L-istat tad-dritt

Id-diskors dwar l-istat tad-dritt qed jiġi żvalutat, talanqas b’referenza għal pajjiżna. Li temmen li Malta hi stat fejn xi ħadd bħal Escobar jitħalla jmexxi u jħawwad bi protezzjoni minn “fuq”, jew li tinkoraġġixxi li oħrajn jemmnu din il-ħaġa, hi eżaġerazzjoni totali.
Hemm min qed isib konsolazzjoni fiha għal dwejjaq politiċi li ma jafx kif jiskonta.
Id-dwejjaq mhux se jingħelbu b’dal-mod. Jeħtieġu strateġija politika tat-tul li ma jidhirx li hemm min għandu l-istoffa jifhem dil-ħaġa u jidħol għaliha. Forsi wkoll għax min jagħmel hekk, se jispiċċa jmexxi proġett li minnu jiggwadanja ta’ warajh.
Sadattant, il-fermenti li qed jitqajmu dwar l-istat tad-dritt f’Malta jservu biex iħammġu isem il-gżira barra, bla ma jibdlu xejn mir-realtajiet politiċi interni. U l-istorja tkompli…
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NEFQA FUQ PULIZIJA U SIGURTÀ
Imqabbla mal-bqija tal-Unjoni Ewropea, aħna nonfqu anqas mill-medja tal-oħrajn fuq servizzi ta’ pulizija u sigurtà interna. Hi ħaġa stramba kif dal-punt ftit jitqajjem.
Matul is-snin, straħna wisq fuq il-fama li għandna ta’ pajjiż fejn m’hemmx problemi ta’ sigurtà personali għal min irid jżurna u joħroġ bil-lejl u bi nhar bla protezzjoni ta’ xejn. Mhux se nikkumenta fuq jekk hix korretta din il-fehma jew le.
Biss fl-aħħar ġimgħat ta’ attakki bla qies kontra l-governanza fil-qasam tas-sigurtà ftit issemmiet il-ħtieġa li s-servizzi tal-pulizija jingħataw attenzjoni finanzjarja aqwa milli għamlu sa issa. Donnu li l-kwistjonijiet dwar sigurtà skattaw fl-aħħar snin u xhur. Mentri dan mhu veru xejn.
In-nuqqasijiet tħallew jinġabru u jinħmew minn żmien l-amministrazzjonijiet ta’ Fenech Adami. Biżżejjed wieħed jiftakar fit-taħwid li kien inqala’ meta s-segretarju privat tiegħu Cachia Caruana kien għoddu nqatel.
Naqbel li hemm bżonn ta’ titjib mill-qiegħ fit-tmexxija tal-pulizija u s-servizzi ta’ sigurtà. Imma mhux għar-raġunijiet li qed jissemmew.
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KLASSIFIKA TA’ KUNTRATTURI
Bla waqfien iqum tgergir, ġustifikat jew le, dwar kif jitwettqu l-kuntratti tal-gvern f’xogħlijiet publiċi. Ma jsirux fil-ħin, isiru bl-addoċċ, m’hemm l-ebda sorvelja serja fuq kif jitwettqu eċċ …
Il-manjiera kif dawn il-problemi jitwittew ilha magħrufa. Imma ma tiddaħħalx fis-seħħ.
Messu hemm reġistru tal-kuntratturi li jridu jidħlu għal xogħolijiet publiċi. Dan jikklassifikahom f’kategoriji differenti skont kemm huma kbar u attrezzati, għandhomx il-personnel u t-teknoloġija meħtieġa…
Imbagħad kuntratt tal-gvern li joħroġ għat-tender, jiġi indirizzat lejn il-kategorija ta’ kuntrattur li skont ir-reġistru jkun jista’ jiflaħ għalih.
Kulħadd jaqbel mal-utilità ta’ sistema hekk u kulħadd jara kif iwarrabha.
Fost id-diffikultajiet: Kemm nistgħu nafdaw li min iżomm ir-reġistru ta’ klassifika bejn il-kuntratturi se jimxi bil-fier?

English Version – Rule of law

Discourse about the rule of law is being devalued, at least when it is used with reference to Malta. To believe that this country is at par with one where somebody like Escobar is allowed to follow his business with protection from “up high”, or to encourage people to believe this, amounts to a total exagerration.

Some though, are finding in such an attitude consolation for political regrets that they do not know how to overcome.

Surely regrets will not fade away by undergoing this therapy. The antidote would be to project a longterm political strategy, but there do not seem to be people having the qualities to understand this and to set about devising and implementing it. Quite likely too, the calculation could be that whoever attempts to move in this direction, will end up piloting a project that will only be of benefit to his/her successor.

Meanwhile the ferment being promoted about the rule of law in Malta is undermining the country’s image abroad without changing in any way internal political realities. And so, the story continues…

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Spending on police and security

Compared to the rest of the EU, Malta spends less than the average on the police force and on internal security. It is curious that this point is rarely made.

Over the years, we have relied too heavily on the reputation we earned as an island where visitors face no problems of personal security and can go out day and night without any special protection. I will not comment about whether this perception was/is correct or not.

However during the last weeks of relentless criticism about governance in the area of security, little mention was made of the need for police services to be given greater financial attention that they have been accorded up to now. It is made to seem as if security concerns have only surfaced in the past few years and months. This is far from being the truth.

Deficiencies have been allowed to cumulate and fester since the times of the Fenech Adami administrations. One only needs to recall the confusion that arose when the PM’s private secretary Cachia Caruana came close to being killed.

I do agree that a radical improvement in the management of police and security forces is required, but not for the reasons that are being put forward.

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Contractors classified

Justified and unjustified complaints arise all the time about how government contracts for public works get carried out. They’re subject to gross delays, are implemented carelessly, proper monitoring is absent during all phases of implementation, and so on and so forth.

How to counter such problems has long been wellknown. Yet reform has gotten shelved time after time.

A register of contractors interested in public works should be kept. This would classify contractors in different categories according to their size and the equipment they hold, the quality of personnel they have and their access to modern technologies…

Then any government tender being issued would be addressed to contractors in the category which fits best with the technical requirements of the tender.

All agree that such a system would be very useful. Yet everybody takes care to see that it is sidelined.

One problem that is raised: how can we ensure that whoever is in charge of running a register of contractors will be doing so fairly?