I think she is right.

Kif jista’ jkun ma tixhidth lil Laburisti KOLLHA f’basket wiehed meta Daphne qeghdha tohrog dawn l-istejjer kollha u kieku xi hadd mill-gerarkija Laburista fetah halqu u ha passi biex ghalinqas, fejn jidhol il-partit jiccara l-affarjiet?

David S, I very very rarely read Malta Today. Ghandek bicca ragun, but to answer your points one by one:

1. OK, maybe the deficit was/is looking relatively good but how is this achieved? High indirect taxation – cars are extremely expensive, for example. In terms of man-hours about triple the price elsewhere in the EU. I’d much rather see the civil service whittled down and whipped into efficiency – something that’ll do wonders for our budget deficit without hurting the common or garden taxpayer.

2. Lemme tell you something about LHT. Their apprentices earn about €200/month for three years. Here in Germany’s little brother (I live in Austria) an apprentice in a supermarket earns about €650 1st year, €950 2nd year and €1450 third year. A graduate management trainee with a(nother) supermarket chain earns €40,000 in his first year and €60,000 plus Audi after 3 years. So, yes, whilst I’m glad to see the investment, particularly because of the spin-off effects, it comes largely because Malta is a source of cheap labour. The Irish are complaining that the loss of SR Technics will take 800 jobs away but only 400 will come to Malta. Will the Maltese work twice as hard?

3. I’ve never been to Mater Dei and I don’t know the exact facts, but it cost a huge fortune, was over budget, late in completion, is not fully operational (operating theatres weren’t up to standard) and has less beds than St. Lukes, leading to patients in – albeit high quality and beautiful – corridors. NIftahru wkoll. But that’s not all – whilst these 15 years were passing by all the experts and consultants failed to work out that such a hospital would need x doctors and x nurses and as a result there are staffing problems, so we have an enormously expensive shiny new but smallish hospital delivered late and incomplete and without enough staff. Haqqu medalja.

4. When I see the termination of works on time, within budget and with adequate staff I’ll applaud.

5. Ghandek ragun.

6. Better very late than never, I suppose. Again, I’ll wait for the result before singing its praises.

7. I remember that about 300 metres of Rue d’Argens took about 3 months to be relaid and calculating that to relay all the roads in Malta at that rate would take some 1000 years to achieve. I’d written to the Times in that sense. Maybe the pace has pciked up now and we’ll have decent roads in a century? Only joking. If it’s true – I’ll check it out when I’m over there next week – hooray (at last)!

8. Again, hooray. However, in order to help cut the deficit the Cirkewwa terminal has however been delayed by several years, so we’re still only half-way there.

9. Yes. Again, hugely expensive. And again, let’s see if it comes in on time and within budget, as Dr Gonzi promised.

10. OK. Prosit. (Once more, I’ll wait for the result before going overboard.)

11. As the recent blackout showed, it’ll be touch and go if the extension comes on stream on time or not. That’s fire-fighting, not good government.

12. The rent law is a f**king joke. It’s like giving a cancer patient a Rennie.

13. Yes, a good thing.

What you fail to point out are:

a large and inefficient public sector with antiquated working practices

lateness in complying with EU requirements – e.g. waste management, we were dumping raw sewage into the sea beyond the deadline (and no thought given to reclamation of water) and the provision of renewable energy plans seem to be pretty far behind schedule to me.

a lack of a clear strategy on tourism and water supply

a failure to limit environmental degradation

a failure to devise a strategy to encourage the utilization of unused dwelling units

a failure to liberate Malta’s laws from religious hegemony and thus to ensure equality for all it’s citizens

a failure to implement just taxation and trim the black economy. It’s simply scandalous, for example that Gozitans, with 10% of the population only produce about 2% of VAT collected (and have a disproportionate number of slobs boarded out).

So, yes, I stand by my remark. This government is mediocre. Then again, almost all governments are, so it’s no big deal.

I’m glad you’ve pointed that out. My elder daughter has told me that many of her peers are on Facebook. She knows of its existence through them, and yet, they are all only 9 years old.

I fail to understand the reasoning of many parents. They probably don’t realise the implications.

Possibbli ma tafx?

Dan it-tifel x’ghandu x’jaqsam mal-istorja li Daphne bdiet mal-Magistrat Consuelo? Jien ma nistax nifhem ghalfejn qed jiddefendu lill-magistrat.

Dawn kieku kienu gurnalisti serji imisshom bdew jinvestigaw x’qalet Daphne dwar il-magistrat mela hargu qatta bla habel kontra Daphne u il-familja taghha. Ma’ tridx tkun xi bravu biex tinduna li ghandhom il-faham miblul!

And make sure you appear in some photos with Magistrate Consuelo Scerri Herrera, Charlon Gouder, Robert Musumeci and one of them lot, and which you should then upload onto Facebook.

On a serious note, I admire the Vellas for their fighting spirit.

Well, Marlene Mizzi did that, after voting ‘yes’ in the EU membership referendum.

And now she’s one of the party’s activists.

Tim, the idea that the government has “run out of steam and become mediocre” is a fallacy that has been propagated by certain media, a fact which isn’t helped by the government’s very poor PR, leading to many believing it and repeating it.

The government has been working towards realistic goals, most of which have either been reached or are within reach.

I was present for the prime minister’s meeting with Maltese scientists last Wednesday at the Malta Council of Science and Technology. I think he should make it a point to meet various groups like this and talk to them freely. His message is strong, positive and credible, and in this way he could reach the largest possible core audience. Maybe then we might stop hearing that the government has run out of steam.

Have you forgotten the Euro?