Mark Anthony Sammut

This article  was published in The Malta Independent on Sunday on the 16th December 2012 Water is the primary source of life on earth. Cities and dwellings have been built around rivers or according to according to the availability of a source of water. Despite the fact that this barren rock does not have rivers or lakes, it is what it is today because spring water sustained its population throughout the centuries, supplemented with this population’s intelligence in harvesting rainwater. Cisterns, dams, reservoirs, aqueducts, you name it – we built it! Technological advancements and the development of reverse-osmosis plants have led us to believe that our water supply is infinite, leading us to neglect our natural source of water: our aquifers. Not only that, but we have left unenforced a law set up since the time of the Knights, that of building a cistern with every building to store rainwater at source, reducing demand and also alleviating flooding. A further issue has co

Din kienet l-intervista li għamlitli l-gazzetta 'Illum' nhar il- Ħadd 2 ta' Diċembru 2012  (paġna 6/7) L-Arriva ilha topera f'Malta 'l fuq minn sena, iżda problemi kbar bis-servizz u l-karozzi li qed jitħaddmu għadhom qed jinħassu fuq bażi regolari. X'tikkumenta dwar dan? Ir-riforma fit-trasport pubbliku kienet bla dubju riforma neċessarja. Tlaqna minn sitwazzjoni fejn kellek servizz li ma kien ikkontrollat minn ħadd, u illum għandna sitwazzjoni fejn is-servizz marbut b’kuntratt. Iva, huwa ċar li f’diversi inħawi dan il-kuntratt mhux qed jiġi onorat u n-nies mhumiex moqdija kif stennew, pero’ grazzi għar-riforma, Transport Malta illum tista’ tieħu passi kontra l-operatur li mhux qed jagħti s-servizz li hu marbut li jagħti, kif filfatt qed tagħmel. Nittama li l-livell ta’ servizz mixtieq jintlaħaq mill-aktar fis possibli għal ġid ta’ kulħadd. L-Enemalta diġa ħallset €157 miljun lill-BWSC u l-impjant il-ġdid mhux talli mhux qed jaħdem talli għandu hsara

The Malta Labour Party is making a great issue out of the fact that following the cost-of-living increase in wages announced in the last budget, minimum-wage earners are going to be paying income tax on extra income. First of all let's get things clear. Married minimum-wage earners and parents will not be paying any tax. It's bonuses and any extra income of a single minimum-wage earner which will fall in the taxable bracket. This is because the minimum wage has now gone up to an annual €8,433 while the lower taxable bracket for a single person starts from €8,500. Mind you, this is not something completely new. This year, a minimum-wage earner was paying around €30 in tax a year. Due to next year's budget increase in the cost-of-living allowance, he'll be paying around €60. But this is not because the taxable bracket has been lowered; it had actually been raised for three years in succession up to the very first budget of this legislature. On the contrary, it is be

Illum jaħbat is-26 sena anniversarju mill-qtil politiku ta' Raymond Caruana fil-Gudja. Qiegħed nerġa' ntella' d-diskors li għamilt is-sena l-oħra fil-kommemorazzjoni li kienet saret mill-Partit Nazzjonalista f'għeluq il-25 sena mill-inċidenti ta' vjolenza politika li kienu seħħew fl-aħħar tal-1987, fuq il-kultura tal-liberta'. Onorevoli Prim Ministru, Segretarju Ġenerali, President Emeritus, sinjuri, Il-liberta’ u d-demokrazija. Valuri li għalihom popli sħaħ issieltu u bnedmin xerrdu demmhom. Forsi għall-ġenerazzjoni tiegħi, ġenerazzjoni li għexet u kibret fl-era tal-internet, tal-pluraliżmu u tas-suq ħieles, ġenerazzjoni li sabet opportunitajiet edukattivi kbar miftuħa quddiemha, huwa diffiċli napprezzaw il-prezz li din il-liberta’ swietna. Għal xi wħud minna, forsi kienu biss l-avvenimenti riċenti li seħħew fid-dinja Għarbija li għenuna napprezzaw kemm aħna xortina tajba li ngħixu f’pajjiż demokratiku, fejn il-libertajiet fundamentali tal-bniedem huma

Artiklu tiegħi li deher fil-ġurnal "il-mument" nhar il-Ħadd 2 ta' Diċembru 2012 Waqt li kont għall-kwiet fil-pjazza tar-raħal ngħid kelmtejn ma’ żewġ anzjani li rawni nikber u li dejjem qaluli kelma ta’ ġid, dlonk nilmaħ ħabib antik. Konna ilna ma niltaqgħu żmien. Ġie jsellimli u jawgurali hekk kif sar jaf li se nikkontesta l-elezzjoni ġenerali mal-Partit Nazzjonalista. Kont ftit sorpriż għax miegħu qatt ma tkellimt fuq politika. Spjegali għala jħoss li l-Partit Nazzjonalista għadu l-partit li l-aktar kapaċi jmexxi lil pajjiżna ’l quddiem. Ejjew għal mument ninsew ir-rapporti pożittivi fuq il-finanzi ta’ pajjiżna li ħarġu diversi istituzzjonijiet varji.  Ejjew ninsew il-kummenti pożittivi li għamlu diversi Ministri Ewropej dwar pajjiżna.  Ejjew ninsew ir-ruxxmata rapporti pożittivi li l-Prim Ministru Gonzi ta lil Muscat waqt il-programm Xarabank.  L-ikbar ċertifikat ta’ fiduċja fl-amministrazzjoni preżenti wasal minn Muscat innifsu!