Letters to the Editor – July 29, 2024

And yes, more hotels

So yes, the Planning Authority has issued two more permits for new hotels in Sliema… this country has gone mad.

Are the PA and the Malta Tourism Authority not yet convinced that full hotel capacity has been reached in that area, given the number of such properties, apartments, boutique hotels and Airbnbs?

Can we further address the social and environmental disruption this industry is causing?

Why do the PA and the MTA continue to deny that certain parts of Malta have reached saturation point?

Overflowing sewers, polluted bays, garbage collection disasters, endless traffic jams, people urinating and defecating in public, street fights, trash everywhere… the list goes on and on.

Dear policy makers, please consider the idea that certain areas in Malta (Sliema, Gżira, St Paul’s Bay, Swieqi, Mellieħa and others) all deserve a long-term moratorium on the issuing of further licences for hotels and similar accommodation.

Yes, this will anger vested interests. But the choice is now more than clear: bow to the speculators, the tourist industry, the Malta Development Association and their capitalist ilk versus the real current needs of this country.

John Consiglio – Birkirkara

Tribute to the workers

The workers’ monument in Msida. Photo: Shutterstock.com

Monuments are visible signs of our appreciation for the past and they point us to the present and the future. They are more than just nostalgia.

The monument to the workers, from more than 40 years ago, continues to challenge us, the workers of today. It celebrates the workers of today. We are part of the great reality of the necessity of work, mainly for subsistence.

What about the many immigrant workers who do so much manual labor (and menial work)? Are they part of this monument? Do they have the honor of being part of this monument?

Victor Degabriele, SJ – Mosta

Eternal bliss

Regarding the letter “No religious funeral necessary” (July 17), I have always admired people who stick to their faith, promote their ideals and live in harmony with the rest.

But humanists cannot hide the fact that they are atheists, and their last revelation is that eternal bliss is a fairy tale. Without going into the merits of mysticism and phenomena that have existed throughout the ages, if the wonders of the visible heavens proclaim and sing the glory of the Creator, as the Psalmist has rightly said, what shall we say of the hidden wonders of souls exalted to the highest states of holiness and bliss?

John Azzopardi – Żabbar