The Chamber of Commerce on Thursday slammed the government for what it said was lack of long-term planning that was negatively impacting Malta's economy and quality of life. 

In a critical statement, it expressed "serious concern" over lack of foresight, poor planning, lack of transparency and weak enforcement.

"The country is in a nose-dive and we persist in denial, failing to read the signs of the times," it said.

"It is time to stop trying to please everyone at once and prioritise the long-term national interest over immediate partisan interests.

The government needs to listen more to the warnings voiced by people whose interests are non-partisan and address structural issues that impair productivity and undermine competitiveness, the country’s attractiveness, and people’s well-being and quality of life.

The time for "patched-up, short-term quick fixes" is over, the Chamber warned.

The same issues were discussed year-on-year and despite improvements "here and there", the approach was uncoordinated and the general situation continued to deteriorate. The damage done in the meantime was, in many cases, irreversible, as evidenced by the urban landscape, the Chamber said.

The traffic situation, the power outages, the shabbiness, the lack of proper waste management and the tragedies at workplaces are just some examples of issues that Chamber said it was "constantly harping on".

"These factors contribute to an erosion in the quality of life of people and make the country unattractive for high-quality investors and visitors alike.

"Visions, strategies and reforms which remain on paper are pointless. The country’s leadership needs to step up and take the right decisions with the required urgency, however tough these decisions may be."

Malta needs to overcome "the illusion" that because of its small size, it only needs to attract a small portion of the business from the global economy to succeed, the Chamber added. 

Stop the quick-fix solutions

"Our GDP may be growing, but the country is progressing way too slowly in addressing what will increasingly mean more to people and to sustainable business models," it said, warning that eventually, the island will be outpaced by its competitors on all fronts.

"We cannot continue to grow the bottom-line GDP without a clear strategy beyond the seemingly quick-fix solution of importing foreign labour indefinitely, in the hope that this will help support the growing needs of our ageing population, not least of which is the pensions timebomb," the chamber said.

It urged the government to rise up to the challenge and act now before it was too late:

• Implement tangible measures to reduce traffic congestion, such as linking car license fees to usage, introducing parking fees in central urban areas, restricting congesting activities during peak hours;
• Ensure a reliable supply of electricity that can cater for predictably hot summers without recurring power outages;
• Ensure proper maintenance and cleansing of public areas;
• Ensure proper enforcement of laws and regulations in all spheres of business activity and for all residents and visitors;
• Provide assistance to actual low-income earners rather than indulge in distributing handouts;
• Provide subsidies to businesses operating a sustainable model to help them become more viable and prevalent;
• Incentivise a shift away from labour-intensive activities towards an economic model which is not dependent on increasing the population.