Malta Developers Association President, Sandro Chetcuti, on Wednesday stressed the importance of unity, for which he has striven unceasingly, when he addressed members at an annual Christmas party at Verdala Castle during which €20,000 was donated to the Malta Community Chest Fund.
“I work very hard to achieve harmony and take great satisfaction from seeing people united,” Mr Chetcuti said. Turning to the devastating disease of cancer, he said he realised how we all come into contact each week with people, members of our families and great friends of ours, who are afflicted. “It has become as common as influenza,” he observed.
In the context of the President of the Republic’s constant appeals for financial assistance, he said: “The truth is that we are hearing about this illness every day, much more than we used to hear 10 or 15 years ago. Today it has become a matter of course. One starts to worry and wonder when it is going to be your turn.”
He urged MDA members to put aside differences and to accept that everyone is human, with defects and shortcomings, while celebrating friendships. “Let us all thank God for everything he has given us and continue to do our utmost to support whoever is in need,” Mr Chetcuti said.
President Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca thanked the MDA for its generous donation and its continual support of the Malta Community Chest Fund throughout the year. She always found in the MDA “generous, sensitive hearts who do everything they can to help others.
“I have spent my entire career with people, championing the less fortunate but in the almost three years as President, more than ever before, I come face to face with people who are always in need, and I can appreciate the people in business who are extremely generous.
“I want to pay tribute to you for your sensitivity towards your neighbour, who needs a shoulder to rest on. Never in my life have I gone through a time when I saw how sickness causes so much poverty.
“When I see this sense of commitment from people like you, I realise that this is truly a country that is unique. There is an instant response whenever I appeal to collect money so as to ensure that we have enough funds for next year to ascertain that nobody in this country feels that he cannot afford to be cured or at least manage his condition according to what he can afford.”
President Coleiro-Preca agreed with Mr Chetcuti’s remark on cancer being as common as influenza. “From scientific research, we are being told that it is not a question of who but when. I do not say this to upset you because, at the same time, advances in medicine occur every day and cures becomes more efficient. Today there are more people with chances of being cured and more people with chances of extending their lives.
“However, you need money for this.So, every time we meet to relax, we also think about others. Sandro is the engine not only that pushes forward the MDA, but also the engine to remind its members that we need to think of others.”
16 December, 2016