Jintqal x’jintqal dwar kemm id-ditti li jibnu f’pajjiżna saru jagħtu kas tar-regolamenti dwar kif itellgħu l-bini tagħhom, jibqa’ suspett. Ir-rata ta’ diżgrazzji fuq siti ta’ kostruzzjoni tibqa’ tielgħa mhux biss għax żdiedu s-siti imma għax żdiedu wkoll ħaddiema barranin attivi fuq dax-xogħol.
U jista’ jkun li la huma l-ħajjiet ta’ barranin li qed jidħlu fir-riskju ta’ xi daqqa kerha waqt il-ħin tax-xogħol, il-ħeġġa biex nilqgħu kontra d-daqqiet tiddgħajjef. Kemm hu minnu li l-akbar numru ta’ fatalitajiet fl-industrija tal-bini fl-aħħar snin kien ta’ ħaddiema barranin? Wieħed bilfors jistaqsi – f’kemm minn dawn id-disgrazzji nstab min kienu n-nies responsabbli għal x’ġara?
Bħala nazzjon, ma tagħmlilniex ġieħ l-osservazzjoni – jekk tirriżulta korretta – li ftit li xejn jimportana mill-ħarsien tal-ħaddiema barranin. Madankollu, il-ħajja tal-bniedem, hu min hu, hi imprezzabbli.
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ĠURNALIŻMU F’MALTA
Kelli laqgħa interessanti ma’ rappreżentanti tal-Istitut Malti tal-Ġurnaliżmu. Kont interessat nisma’ l-fehmiet tagħhom dwar il-qagħda tal-midja stampata u tal-awdjoviżivi f’pajjiżna.
Naturalment semmew kif dawn il-mezzi ta’ kumnikazzjoni qed jaffaċċjaw kompetizzjoni feroċi mill-midja soċjali, facebook u l-bqija, fejn l-aħbar saret titwassal mill-persuni għal persuni. F’Malta wkoll dan l-iżvilupp qed jimmina l-midja tradizzjonali, li saru anqas vijabbli. Imma xorta għandna bżonnhom. Is-sitwazzjoni fostna hi aktar serja għax il-midja tradizzjonali fiċ-ċokon tagħhom u ta’ pajjiżna kollu kemm hu, ssibhom aktar vulnerabbli.
Ħlief għad-dell iswed u traġiku li waddab fuq il-ħajja kontemporanja ta’ Malta l-qtil faħxi tas-sinjura Daphne Caruana Galizia, minn dak li smajt matul il-laqgħa mhux possibbli tikkonkludi li fl-aħħar snin, il-ġurnaliżmu f’Malta sab ruħu fi xkiel akbar jew anqas mis-snin ta’ qabel.
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KAĊĊA U INSIB
Waqt seminar dan l-aħħar tal-Bird Life fir-riżerva tas-Salina erġajt fissirt fehmiet li ili s-snin insostni. Il-kaċċaturi u n-nassaba f’pajjiżna għandhom id-dritt jipprattikaw id-delizzju tradizzjonali tagħhom, taħt kondizzjonijiet regolati tajjeb u b’serjetà.
Il-kondizzjonijiet li nġabu għalihom bid-dħul ta’ Malta fl-Unjoni Ewropea ma aġevolawhomx; bil-maqlub. Imma issa huma l-liġi u jridu jkunu rispettati. Għal li ġej, se jkun hemm “attakki” oħra minn ħdan l-Unjoni Ewropea fuq il-pożizzjoni tal-kaċċa u l-insib. Se jkun hemm bżonn ta’ min ifisser dil-pożizzjoni b’mod serju u intelliġenti.
Minkejja l-qasma li teżisti bejn dawk li fuq quddiem nett ipoġġu l-ħarsien tal-ħajja tal-għasafar, u l-kaċċaturi u n-nassaba, iż-żewġ gruppi għandhom interessi konverġenti li dwarhom jistgħu jikkoperaw. Per eżempju, l-akbar theddida għall-għasafar fl-Ewropa tidher li hi l-użu tal-pestiċidi. Skont l-aħħar studji, il-popolazzjoni tal-insetti fil-kontinent tinsab riesqa lejn sterminju.
L-insetti huma sors ewlieni ta’ ikel għall-għasafar.
English Version – Construction and safety
No matter what is claimed about how construction firms in this country now show a greater respect towards building regulations, the suspicion remains. The accident rate on construction sites has continued to increase, not only because sites have multiplied, but also because there has been a rise in the number of foreign workers involved in this work.
It might be that since it is “only” “foreign” lives which are risking a bad accident during working hours, the urge to have safeguards against such outcomes gets blunted. How true is it that foreign workers accounted for most deaths in the construction industry during recent years? One must also ask: in how many of such accidents was responsibility for the accidents fully determined?
If it emerges as being a correct claim, the statement that we hardly care about the safety of foreign workers would hardly be an honourable thing to say about us as a nation. For no matter who it belongs to, the life of a human being remains priceless.
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Maltese journalism
I had an interesting meeting with representatives of the Malta Institute of Journalists. I was interested to learn their views about the state of the print and audiovisual media here.
Naturally they described how these means of communication face ferocious competition from the social media – facebook and the rest – which deliver news on a person to person basis. In our country too this is undermining traditional media, making them less viable. But we still need them. The situation here is more difficult for the traditional media, given their small scale and that of the country as a whole, which makes them more vulnerable.
Apart from the dark and tragic shadow thrown over Maltese contemporary life by the horrible murder of Mrs Caruana Galizia, from what I understood during our meeting, it is not possible to conclude that in past years Maltese journalism has found itself facing greater restrictions than it did previously.
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Hunting and trapping
During a BirdLife seminar held last week at the Salina reserve I reiterated views I have been explaining for years. Hunters and trappers in this country have the right to carry on with their traditional pastimes, under conditions that are well and stringently regulated.
The arrangements made for them when Malta joined the EU as a full member were not to their benefit; to the contrary. However these arrangements are now law and have to be respected. In future, further moves are likely to originate from the EU to limit the parameters within which hunting and trapping are being practised. There will be a need to explain the position of both seriously and intelligently.
Despite the controversy that prevails between those who put the preservation of bird life as their top concern, and hunters and trappers, both sides have converging interests on which they could cooperate. For instance, the greatest threat to European birds appears to arise from the use of pesticides. The latest studies show that the population of insects in Europe is being exterminated.
Insects are a main source of food for many birds.
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