am sailing I am sailing Home again 'Cross the sea I am sailing Stormy waters To be near you To be free I am flying I am flying Like a bird 'Cross the sky I am flying Passing high clouds To be near you To be free Can you hear me? Can you hear me? Through the dark night, far away I am dying, forever crying To be with you, who can say

Jien nemmen illi illum aw hafna blocks ta flats. U dawn ovja ghandom common parts bil lifts. Jien nqis il common parts parti mir residenza tal persuna u ghalhekk nemmen illi ir rata per unit tal kontijiet tad dawl tal komun anda tkun bhal tad djar u mhux rata ghola. Ma ser jintilef xejn ax mhux se tatu xejn b xejn lil hadd izda per unit jithallas inqas. Id differenza fil kont ha tkun ftit ax common parts ma jkuj hafna gholi imma jekk thabruwa in terms of % it will look good. Ara kemm hemm familji jghixu fi blocks ta flats Thanks

Instead of asking consumers to buy items with less packaging, impose policies so that supermarkets and businesses stop producing excessive packaging or unnecessary packaging. For example toothpaste; there is no need to have the tube packed in a box. Hams, cheeses, meat, vegetables and fruit, should not be pre-prepared in vacuum packed plastic. One should give incentive for reusable containers and bags. Unfortunately it is very convenient to find things ready made to consume less time doing shopping but an effort for the environment needs to be done. Thanks

Good morning to all. I just have to state this as I feel that this govt is now really trying to pull our leg. The PM attended a change in climate sumit where he stated that his govt is doing all they can about this issue. IT SEEMS THAT ROBERT ABELA EITHER STAYS AT HOME AND DOES NOT SEE WHAT IS HAPPENING AROUND US, OR IS LITERALLY JOKING. ANYWAY, WE ARE NOT LAUGHING AT ALL. A cheque is on the way. GOOD MOVE PM. Now why don't you promise the people that you will also get back the millions that have been taken away from us or better still, stolen? Do it and just maybe we shall start to believe you a little bit. It seems that you will also get all the roads ready till the election as wherever you go, chaos, traffic, and then you talk about climate change Anyway, I can go on for hours. WE DO NOT BELIEVE YOU.

We have seen in recent years, our state, our political system , has past its expiry date. In this contest I suggest PN takes on the brunt of proposing a complete constitutional and electoral reform. The reform shall be done by technocrats and 'wise men' mandated to draft a new constitution based on their expertise and experience. Once drafted this constitution draft should be put to the people for a consultative referendum. If all goes well Malta will have a new constitution and electoral system in one legislature.

Dawn is-spots politiċi fuq l-istazzjon tat-TV u radju tal-partit nazzjonalista misshom ilhom li bdew, mhux għadhom lanqas bdew jidhru u/jew jinstemgħu! Dawn iridu jkunu qosra u 'to the point' u jidhru fl-aktar mumenti opportuni u popolari.

This is what we need. C O N S I S T E N C Y. Today what we have is consistent construction. No doubt this is needed, but planned. Apart from this what else? New foreign investment? New culture? New management? Where are we heading and where is the 5 year, 10 year, 25 year plans? Malta, can easily be THE hub in the Mediterranean, but we need good people at the helm. We decide if we want a change, so let's wake up from this tragic reality and do something. YOU ARE NOT JUST A NUMBER. THE MALTESE ISLANDS NEED YOU.

Today, going by car, I saw so many roads being done up and so much traffic. About time, when in govt, we ensure we have managerial coordinators to align and ensure that different depts and ministries clearly communicate. This will mean less chaos, much less expenses and at long last we might have a real professional set up and teamwork.

I am one of many who are floaters. I will not vote for PL but unless I see change in PN I’ll not vote for anyone. This sentiment is of many and unless something is done unfortunately we will not be convinced. This has been a general feeling for some time but nothing has changed . So why should I believe that PN will be any different. Wake up and smell the beans .

Inħoss li huwa importanti li l-ħin allokat għall-programmi politiċi jittawwal speċjalment meta nafu kemm qegħdin fi żvantaġġ mal-Partit Laburista li qiegħed jinfluwenza l-aħbarijiet tal-istazzjon 'nazzjonali' favur tiegħu. Per eżempju, il-Programm: Kuntatt jista' jittawwal imqar b'nofs siegħa oħra biex għallinqas jittieħdu aktar telefonati mingħand dawk li jċemplu, u mhux jitħallew barra mill-programm, kif qed jiġri spiss. Dawn ikunu iddiżappuntati ferm meta, wara li jkunu ilhom jistennew minħabba l-ħafna telefonati li jkun hemm, jispiċċaw barra mill-programm. Rigward il-programm Feedback, dan tajjeb li kieku jkompli wara l-aħbarijiet appuntu fuq temi politiċi li jkunu għadhom kemm ġew imħabbra fl-aħbarijiet stess. Anki hawn, it-telefonati li jidħlu jkunu jistgħu jinstemgħu kollha jekk jitwal il-ħin ta' dan il-programm.

Since the demand of patients at Mater Dei always increases, the goverment should work closely with local private hospitals in order to decrease the pressure on the staff at Mater Dei. For instance, the government can give a tax refund to those who have health insurance. Weekends and public holidays people can go to see a GP in a private hospital free of charge. Private hospitals can also try to reach an agreement with the government to open a ward for patients who need rehabilitation due to mental illness. These patients include those who are suffering from mental disorders that need to be observed by a psychiatrist. This should be until the hospital Monte Carmeli is refurbished. Private hospitals should also open in Gozo so that gozitans who have health insurance can also benefit from the tax refund scheme and also not to rely on one hospital. Increase in the amount of ambulances and also give more incentives to local nurses and doctors in order to stay in Malta and not to leave the country to work in foreign hospitals. At the moment we are seeing an increase in foreign nurses, doctors and carers at Mater Dei because of lack of staff. We need to consolidate our good nurses and doctors and not let them be replaced by non EU carers and nurses. We need skilled, qualified professionals in our hospital and we need to keep the reputation of being one of the best hospitals in Europe due to the highly qualified staff that we have.

Let us all beware of the forthcoming budget and all the moves this govt is doing presently. YOU are responsible for this country's future and if not for us, for our children and grand children. Can we continue to accept all that has been happening and what will also happen in the future? Can we let our govt continue to increase the DEFICIT, continue to accept money laundering, continue to import employees into the govt sector, continue to charge high electricity and water bills, and I can go for hours. BEWARE. THE TIME HAS NOW COME TO RISE, TO ENSURE WE GET OUR DEMOCRACY BACK, TO ENSURE WE CAN LIVE LIKE NORMAL PEOPLE DO. This is your Fight not only the PN's fight. Let's move on to a better FUTURE

A democratic government is voted in power by the people and for the people. This is why citizens deserve to be aware of what is going on in their country and what is being done with their taxes and national insurance contributions. This can only be accomplished with the right amount of transparency from the government. Just a few points on how the government can aim to be more transparent are as follows: Full financial and planning transparency on all public projects and contracts by implementing a “taxpayer needs to know” policy. No more shady deals and surprises essentially. Collaboration with opposition parties to work on projects and the implementation of meritocracy whereby praise and dues are given to those members of parliament that have good and effective ideas that are implemented, regardless of which party they form part. Huge decrease in implementation of “positions of trust” is vital. Call for applications for all public workers, especially above a certain pay grade, and transparency in the form of notifications of who is appointing to the highest echelons of the public service. Full disclosure and transparency on all requests for proposal for all public projects, using technology to decrease reliance on humans and making this information more readily available to all citizens (the government gazette is no longer a viable source of information for the general population). Introduction of law requiring separation of political parties from media branches for reduction of bias - breaches punishable and enforced by BA without prejudice. This is already being tackled by an ongoing case so progress is there. Changes to political party financing whereby parties are financed by the taxpayer and therefore only accountable to them. All party accounts must be audited by a trusted third-party to ensure no abuses take place. This will also produce a more level playing field for all parties so that they are voted in for their policies and not their fancy ad campaigns.

Let's face the truth and admit that in the past 45 years, the environment and our heritage when it comes to old buildings, houses of character, all of which are part and parcel of our identity, culture, tradition and Maltese architecture have been totally neglected. The Mintoffian Regime started it all in the 70s, demolishing some of the most beautiful villas on the Sliema front and despite, the NP came all out saying, Mintoff had a score to settle with Sliema for being a NP fortress, they continued with the building mania after they won the elections. Not only, but the mania spread like cancer all over the rest of the island. In 2013, the stats read that Malta had the highest percentage of built up areas, by 33% in Europe. Are we for real - are we even aware of the size of this island, or do we think we are in some other country like the US, which incidentally only has about 9% built up areas, when there are 360 million people living there! Does this comparison with tiny Malta even make sense to anyone. Of course not, but consecutive administrations have been led by the nose mostly by businessmen, the majority of which were building contractors. The government gives them whatever they want, no matter where the development is proposed to make a quick buck - at our expense of course! Probably at this point ,in time even a block of apartments in the middle of Mdina will happen , In exchange contractors support the parties by sponsoring their advertising requirements during the elections. Today, few fools are unaware of this ugly fact. I think it's a fantastic idea to protect ODZ areas the way Dr Grech suggested but I would go a step further. This is not just a question of protecting only our natural environment, but also our building heritage, mostly historic buildings, or buildings with unique features, that deserve a conservation order. However health should precede all the above and a new government MUST think about the quality of life of the whole population. Because of the building mania that has been ongoing for the past 10 years, people have fallen ill both physically, or mentally. Some died of cancer and asthma but others were buried alive beneath the rubble and the 'lucky ones' that survived ended sup living in their cars, like Janet Walker and many others like her. So now, every time construction works are taking place, such as is happening next to my cousin's house in Fleet Street, Gzira, people who cannot afford lawyers and architects are suffering huge amounts of stress, starting from day one when the works started and will continue until they are completed. My cousin has two boys and her husband living in their house and the building contractor who is one of the many thugs working on similar sites doesn't give a damn about the people next door. Then we wonder why the rate of suicide has risen to incredible heights ,with one person committing suicide every day, aged between 13 and 30! Then we wonder what is all this road rage about, why a huge percentage of people are on tranquilizers or other drugs. It's simple, consecutive governments are supporting the building industry to create claustrophobic eye-sores, that cost an arm and a leg and that only the rich can afford. The ludicrous thing about all this is that there are as many apartments as there are people, not to mention old buildings which could have been restored and utilized and which would not have hassled the whole population. A bank today will give a maximum loan to an average wage earner of Euros 60,000 - try purchasing an apartment with that budget. There are people buying garages and turning them into their residence. When was Malta ever in such a ridiculous situation? All this to make the privileged few richer, and the poor even poorer! Shame on us all. So my idea is we should give power to the people. How about putting actions where our mouths are and being really democratic? Introduce a law which states that in ANY street where a permit is requested to demolish a house, FIRST, the building contractor will have to have ALL the signatures of the residents living in that street who are going to be affected by all the grief and suffering brought by the building activity. If there is a single signature saying NO. Then the contractor need not even apply for permits, because this law would not be allow it! Now we come to my personal experience. I was forced out of my home twice in the past 20 years. The first was from a house in St. Julian's, thanks to the NP when they decided to turn my village where I was born into a red light district where every weekend all the local and foreign hooligans would converge upon it their thousands and then from Msida, when the cancerous spread of buildings made it impossible for me to continue living in a dust, diesel and noise polluted area. So, I made the big move of buying a house, I could not afford in Balzan, in a road which used to be known as Triq il-Villel. Not only but with every purchasing contract for land or residences, there was a clause that said one could not build high-rise building. This was all to be dedicated to villas, terraced houses and bungalows. Today, within the last 8 years, five blocks of apartments replaced five beautiful villas right opposite my home. So during all this time, I was once more subjected to noise and dust pollution, parking hassles, closed streets and roads and eventually developed asthma and severe eye allergies. I spend a fortune on inhalers, eye drops and constant regular visits to my GP and an eye specialist because of the health issues that came thanks to all this unsustainable development. But as if that's not enough, my skyline and views from my entertainment area on the roof which cost me over Euros 50,000 are now gone and when we have supper in this area, my privacy is gone as well because I have people in front peeking at me all the time sometimes even in their underwear. Wonderful! Perhaps it's about time this laissez faire attitude by different administrations whereby building contractors can do whatever the hell they like, without any consequences should be stopped NOW. My house until these buildings were given the green light, was evaluated at over Euros 900, 000, now it's depreciated by Euros 100,000 because there are no views and no privacy. Furthermore, I am informed by my own sources (I am a journalist and writer by profession with far reaching contacts even abroad) that this road is condemned and will end up another jungle of concrete. And I believe it will happen unless, the NP steps up, forgets about infra-structure being the 'motor of the economy' and issues an order, not to MEPA - MEPA has to be removed asap, but to another private institution that there should be no more buildings unless its refurbishments to the existing villas and bungalows. And if they are replacing the building, the height has to remain the same as that of the same purchased building. MEPA has to be investigated because the amount of permits issued even where it was clear these same permits shouldn't have been , wreaks of corruption. I would stake any amount of money that the members have been having a whale of a time at the population's expense. Furthermore, there should be laws that do not allow buildings to overlook onto the properties of others, such as the one opposite my house which not only has taken my privacy but the privacy of the villa next to it, when back galleries were built looking directly into its garden and swimming pool area. Who is going to reimburse us for the depreciation of our properties - the government, or the thugs who built these monstrosities or maybe the MEPA members who allowed this rife corruption? When I spoke with Dr Grech about this issue, he said that this is a problem that wherever you cut will cause bleeding! Oh yes, I don't see the building contractors bleeding or sweating, it's Messrs John citizens like myself that are bleeding because we are the ones suffering from all this chaos, the anarchy and rebus and the fact that citizens are only called upon by politicians when they need their vote! When we need them they are nowhere to be seen. This has got to stop. Creating a law to protect ODZ areas is a must and should have happened in 1987, when the NP were in government, not four decades after. The people are the ones who are suffering and it's about time the government creates laws and regulations to protect his citizens. So far, no administration had the guts, or the balls to kick the asses of the building contractors who now own the island. We were never governed by politicians - it was either building contractors, rich people, businessmen or criminals. Now it's even worse! Tied with the above sagas is the reason behind why we are already experiencing an exodus of young professionals. I personally know at least two dozen of these young people who specialize in various fields, medicine, IT, music, engineering and education who have left the island. All these have left to seek pastures new because as one of them told me before departing, he wants to be able to give his family, especially his kids a quality and healthy life, something that we do not have any more. All this young man was seeing around him were concrete forests! Incidentally there are over 77 thousand people suffering from respiratory problems, all due to dust and diesel pollution. Some have lung cancer, others like me severe eye allergies and asthma. The medicines we buy to keep us thriving are not even on the government scheme for free medicines and these medicines cost a small fortune. I know a lot of people because I am 63 and embarked on my journalistic career at 17. I was employed as a freelancer with Independence Print, now Media Link and just turned 20 joined The Times of Malta. I am a writer, poet, editor, copywriter and PR, ran my own business for 20 years and edited two nation-wide distributed magazines in Malta. that being said, my work is well known in Canada, the USA, Cuba and the UK. I was also twice nominated for the Pushcart Prize in the USA by two different publishers within four months and hired as an associate poetry editor with a leading literary magazine in 2017 in New York. So I've been around and know what people expect. Dr Grech needs to tell people what he is planning especially that there will be NO RECONCILIATION with the criminal regime when these are investigated and found guilty. People expect justice like they expected in the 80s after the Mintoffian Regime had caused so much suffering to people but because of the 'reconciliation' all those cabinet louts walked free and the main culprit was given a state funeral. Imagine after WWI giving a state funeral to Mussolini - there would have been civil war. I believe it was one of the reasons, Fenech Adami lost the election to Alfred Sant. Many people felt they had been cheated because no pone was punished except for the Police commissioner. Dr Grech needs to wake up and face facts - we are not dealing with a political party but with criminals and assassins, organized crime and the Mafia. I also think he should address them for what they are because I would call Robert Abela by his real name Don Robberto Abela !!! He needs to raise the hackles on the necks of the crowds and he needs to show people the NP is going to save Malta once more from its current journey to perdition. There are still people who doubt him because they do not believe he is tough enough! Another point if we really want to win this election, we need Dr Delia and Dr Grech to unite their people together. To do this a mediator would be necessary but consider that he has to be a non-politician. He needs to ne a patriot and both these men must remember that after all, they both want the same things for Malta. Other differences can be settled after they are in government. It's crucial now Delia starts to accompany Dr Grech as a show of unity. We should also start thinking about uniting other small forces like the Republika, the PD and the Alternativa. This is a race to the finish and if this criminal regime wins another term it will take 15 years for a NP government to get us out of all this muck! I have spoken with other NP party members and should you wish to query my comments or ask questions please feel free to contact me on 77702867 or 99498927 or my landline, 21441150. Dr Lawrence Gonzi knows me because he is family . Hope you consider some of these suggestions because this country needs a complete overhaul. Stay safe

Firstly I want to state that I am no economist nor expert but here are my 2 cents. Recently I have been having some discussions with my friends and close relatives and something really struck me. I came to a realization that even though most of us are in above-average paying jobs, in private and public sectors and have post graduate degrees, we are young property owners, who are all struggling to make ends meet. We are all baffled how for example buying property or renting, essential groceries as well as prices for eating out here in Malta were comparable to those in foreign countries with better wages than ours (some of us have lived in these countries or have friends who do). I was curious to see whether there was any statistical evidence that would present a reason to my (and our collective) concern. I first came across a study by Papadopoulos 2020 (link: https://ceoworld.biz/2020/02/03/most-expensive-countries-in-the-world-to-live-in-2020/) which states that Malta is the 26th most expensive country to live in (ranking 20th and 30th out of 132 countries for rent index and groceries index respectively) and yet Malta faired very low under “local purchasing power index” where Malta placed 80th out of 132 countries. This started to shed some light on the discussions I was having. I then came across a report focusing in EU countries; https://www.econstor.eu/bitstream/10419/232558/1/175267751X.pdf which acknowledged that “living costs in Southern Europe are considerably higher than in Eastern Europe, purchasing power is more impacted by the fact of having relatively low nominal minimum wages: minimum wage recipients in Malta (5.24 PPS), Portugal (4.71 PPS) and Greece (4.50 PPS) now have lower real purchasing power than those in some Eastern European EU Member States.” The study also noted that whilst in countries such as Latvia, the minimum wage rose by 13%, in contrast, Malta had only had a “mere” increase of 1%. And it concluded that “according to the Commission’s calculations”, an increase “of well above 30% would be required in Malta” I think this is an issue that needed to be addressed yesterday. People in Malta are feeling the crunch. Ensuring people have an adequate purchasing power means a better quality of life.