PL Ministers Keep Ignoring Me After My Son’s Death – But I Won’t Give Up, JeanPaul Sofia’s Mother Pledges
Three months on since the death of her son at a construction site, JeanPaul Sofia’s mother’s appeals to PL ministers to open a public inquiry are completely falling on deaf ears.
“I feel like the smallest fish swimming in mafia waters full of sharks, armed only with the eternal unconditional love for my only son,” Isabelle Bonnici told Lovin Malta.
Bonnici has tried several avenues to get people in power to listen to her appeals.
She said she reached out to Prime Minister Robert Abela and had an 80-minute meeting with him at Castille but was left unimpressed at his stance.
“I could see his humanity but he was adamant against holding a public inquiry,” she said. “He said it will become a political football and began using legal jargon so that I wouldn’t understand him. I told him that although I’m not a lawyer, I knew he wasn’t giving me a valid reason not to hold a public inquiry.”
Prime Minister Robert Abela
“I remember he kept saying ‘għandek raġun’ (You’re right)… I felt it was clear that his hands are tied and something is holding him back.”
Bonnici said she sent emails and Facebook messages to several ministers, including Chris Fearne, Miriam Dalli, Julia Farrugia Portelli, Owen Bonnici, and Byron Camilleri, but none of them so much as answered her.
President George Vella did respond, but only to tell her that he was forwarding her message to a relevant office.
Bonnici has also been pleading to ministers through public comments under their social media posts.
A comment left by Bonnici under a Facebook comment by Minister Julia Farrugia Portelli
Under a recent Facebook video uploaded by Abela, in which the Prime Minister said he was addressing “facts” about the Vitals-Steward deal, Bonnici commented that the “facts also show that you are denying the people of Malta the right for a proper reform in the construction sector and full justice for my son JeanPaul Sofia”.
“You are denying a parent from avoiding the grief we are passing through. You are refusing to hold a public inquiry, just as you refused to hold one after Miriam Pace’s tragic death. Because you refused, proper laws weren’t implemented and this resulted in more deaths, including of my only son.”
A comment left by Bonnici under a Facebook post by Robert Abela
“You are denying the people of Malta and myself the right to know the names of everyone whose hands are smeared with my son’s blood. Who are you protecting exactly? For the thousandth time, I am asking you to have a conscience and take a decision as though what happened to JeanPaul happened to one of your loved ones.”
Bonnici left several similar comments under ministers’ social media posts, but said that while several people expressed their support, no minister has ever publicly or privately responded to her.
“I heard that they want to speak out but that they cannot because they’re being manipulated and because they’re scared of their leader,” she alleged.
On a more positive note, Bonnici thanked the current and former politicians who expressed their support, naming PN MP Jerome Caruana Cilia, former minister Evarist Bartolo, former President Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca, independent politician Arnold Cassola, and Gżira mayor Conrad Borg Manche.
“Conrad came to visit me at my home, even though I’m not a constituent of his. He’s a great man (raġel fuq l-irġiel).”
Indeed, after speaking to Bonnici, Borg Manche made an impassioned appeal for a public inquiry.
“It was heartbreaking to speak to a broken mother who lost her only son because of the carelessness and greed of others. How can a 20-year-old man in the prime of his life lose his life without a public inquiry being called? Are we going crazy?”
“Who is stopping this inquiry from taking place and why? Could it be that a person’s life means nothing anymore and that greed and money have become the be-all and end-all? Where are the principles of righteousness, human rights and the right to justice?”
Bonnici also praised other well-known people who have stuck their necks out for her cause, specifically naming podcast host Jon Mallia, sociologist Michael Briguglio, and lawyers from the Daphne Foundation.
“Now that the Opposition is planning to present a parliamentary motion calling for a public inquiry, I intend to impose pressure for MPs to vote in favour of it. It’s draining and overwhelming me, but it’s my duty. Who will fight for my son if not me?”
“I know my attempts will probably be in vain, but I have nothing to lose and will continue moving forward.”
Abela has so far resisted calls from his family to open a public inquiry, warning it could clash with ongoing police investigations.
Should a public inquiry be held into JeanPaul Sofia’s death?
READ NEXT: Watch: PN Warn Of Other Dangerous Construction Sites Across Island Three Months Since JeanPaul Sofia’s Death
