Some days, I look out of the window and am filled with hope; on others, I wake up and wonder who is putting hallucinogenic drugs in our water supply. Today is one of the latter.
I was slurping my morning tea with vigorous, wild abandon and mindlessly scrolling through social media when I came across one of the most ludicrous things I had read in some time: the Malta Developers Association chief claiming that, on the whole, Malta is more beautiful now than it was 20 years ago. I’ve read his statements over and over again and, no, he wasn’t joking.
At least, he had the very thinly veiled decency to acknowledge that his view wasn’t widespread; however, this was followed by him saying that the media’s anti-development sentiment influenced the public. What sparked the media’s anti-development stance? Apparently, political reasons or commercial interests.
The line that topped it all off for me was his stating that “there is a movement against the property industry”. It’s in moments like this I wish my hand were sewn to my forehead to form a forever facepalm.
Now, don’t get me wrong, as chief of the Malta Developers Association I was hardly expecting him to tell everyone that his ideal version of Malta included no buildings but it really beggars belief that we have gotten to a point where we are being collectively gaslit over what we are able to see with our own eyes.
I think back to the Malta of 20 years ago, already on the cusp of ruin, and I wonder where these people have been residing. Perhaps they’re living at the top of the endless turrets and towers they’re building, so they can’t see the dust, dirt and sheer ugliness we live in every day.
With every passing day and every holiday I see spent in nature by the people who usually defend our building sites, I really do wonder whether it’s beauty and progress they’re seeing or just euro signs- Anna Marie Galea
As I pass building site after building site on my way to just about anywhere and encounter Malta’s favourite bird, the crane, blocking road after road, I often think back to Joseph Portelli’s 2021 interview, where he boldly claimed Malta needs 100 more years of construction and thank the universe that I’ll be one with the dust that composes the ugly chicken coops many people are being forced to call home by then.
Maybe he’s planning on taking over Comino. Then again, ODZ land always seems to magically become viable on our islands; the Planning Authority always seems to have more important avenues to pursue, like punishing people for the wrong-coloured door.
I know that people like to think that beauty is in the eye of the beholder but, with every passing day and every holiday I see spent in nature by the people who usually defend our building sites, I really do wonder whether it’s beauty and progress they’re seeing or just euro signs.
There is nothing remotely aesthetically pleasing about what we’re building, so we can’t even feel reassured by that.
It’s honestly a pity that we can’t bottle gaslighting in this country because we could make it the country’s greatest export.
If this is Malta on its 100-year road to beauty, I can’t wait to see what ugly looks like.