Oh, FFS. Are these people for real?

Published: April 11, 2013 at 9:46pm

The Health Minister installs himself in a cubby-hole at the A & E Department at the general hospital. The Police, Army, Justice and Broadcasting Minister turns up at the prisons on a Sunday evening to catch warders in the act of skiving. And the Social Policy Minister (see utterly fascinating news video below) plays the role of works overseer at a housing project, checking the lavatories and the plaster.

What next – Karmenu Vella popping into your hotel bedroom cunningly disguised as a chambermaid?




77 Comments Comment

  1. H.P. Baxxter says:

    DSK wouldn’t mind. Neither would Karmenu Vella.

    • Harry Purdie says:

      Which one would call the police? Ok, neither.

      • H.P. Baxxter says:

        Tricky. DSK would quickly find that he’s been fooled by the cunning disguise. But if he were to call the police he’d be caught with his pants down. The one other one would seize the chance and haggle for a six million Euro hush-up fee.

      • Harry Purdie says:

        Figured they’d both have their pants down.

  2. Mesmes says:

    Konferma cara kif Malta kienet taghna lkoll taht il-PN. Laburista nkallata bhal din tinghata dar b’ejn, probabilment ma thallasx ghad-dawl u l-ilma u tinghata l-pensjoni apparti alla biss jaf kemm il-beneficcju iehor. U issa ghandna lilha u lill-Onorevoli Ministru igergru ghax ma wahhluliex is-SAPUNIERA.

    BLOODY RIDICULOUS!

    • Mesmes says:

      Is the Minister hoping to get a ‘Prosit’ from Joseph for this?

      • Grace says:

        U zguuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuur fis-seduta li jmiss tal-parlament bha ma gara fil kas ta our hard working justice minister. Miskin ghazel li jmur l-habs “minn jeddu” nhar ta Hadd fis-7:30 ta fil-ghaxija ja hasra.

    • P Sant says:

      Thought you were pulling Marie’s foot when you remarked about the sapuniera! She actually mentions it towards the end of the video.

      The woman she visited is a typical product of Mintoff. A 90 year old who started pensionable age (if she ever worked) towards the end of the Mintoff years. She wants everything for free from the State. U l-poplu jhallas.

      Indeed ridiculous…

  3. ciccio says:

    Is this the way to treat officers and employees of the Housing Authority?

    These new cabinet ministers are doing whatever possible to divert attention from their incompetence and lack of solutions.

    • thinking says:

      You are very correct, it was evidently clear that the Minister didn’t bother to read the file first and to understand the facts. She was only interested in hearing the woman’s case and of denigrating all the work done. What a shame.

    • gil says:

      Maybe he was not one of them so why bother treating him with respect right?

      • Weird no ? says:

        The gentleman is not the employee of the Minister but a public servant. She had no right to talk to him like she did.

        Che cafona.

        Where are Tony Zarb and Mario Cutajar when you need them?

      • gil says:

        Maybe this gentleman is less than human, who knows?

        By that what I mean of course is that maybe their BIg Brother registers indicate that he is not the right colour, thus making him fair game for their persecution.

        The sad thing is that people support these random acts of lunacy. God only know what Europe is thinking right now. Romania must be taking notes.

    • Grace says:

      You are absolutely right. Did this really deserve media coverage? The answer is clear enough.

      • P Sant says:

        Maybe this is what Joseph Muscat meant when he said “Nahdmu ma’ tal-Bisniss”.

        Total Big Brother syndrome.

  4. Paddling Duck says:

    Isn’t the election campaign over?

    • ciccio says:

      Yes. But the Minister is still doing opposition to the new government.

    • Harry Purdie says:

      Yes, however the gestapo campaign has begun. Unannounced appearances everywhere. Sound familiar?

      • ciccio says:

        Yepp. Next on the busy schedule is a visit by Herr Flick to the Marsascala plant of Wasteserv – in pitch darkness on Saturday night – to see the rats. He will be accompanied by Joseph The Pied Piper from Burmarrad.

      • Josette says:

        All absent rats will be sacked and let loose.

  5. P Shaw says:

    The new style – micromanagement while they lose sight of the big picture.

  6. gil says:

    M@¿%a-style making sure ‘their’ families are protected? Would this be the result of the people spilling out onto the street in front of her office?

  7. P Shaw says:

    Perhaps tist is the peak of their abilities – since the new bunch of ministers lack vision, startegy and any form of long term planning, the micromanagements falls within their comfort zone.

  8. george grech says:

    Big Bother show 2013 – 2018

  9. Manuel says:

    The irony is that they call it a way to be “vicin il-poplu”. However, the vast majority of this tiny state are so narrow-minded that they do not see the concealment of all this: Big Brother attitude who wants to control everyone and everything.

    This has nothing to do with being a Moviment Liberali u Progressiv; this has to do with BEING IN CONTROL OF EVERYTHING – a Mintoffian obsession, inherited by Muscat and his Crazy Bunch, checking on to see who’s on their side and who’s not.

    • Maria Xriha says:

      The pity is that such contact is what the majority of the electorate expects from Ministers. Anything more elaborate, European Union level – God forbid – on multi-year budgets is for the ‘arroganti.’

      Did they just hire a maintenance team? I’m sure the Costa ferry’s maintenance was in order when it encountered the rocks.

    • gil says:

      One thing MLP are not is Liberal

  10. Min Jaf says:

    Yes, Karmenu Vella is probably gagging to have a go at that.

  11. ROCKY says:

    So are we going to see a video for every complaint?

    I pity the old lady because I heard stories of bad workmanship in new housing estates like Pemproke and Qawra but this is Probaganda and acting galore. Just because the cameras were there.

  12. vanni says:

    Reminds me of the golden years when Lorry Sant was Minister of Works and Roads. Upon encountering a pothole, one would more often than not hear something along the lines of the minister not having passed this way, as only than would it have been filled.
    It seems that we have Ministers who don’t know how to delegate.

  13. Likki says:

    From the first days, the focus is certainly on micro management.

    Naqdu lil min nistghu biex nikkuntentaw kemm jista’ jkun nies.

    The Finance Minister could not even make up a decent budget speech without any vision on economic goals and creation of wealth.

    But we have to put our minds at rest cause jobs will be created by our minister who is all focused in disciplining four prison warders, by another minister who is focused in installing a soap dispenser to an old lady and yet another minister who will personally assist people at the A&E department getting off the chair and onto a stretcher.

    For crying out loud, ministers are appointed to govern not to act….

  14. David S says:

    Ma x’ dizastru ta’ pajjiz. Sink imkisser, x’ gharukaza! Tomorrow I’m emigrating to Cyprus – erm or should it be Portugal, or Greece. Lemme check whether there has been any case of social housing with a broken basin there. Or perhaps with sea views like those in Pembroke.

  15. David says:

    It showas a hands-on government and the lack of efficient state services.

    • Tabatha White says:

      You have got to be joking David. A government is meant to delegate maintenance and focus on direction and innovation. As it is all direction in policy is officially that furthered from the NP Government. The changes at MEPA don’t even show innovation because value – as in positive impact – should be a constituent element of innovation.

    • Josette says:

      It shows a totally inefficient government with a Minister making a totally inefficient use of her (well-paid) time.

  16. M... says:

    Honestly, this kind of stuff, if it were as tragic as it sounds could have been picked up by Marlene when she was an opposition MP. Did she never hold surgeries for her constituents?

  17. ALLO ALLO says:

    Isma hi, li jtuk dar u mbghad inhalluk bla sapuniera mhux nejk ta! Dan zgur ksur tad-drittijiet tal-bniedem.

  18. TinaB says:

    “Socialism’s inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery”.

    That day has arrived.

    Hux hekk ridt ja poplu Malti kretin? Mela issa gawdi.

  19. george grech says:

    MELA NISTAW NIKKONKLUDU LI L-MINISTRU TIFHEM SEW FIL-FIGOLLI U S-SINKIJIET IMKISSRA. KEMM HI BRAVA ISTRA U KEMM TGHAMILNI KBURI LI QORMI BHALHA U BHAL MA QALILHA JOSEPH SA NOFS INHAR NIES.

  20. PWG says:

    Shades of old labour. Hands on doesn’t mean throwing your weight around in full view of the cameras. Truly pathetic.

  21. Gahan says:

    The poor guy being photographed by the press can’t do his work properly.

    The expert minister says that the sink was “obviously” damaged before it was installed. Why wasn’t the contractor given the right to state his case?

    I pity the civil servants who will be treated this way. Is this how minister Coleiro Preca will treat her staff?

    So she’s at liberty to grill the poor fellow in front of the cameras and reporters while her cabinet colleague(s) see to it that people won’t bring any mobile phones with them for the meeting. Heads I win, tails you lose.

    Don’t civil servants have a union?

    [Daphne – Labour have always taken the Chinese approach: public humiliation is part of the punishment, pour encourager les autres.]

    • Weird no ? says:

      Being stuck in that situation or else the gentleman loses his job. Would have been great if he could shove the file into her rude gob. You do not even talk to a dog like that.

    • Josette says:

      I think this amounts to harassment of the civil servant.

  22. Antoine Vella says:

    Konrad Mizzi set up office at the power station. Godfrey Farrugia has an office at Mater Dei. Shouldn’t Manwel Mallia set up his office inside the Correctional Facility?

  23. Wilson says:

    She most probably is expecting a cleaner for free too. We have a government that loves mediocrity and will flounder Malta in its pursuance of mediocrity.

  24. QahbuMalti says:

    You left out Joe Mizzi going round with the electricians to find the fault that was tripping the power supply at TM. He gave us chapter and verse on TVAM last week.

  25. bob-a-job says:

    Basta suldat tal-azzar, issa qed tibza li taqta sorma mal-vaska.

    For heaven’s sake, is this for real or is it another episode of ‘Ipokriti’? Unbelievable.

    Anyway here’s a bit of fun.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8LOi7RETljM

    • ciccio says:

      Thanks for the link. Ah, so this explains why Labour got a majority in Gozo for the first time since I do not remember.

  26. Zammit says:

    And I was of the impression that Silvio Parnis was the exception not the rule.

  27. anthony says:

    What a worrying video.

    It certainly does not bode well for the future of this government.

    Pathetic mediocrity par excellence.

  28. edgar says:

    The civil servant was humiliated in front of the TV cameras and the minister making a scene takes the word of a 90-year-old woman who says that the sink was broken when it was fixed. Il-vera zibel.

  29. Victor says:

    They are only proving that they have no idea how to play the role of ministers, so they are trying to impress the ignorant (as usual) how efficient they are.

    Shame on all these Ministers who are behaving as if they are governing a communist country and SHAME on all the people who brought Malta into this disgraceful state.

  30. J Abela says:

    This is Labour’s style of government – humiliating civil servants and deriding their work, overruling their decisions and showing openly that they do not trust them to make the right choices.

    This will untimely backfire.

    Because when civil servants feel humiliated, overruled and not appreciated, they stop taking the decisions they should be taking and start to delegate upwards instead.

    The more the ministers interfere in the decisions that they really should be leaving in the hands of their civil servants, the more civil servants will fail to take any decision at all. Until one day even the really small decisions start to be delegated upwards and the ministries will find themselves inundated with ‘cracked sinks’ problems, while trying to do what they should be doing, which is solving the big problems and instigating reform.

    This is where the whole system crumbles to smithereens.

  31. jose says:

    Is this what Labour voters had in mind when they argued that the PN was focused solely on the macro sphere and forgot its grass-roots?

    Is this what ‘vicin il-poplu’ means? A missing sapuniera, cleaning up after labourers, kanna mkissra and buying a toilet from your own pocket equates to gvern mhux vicin il-poplu?

    Since when is humiliating civil servants in front of the media the new way of doing politics?

    A project subcontracted to a third party and then parading the civil servant in front of the cameras, as if civil servants are the interior designers of government estates.

    37k majority of ‘protagonist’ idiots with an IQ lower than that of a cardboard box. Well done for screwing the country over.

    • ciccio says:

      This is what “be a protagonist and not a spectator” means.

      It means get into the people’s bathrooms, and check whether they have the “sapuniera,” the washhand basin for any chippings, the pipes for leaks and the toilets for any blockages.

      This is what the switchers voted for. U mela.

  32. Raphael Dingli says:

    She’s in the woman’s bathroom! A minister getting into this detail is unheard of anywhere.

    And to allow the press to take footage inside a bathroom and record her discussions/arguments with the bureaucrats is just plain silly.

    Ministers are supposed to elicit advice from the bureaucrats and then form their view.

    They can always of course accept or refuse the advice – but to get into a polemic with the bureacrat and a constituent is demeaning to herself, the bureacrat and the consitituent.

    Her…uffff…I am lost for words.

  33. pale blue my foot! says:

    They are all trying to project this hands-on approach. Utterly pathetic. At this rate, this country will soon be in a total mess while ministers are scurrying around on petty matters and ensuring they are filmed or photographed (as was indeed Minister Mallia during his “surprise” visit to the prisons followed by a possee of photographers).

  34. Lomax says:

    Daphne your last sentence cracked me up. It has brightened up a day which is brimming with problems. Thank you.

  35. AG says:

    How absolutely pathetic.

    Is this what Minister Coleiro Preca gets paid for?

    L-aqwa li quddiem il-kameras, halli l-injuranti joqghodu jifirhu u jghidu ‘Qed tara kemm tiehu hsieb miskina mhux bhan-Nazzjonalisti. Dawk qatt m’ghamlu xejn.’

    Tad-dwejjaq.

  36. Aquarius says:

    Ara fix waqajna ukoll, il-ministru tilmenta fuq sapuniera! Flat gdid u xorta irridu iparlaw. Il-ministru Coleiro Preca sthajilta xi inspector tal-flettijiet. Kummidjanti ta’ veru.

  37. ken il malti says:

    I suspect this is a Labour tactic designed to fire known PN supporters from their jobs and replace them with PL ones as a reward.

    It is a make room project for our guys.

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