Fat Controller update for those who weren’t around in the 1980s
Need a tourist guide licence? Talk to the Fat Controller.
Has everyone forgotten the part that Labour Minister Joe Grima played in the forgery of tourist guides’ examination results back in the Golden Years tal-Guy, AST u Mintoff?
He was minister of tourism back then, and he announced in parliament that the government would be regulating tourist guides by means of an examination and a licence.
So far, so good – except that this was just another Labour way of perpetrating the wrong sort of control: abuse of those who disagreed with Labour.
The examination was held (and it was really easy). Well over 100 tourist guides sat for it.
The Fat Controller boasted in parliament that the examination had been a great success, and that all the prospective guides had passed.
A couple, he said, had not done all that well, but they would probably get their licence too. You know, because Labour is munificent.
Then public sector employees went on strike, because strikes were the order of the day back then.
The results of the tourist guides’ examination were published after the strike. And guess what? All those tourist guides who had taken part in the strike were marked down as having failed.
One Anna Camilleri (who later married Peter Manduca) was THE star tourist guide, always selected when the government wanted to show foreign VIPs round. She sat for the examination, then took part in the strike, and was marked as failed.
Such was the atmosphere of fear and intimidation that none of the tourist guides who were told they had flunked the examination dared challenge the official result. They suffered the outrage in silence, losing their livelihood. But Anna Camilleri sued the government and Minister Joe Grima.
She had kept a draft of her answers. The examiners were put under oath. They said that her answers deserved top marks. Under stringent questioning, they said that they had passed almost all those who sat for the exam, just as Minister Grima had declared in parliament.
Further evidence confirmed that after the examiners had submitted their official report on the results, Minister Grima had sent for the report, and the results had been altered and forged.
Some of those who had passed failed, like Anna Camilleri, and some who had “failed” passed. Those who had taken part in the strike failed, and those who had disobeyed union directives to strike passed.
The Constitutional Court found Minister Grima guilty of political discrimination through the deliberate forgery of the examination results. Minister Grima was condemned to pay Anna Camilleri the highest ever award in moral and material damages.
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If Joe Grima was one of those who forged a Malta Labour Party government after the 1981 elections which clearly gave a majority of votes to the PN, wouldn’t he forge the results of a tourist guides’ exam?
Daphne, unfortunately the years before 1987 have been forgotten and such things which were the order of the day have become fiction because they seem so unbelievable.
However those who lived those days (I was young but still remember well) feel slightly confused when people speak about Labour in government as though it was God’s gift to Malta and the world.
People speak about the great deeds of Mintoff but all I know is that we were on the brink of communism, dictatorship and mayhem. Stories like this you recount were the order of the day then now they sound like something made up.
I hope to God that he paid and not the taxpayer.
This was a deliberate act and not one of omission. In other words, there should be a distinction between those who were condemned by the Constitutional Court because they failed to act and those condemned because they consciously acted in defiance of the rule of law. Apart from that, as for the case of the police, if one holds a post that intrinsically expects the upholding of law, the penalty should be harder.
Putting these together, anybody holding such a post of responsibility should be interdicted from that post for the rest of their life. In other words a Minister found guilty of deliberately acting unconstitutionally, he should not be deemed fit to benefit from the special benefits granted by the Constitution as a Member of Parliament. These should not be allowed to contest for an election.
Let us not forget that the Constitution is there to safeguard the citizens from the abuse of power.
Doing so would practically dismantle the old (M)LP guard!
Those who lived through those terrible years of violence, victimisation and shortages of all essential commodities will never forget.
It is hoped that the younger generation of new voters will use their brains, nurtured by an education created anew by the Nationalist Party after it had been demolished by Mintoff, and that they will refuse to fall again under the yoke of the same MLP villains who still man the leadership of the Labour Party today.
And still – he is still there. Poor Malta.
This pig really needs to be taken to the slaughter house.
[Daphne – Careful. Remember that 99% of Maltese people do not understand irony. ATTAKK FAHXI U INSENSAT FUQ EX MINISTRU LABURISTA U PREZENTATUR TA’ ONE TV. IRIDU JIEHDUH IL-BICCERIHA U JOQTLUH.]
He is not even fit to eat.
Xieref u mimli xaham.
B’hafna lanzit.
I’ll bet that the one and only available on the island tinned Chinese luncheon meat in the Socialist Golden Years – what was it called, Great Wall or was it Ma Ling? – was made from more horrible things than the ample flesh of Joe Grima.
Stories like this are one of the reasons why this blog is so useful and important.
People are made aware of politicians’ (and ex-politicians’ ) past failings.
So when the likes of Joe Grima start to pontificate on the Government’s ‘failures’, we can put whatever they say in its proper context.
What ex-Minister Joe Grima did with the results of the tourist guide exams is shameful.
Daphne, whenever you find the time take a drive down to St.Vincent Street in Sliema. The first parking spot is a reserved spot mostly occupied by a Kia something with number plates beginning with ‘LIN’.
One need not be a rocket scientist to deduce who that car belongs to, and neither why it is parked so comfortably in a reserved spot. Weighing 200kg does have some benefits after all.
[Daphne – Please don’t tell me that Joe Grima has reserved parking for disabled people.]
Of course he has reserved parking for disabled people! Tell us about it!
The disabled parking bay was actually put right in front of his home, after we fought for a parking bay to be placed on the main road.
But when they re-did the pavement in Sliema, it was moved to the side street.
It is an insult to a really disabled person. Not only is it used by him, whose disability is the result of his uncontrollable greed, but it is also used by his long-standing girlfriend Lynne Zahra, who isn’t even remotely disabled.
The difference between Nationalists and Socialists.
In-Nazzjonalisti ihobbu l-affarijiet sew; Is-Socjalisti ihobbu l-affarijiet sew, ghalihom.
And this is when Labour is in Opposition. What is he going to do when Joseph is prime minister? Take up the entire street?
He should try dieting. Taking away that reserved parking place could be helpful by inducing him to walk a longer distance.
They should take away his car altoghether, if he has one. Give him a poodle instead, and get him to take it for long walks.
At the time I was still very young but I remember that this meddling by ministers was almost considered normal, almost as if it was within their ‘rights’. Il-Ius primae noctis kien jonqoshom.
Indeed, and today he renders himself to be Malta´s champion for democracy, transparency and good governance.
I dare say that he´s been enlightened by St. Vincent and, like him, has charity as his predominant virtue.
I recall his involvement in an incident at the Broadcasting Authority where some official got punched in the face. Can someone give us more details?
[Daphne – That was Tony Mallia, who is no longer around.]
Thanks for remembering my great friend Tony who suffered greatly at the hands of this monster.
Tony went on to become editor of the Nationalist Party’s English-language newspaper ‘The Democrat’. Something similar is sorely needed now that The Times appears to have been taken over by PL infiltrators.
Well done to Anna Camilleri. In most other countries a man found guilty of such a crime would try and be discreet and not be allowed to present a TV programme…only-in-malta.com.
Case details attached: http://www.justiceservices.gov.mt/courtservices/Judgements/script_get_judgement_document.aspx?JudgementID=1109
So what! What’s the big deal.
Things like this used to happen all over the world, and still do in places like North Korea.
It would be interesting if Mr Grima would write in to give us his version of things. But I won’t hold my breath.
And yet there he was, consorting with the PN on Net TV for much longer than is comfortable, before he became one of the prodigal sons.
If the future politicians that will be forming part of the Labor Party Malti, then one is better as to think twice before he votes or if he had the intention as to see a change, because they intend to instigate and resume lots of insults and frame-up or dictatorship methods and this was spoken to us on television by their candidate Vassallo when interviewed by Lou Bondi some months ago and then went into silence as they might have threatened him.
We know the GonziPN we had some objections to the methods or the system they used, but now I sincerely tell you that I prefare to be again under Gonzi then change to Joseph Muscat as Prime Minister, just because he is still surrounded by a group of persons that want to create instability with a rule of force, either with me or I will secure your elimination from existence.
About Daphne Caruana Galizia, all right she was too taugh with her words, but where is the freedom that they want us to believe that they intend to Govern with ? By threatening her that she will be killed, or by saying that they will hang her, or by say other means of threats. Is this the Future Labour Party lead by Joseph Muscat. No I have now change my mind and will not be voting for your party because of this attitude of pastazz or terrorist systematization of past labourite ? Many that I spoke also agree with me and they too were to vote Muscat or his party, but they are now again changing their mind as in their opinion, it is better the devil that you know, than the devil that you do not know….John Wayne Borg.