middle-aged Scandinavian civil servant who would never dare write such a rude letter to another Danish or European editor.
Thanks to the inferiority complex of so many Maltese in Brussels, who have no problems rubbishing their own country, Sørensen is probably under the impression that he can run roughshod over anyone who happens to be a Maltese native.
We may be small, but we happen to have the same rights as other European member states.
Sørensen thinks that just because someone describes the actions of the European Commission as bitchy, he can retort back and use the same language.
As a public official he is there not only to pick up a handsome salary but to serve the European Commission and its citizens. His language and actions are governed by a code of conduct. My language and style are not government subsidised but supported by the thousands of Maltese readers who welcome the fact that someone is saying it as it is.
If a Maltese senior civil servant had written such an offensive letter he would have been branded an arrogant fool and in some other member state he would have been asked to resign.
If a Danish civil servant had dared write such a letter he would be taken out and turned into pickled herring, better known in Danish as a ‘marinerede sild’.
Danish cuisine is, by the way, as complex and interesting as their sense of humour; if they ever had one.
I have the inkling that this Dane was prompted by someone else in writing what he wrote.
The funniest, saddest part of his letter was his criticism of a cartoon which depicted former PN candidate Joanna Drake and what she said to a MaltaToday journalist.
In Maltese journalism we have what we describe as ‘detto del detto’. Sørensen is wrong when he reacts to a cartoon and when he attempts to correct what Drake said she said but did not say.
Sørensen was not too happy with the cartoon.
Rich, I believe, coming from a native of Denmark, home to the most cruel cartoons, on Peace be Upon Him, Prophet Mohammed.
Denmark, is also home to an irreverent Nordic protestant group of cartoonists that do not give a flying hoot if their cartoons result in countless riots, death and anger in the Muslim world and growing tension between people like me, Mr Sørensen and the Abdullahs of this globe.
Sørensen did not stop here, he plodded on.
It is so easy to write when you are stuck in an ugly building in the middle of rainy Brussels.
He argued that since Malta is so small, the Commission could not find an audit firm to carry out the audit on the PN contract. The Commission only asked four firms.
Does Sørensen think that Malta is some kind of Polynesian atoll with a high priest as Prime Minister?
For Mr Sørensen’s information, the Malta Institute of Accountants website counts 12 audit firms and 22 respectable and professional sole practitioners.
Mr Sørensen would do well with a good briefing from his delegation in Malta.
But then, the only person who seems to be breaking his back at the Ta’ Xbiex EU delegation is the camouflaged Maltese soldier paid by our taxes and armed with a Kalashnikov but who is only allowed to share the ambience of the hard working staff at the ‘embassy’ when nature calls.
It is a cruel world, not for the recipients of EU salaries ten times the average wage of a Maltese, but for those who believe in Europe and cannot see this European dream come through.
It is cruel for those who, for example, want a liberalised public transport and see their transport minister fight to retain the status quo and those who watch the elected Nationalist members of parliament in Brussels abstain on resolutions condemning racism and homophobia.
Mr Sørensen would be very welcome to visit our offices if he happens to parachute into Malta. We could instruct him on the realities of a free Western style media operating in an independent nation state.
Jesmond Mugliett is fast becoming Malta’s Pontius Pilate.
ADT deny any responsibility for damages caused to vehicles that use their roads. The Ombudsman has decreed that the ADT should compensate a vehicle owner whose car was damaged due to the bad condition of the roads. ADT tells the Ombudsman that paying compensation for the damages would result in a precedent.
So here we are, after years of pumping public finances into constructing craters, the government agency responsible for roads headed by Mugliett comes out with this pathetic answer.
Every year we pay car licences in the hope that we can drive over smooth roads. Malta applies the highest registration tax of all European Union countries and Mugliett’s ADT comes up with the frank and rude reply: this will set a precedent.
So what?
But Mugliett’s Pontius Pilate mimicry does not stop here.
The scandal at the ADT which involves almost all examiners is not bad enough for him to come out and give some explanations.
Nor is the case of one examiner who drove his van in a drunken state and ran over an elderly man on a zebra crossing.
Good looks alone are not good enough in politics.
Jesmond Mugliett should have asked the ADT CEO Gianfranco Selvaggi to suspend the man immediately. He should not wait for John Rizzo to institute criminal proceedings.
If the police are taking their time, he should pick up the phone and contact Tonio Borg.
His call will definitely interrupt Borg’s beauty sleep but it should relay the message loud and clear.
“Ton, pleeze, qum minn dik ir-raqda u ghid il-pulizija biex jaghmlu xi haga.”
The ADT is a den of political appointed clerks and officers. This is what you get when meritocracy is replaced by nepotism.
Claire Bonello is one the freshest and more direct writers on the block. Her opinion flies with the header, Vote George, Get Lorry.
She explains that she has got flak from her Nationalist friends for equating George with the late Lorry Sant.
I too think that the comparison is far-fetched.
Yet, George Pullicino runs the risk of being labelled a Lorry Sant for the simple reason that the outline boundaries scribbled in a hurry by MEPA have proven beyond doubt that if they do happen we will continue to perpetuate a disaster to our landscape and environment.
This argument about rationalisation is absolute garbage.
The only thing that needs rationalisation is our environment commitment.
Today’s newspaper carries one report about the planned development at Mgarr. Come on George, just listen to what the Nationalist Mayor has to say.
It is a bloody disgrace if the vista next to the parvis at Mgarr church is turned into a concrete mess.
Is this the great exercise we call rationalisation?
There other examples.
George, reverse the decision you have taken.
It is not too late.
Government talks about making it easier for small businesses. Well if you have any proof of this, could you just email it to me?
Okay some fruity examples: newspaper post registration is up from Lm5 to Lm25 and work permit renewal up from Lm15 to Lm60.
Just a quiet reminder, bertumizziOBEbiography@mediatoday.com.mt is up and working. Thank you for the unprintable hints and examples. I am enthused by the support for my planned biography.
The Euro changeover committee is working hard to convince key players about misconceptions. One misconception is about cash registers. No need to change cash registers, folk, just a Lm30 fee to make the changes would suffice.
Just got to know that the Prince Vittorio Emanuele of Savoia has been arrested over some prostitution ring. The last time I saw the silly Prince he was playing the King Fool with his bizarre order of knights. Well, they call themselves knights, but they are not the sort you could plonk outside the walls of Jerusalem to fight the Infidel. The Prince was filmed with a retinue of overweight men in red and purple gowns. One of the men queuing up to be anointed in this ridiculous medieval ritual was Malta’s former ambassador in the US Mark Micallef, then appointed by Alfred Sant.
Now for some spice about our wardens. It is Thursday 7pm and a warden driving a car with the number plate JET 023 ignores the right of way at a roundabout and speeds past. The reverse light cover is missing. The place is Ta’ Alla u Ommu at Naxxar.
If you would like to name and shame the people who make our lives so difficult, drop me an email.
sbalzan@mediatoday.com.mt
and for anything on Bertu Mizzi
bertumizziOBEbiography@mediatoday.com.mt
|
