Ghost of Christmases to come
It was nearly three in the morning and cold. Silvio Parnis, chairman of the Consultative Committee for the South, and his fellow Labour MPs, had been hard at work trying to wrap up Hani Hasan Naji Al Salah’s mega Christmas present. On that chilly...
It was nearly three in the morning and cold. Silvio Parnis, chairman of the Consultative Committee for the South, and his fellow Labour MPs, had been hard at work trying to wrap up Hani Hasan Naji Al Salah’s mega Christmas present.
On that chilly December morn, Parliament was transformed into Santa’s Socialist Grotto. However, Parnis and the fellow Labour elves were having a tough time, putting the final touches to Al Salah’s parcel.
It wasn’t meant to be this way, of course. Al Salah had very kindly saved Joseph Muscat from all the hassle of picking out the best present from The Catalogue of Gifts for Hitherto Unknown Jordanian Contractors by choosing his own present.
The Prime Minister’s new best friend didn’t choose any of those boring tie-pins, cufflinks or executive toys. He chose an untouched, undeveloped stretch of the Maltese foreshore.
Seeing that may have been asking for a bit too much, Al Salah offered to reciprocate Muscat’s generous gift by throwing in a little something in exchange. He offered a spanking new state-of-the-art American University in the South – one that would be an educational centre of excellence, attracting the world’s brightest and best, and transforming Marsascala into Millionaireville.
It now turns out that this sacred seat of learning can only start operating as a ‘higher educational institution’. There are already several of these post-secondary institutions operating in Malta, only the government hasn’t seen fit to award huge tracts of the foreshore to them (complete with berthing rights).
So much for the so-called ‘American University of Malta’. It is not American. It’s not a university. And it elevates a Jordanian rector to the de facto position of rector.
These issues were pointed out during last week’s marathon parliamentary sitting. Other aspects of concern were also brought up.
The financial soundness of Al Salah’s company, for instance. Does a company that was incorporated last year with a paltry initial capital of €1,200, and only recently increased to €1 million, have pockets deep enough to sustain the project?
It is not American. It’s not a university. And it elevates a Jordanian rector to the de facto position of rector
And why were all potentially available sites within the development zones summarily discarded? Just because Al Salah put virgin land on his wish list?
The discussion about these matters raged on. But after eight hours of battling for the great Al Salah Christmas giveaway, Parnis of the South had grown tired and frustrated. He rose to his hind feet and said: “People don’t care much about our arguments... What they really want to know is how they will benefit from the projects.” And with that, Parnis had described Muscat’s attitude towards the environment in a nutshell.
I refer to Muscat because it is clear that it is only Muscat who calls the shots. We may have a minister for the environment for the occassional tree-planting session, but it is an underfunded, ineffectual ministry that the Prime Minister tolerates as a sop to environmentalists. In fact, you get the feeling he would do away with this as well, if he could – such is the Prime Minister’s total contempt and disregard for the safeguarding of the environment.
Muscat has made a cold and measured calculation, albeit not a very original one. He has concluded that as long as the economy is chugging along nicely, people will get used to anything.
Muscat has tuned in to the instant gratification culture that elevates short-term material gains at the expense of all other values.
He can always shoot down those who point out that we are endangering our health, our quality of life, our beauty spots and our heritage by saying they are negative and pessimistic and obstructing investment. And he can fire up the crowds and sycophantic supporters by promising them a prosperous and wealthy country.
The Prime Minister acts as if there is only one option to avoid total penury and economic chaos – and that is to accept all forms of development no matter how dubious and no matter how detrimental to the environment.
There is no attempt to find any sort of balance or any sort of accomodation for the safeguarding of our environment and of our natural and scenic heritage. Very soon our country will be even more densely built-up, traffic-ridden, ugly and polluted. That is Muscat’s vision of Christmases yet to come.
cl.bon@nextgen.net.mt