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Dear government, where shall we put our lamp-holder?

Can you believe this was a question asked in Parliament during yesterday's session? Where will the holder of the lighting of the common area of a block of flats be placed?

This was highlighted by blogger Daphne Caruana Galizia on her site today:

L-Onorevoli SILVIO PARNIS staqsa lill-Onorevoli CHRISTOPHER SAID (Ministru tal-Ġustizzja, Konsultazzjoni Pubblika u l-Familja):
Jista’ l-Ministru jgħid fejn se ssir il-holder tal-bozza tal-komun ta’ flat ġdid li d-dettalji dwaru qed jintbagħtu separatament?
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Tweġiba:

Ninforma lill-Onorevoli Interpellant li normalment dan ix-xoghol fil-komun tal-blokka hu responsibli ghalih ir-rapprezentat tar-residenti tal-blokka. Minhabba li din il-blokk partikolari sal-lum ma hemmx rapprezentant, il-Sindku ta’ Hal-Tarxien offra li jaghmila ta’ koordinatur u biex jaghti stuzzjonijiet lil kuntrattur li intghazel mil-Kunsill stess.

Ghaldaqastant il-post fejn se issir il-holder tal-bozza fil-komun intaghzel mis-sindku ta’ Hal- Tarxien. Dan minhabba li qieghed jirrapresenta lil- residenti. Is-Sindku hu obligat jikkonsulta mar-residenti.


Incredible. Our belief in big government has got us to the level of asking for a Minister's intervention to decide where a group of residents are to place a lamp-holder. This level of government intervention is being shown to be synonymous with the current Opposition and future government-aspirant, which I already wrote about in a previous blog-post (More Big-Government). They believe government should dictate what a private company publishes in its leaflets, how autonomous bodies are administered, how autonomous representative unions conduct their elections, who should be allowed to speak or write, and now also where a lamp-holder is to be placed.

Thomas Jefferson's words come to mind:
“Government big enough to supply everything you need is big enough to take everything you have. The course of history shows us that as a government grows, liberty decreases.”
We should really start reflecting about this before expecting government to intervene here, there, everywhere.

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