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A flight bringing Malta some 15 patients was refused because of their specialised requirements independent.com.mt/news.asp?newsi… #Libya
Malta has offered all its resources within limits and currently we cannot take any more patients needing ITU treatment, said Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi yesterday morning.
Addressing a business breakfast on Libya in St Julian’s, Dr Gonzi pointed out that on Monday, a flight bringing to Malta some 15 patients was refused because of their specialised requirements.
“Our ITU is full so we cannot take any more patients needing ITU treatment but we can take other patients who may be treated in other wards or private hospitals,” he said.
He confirmed that the Malta Red Cross has asked for help to set up a field hospital and that the government had accepted to give assistance.
St Luke´s Hospital and St Philip´s Hospital are being examined as possibilities and Red Cross will be making its preference according to requirements after considering the options Malta has given.
The International Red Cross will help with human resources.
“It is not a matter of money,” Dr Gonzi explained.
A representative from the Malta Red Cross who spoke from the floor said the organisation is not expecting any locally available human resources. It is planning to take up the service independently and the hospital may take up to 500 patients.
“There are patients in Libya with a bullet in their brain,” Dr Gonzi said.
This patient requires all the highest technology, best surgeons and equipment for treatment. He explained that one cannot oversimplify things and be overenthusiastic to help.
If it was the case of treating people with a broken ankle, then we can treat hundreds. But the prime minister emphasised that we must be able to treat the people before saying they can come over to Malta.
“Let’s do it and let’s do it properly,” he said.
The government is in constant contact with authorities in Libya, they indicate a list of patients and the level of care required, and then things are taken from there. Malta tells them what medical services can be provided and for whom.
He emphasised: “Let us free the resources of the Libyan people because they have all the tools and resources necessary but they need to settle down.”
In an intervention at a Libya summit in Paris earlier this month, Dr Gonzi said he appealed to UN secretary general Ban Ki Moon against creating some bureaucratic process to make Libyan frozen money available.
“It is up to you” he told him.
Meanwhile, the Maltese government is working closely with the Qatari and Kuwaiti governments. In fact, the Libyan patients that last came to Malta were on a Qatari flight.
Speaking about frozen Libyan assets, he went on to point out that only part of the €377 million of Libyan frozen assets in Malta was liquid. A big part of it could not be used.
Moreover, to do anything with them depends on the Libyan National Transitional Council (NTC) giving its go ahead and instructions. In addition, so far these are still covered by UN sanctions so we cannot simply send money to Libya.
In the meantime though, an NTC representative present for the debate said they have already decided to put aside some €500 million for injured persons. The NTC persons responsible for health matters should visit Malta some time soon.
Irregular migration
Although only broaching the subject of irregular migration with NTC officials in the past, Dr Gonzi yesterday encouraged the NTC to sign international conventions on migration in respect of human dignity.
Addressing the subject of irregular migration, Dr Gonzi said Malta has suffered a lot as a result of people ending up on our shores.
The matter will however be discussed at further length with the NTC in the future because it has other priorities to deal with right now. He pointed out that Malta has never stopped people at sea and sent them back to the country of transit, despite unconfirmed allegations against Malta of incidents of the sort.
Malta is a signatory of international conventions and must respect legal and moral obligations, he said. Nonetheless, he insisted that transit countries need to have instruments and procedures in place to stop people from leaving their shores and dying in the Mediterranean.
Mohamed Sayeh, the NTC official responsible for transport matters and who was in Malta yesterday, said signing such conventions has not yet been discussed at NTC level but insisted that the Gaddafi regime had been opening all doors for migrants to leave.
This was a tool Col Gaddafi had used. From now on, the flow will be much minimised, he explained, while entertaining the idea of signing such high level agreements.
“Our revolt was for human rights and we will be the first to sign these conventions.”
Oil exploration
Disputes of the past will be solved on the basis of friendship, neighbourliness and professional discussions, said Mr Sayeh when the subject of oil exploration in Maltese waters was brought up.
Dr Gonzi had just pointed out that the subject, still to be discussed at length with the NTC when the time is right, represents a “very dark chapter” for Malta in the eighties when Col Gaddafi had sent his patrol boats to shoot on us.
“There are pleasures yet to come,” he believed.
However, he did speak of expectations for an open, clear and friendly solution rather than just discussions with a country Malta has served as a shoulder to in difficult times.
Mr Sayeh further explained that Medina Bank professionals will eventually be consulted and things will be solved legally.
Business opportunities
Dr Gonzi encouraged Maltese business persons to get together because certain projects can only be possible if a consortium of people discusses opportunities.
This was mainly a result of economies of scale.
The government too is pooling resources and a business delegation to Libya will be a first strong signal of what Malta intends to do and where to go. Malta Enterprise too will be fully manning a building in Tripoli.
With regard to visas, Dr Gonzi said the process is happening from Tripoli as the embassy has once again been fully manned. The process however needs to be fine tuned for things to be facilitated on a European level.
In reply to a question from the floor by El Afriqija Airlines, the NTC representative said he expects the ‘No Fly Zone’ to be lifted soon.
Malta’s role post humanitarian aid
“There is no extremist in Libya... now you will see the real state close to you,” said Mr Sayeh for the NTC when speaking on the new Libya.
He pointed out that after the transitional period, the council will be selecting 200 members from among them to draft a Constitution, and for a government and parliament.
Dr Gonzi said that we are witnessing a “historic moment”.
From a business point of view, he strongly suggested that Maltese business persons are to work for results.
Factories are producing items that Libya will need and Libya will not continue to depend on oil as that will eventually be exhausted but must build its economy on manufacturing and services.
“We have the best financial services in the region and we must go to Libya offering them,” he said.
The same can be said for IT, education, tourism, ports and harbours.
When it comes to education, it is not about teaching English to primary school children but to judges and lawyers to build a system that interfaces with the EU, its directions and regulations because it is the biggest market next to Libya.
But all this has to happen when circumstances are right and when the NTC allows it.
In conclusion, he expressed gratitude to the “heroes”, both Libyans and Maltese, over the past months.
Quotes:
It is not a matter of money… There are patients with a bullet in their brain - Lawrence Gonzi
Our revolt was for human rights and we will be the first to sign international Conventions - Mohamed Sayeh, NTC
We have the best financial services in the region and we must go to Libya offering them - Lawrence Gonzi
