Parliament employees harassed by police security and not allowed to use special pass

This comment was sent in by ‘harassed parliament employees’. Will those of you who walk past Parliament House on your way in and out of Valletta please use your phone to snap pictures of any cars you see parked near or around it. This comment mentions that they are now ‘hiding’ round the back of the building near the stairs, and that the stone is already stained with oil. I will upload all pictures I receive. The email address is at the bottom of the home page.

Dear Daphne,

You should be aware that those who rubbished the new parliament building are also undermining its functionality.

Ever since the Paul Sheehan shooting case occurred, brought upon by Manuel Mallia’s poor judgement, security in parliament has been considerably increased.

This was because some feared that Sheehan or other private guards/drivers could have entered the parliament building while armed.

So they have decided to install a walk-through metal detector for everyone wishing to attend a parliamentary sitting (MP or not) – which is fair enough.

A few police officers would usually man the entrances after 5:45pm (more or less) only on those days when parliament was meeting (still in the old building).

Only now the situation in the new parliament building has degenerated into a police-controlled security frenzy. Now everyone, irrespective of the time of day, has to go through the metal detector and pass their belongings through an X-ray machine.

Obviously you are barred from bringing items made of metal which can be used as weapons, including cutlery. God forbid you should stab your lunch.

That’s right – some civil servants were not allowed into their workplace because they had metal cutlery on them.

They have also started checking any container which might have liquids, such as your lunch, hand sanitiser or deodorant (on some occasions working hours are long).

If you go out to buy lunch you can either choose to eat it outside in the wretched heat or else if you want to eat at the comfort of your desk, you need to pass through the security checks again.

They are even requesting that you show them any fruit you might bring for lunch – for some reason the one woman police officer always asks “Ghandek banana?” and thinks it is hilarious. I am being completely serious.

This is ridiculous. The original incident which started everything was caused by a ‘policeman’ in the first place, working for the Police Minister.

Why are civil service employees being harassed? If the police are checking on civil service staff, who is checking the police?

Certainly, European Parliament employees don’t have to do that. They have special passes which allow them to use alternative entrances reserved for staff.

Maltese parliament employees also have their own special card, because that was the original plan. But now this card is just for show.

And before I forget, MPs don’t need to go through the security checks. Something tells me Manuel Mallia is too fat.

P.S. After you wrote about the cars being parked in the shade under the ‘stilts’, because the Speaker and others are too lazy to walk down from the parking area near the Central Bank, they have started to park behind the building to be out of sight (next to the stairs).

Might I add that you can already see the oil stains in front of the building. Lanqas haqq kemm damu biex igibu l-gebel.