For glitz, golden promises, plans on paper and silly dreams, our political masters and those perpetual-masters-in-waiting take the trophy or should be awarded top prizes.
In my previous article highlighting our local addiction to planning mayhem, I left the PN totally out of the picture. Apologies for that.
It’s mainly because the party in opposition is so irrelevant that it is becoming transparent. Not transparent in a positive way but because their invisibility hardly needs planning.
Yet, who cares about PN failures when we have a professional outfit running the country down?
In the article about planning, or total disregard thereof, I pinpointed the madness of Aaron Farrugia’s wild dreams regarding bike lanes.
Here’s a bit more why this man, his plans and his dreams will just add more mayhem to a country already oversaturated with congestion and near lunacy.
After his momentous week of bike fun, Aaron gave us the magic pill for all things cycle related. Now, after his Damascene moment on his bike, he should come off his seat and walk.
Take a walk on the wild side, Aaron. Walk around all week long. Get off your bike or out of your fancy car. Join us mortals who go around on foot risking life, limb, and sanity.
Gather round your fellow ministers, bigwigs, consultants, infrastructure planners, urban planning wizards and use our roads, pavements, steps, and all things necessary in every man’s and everywoman’s normal walking life.
It seems Aaron and Co. only realise what our problems are when they are asked to join the commoners, the poor people who are not ministers or stars of the Labour firmament.
A week might be enough for him to realise that life out here in the streets is sadly lacking in glitter, comfort, safety, and all things nice.
Walking around on Malta’s pavements is quite the ordeal- Victor Calleja
Besides walking, maybe Aaron and the rest could also try manoeuvring a pushchair, a baby walker, a wheelchair, a shopping buggy, or have a child or more in tow.
Walking around on Malta’s pavements is quite the ordeal. Problems are prevalent all over the Maltese islands but, as always, Sliema, this real estate jewel in the republic, could be a good starting point for Aaron’s walk.
Instead of enjoying a walk in peace and relaxation – as walking should always be – anyone walking must manoeuvre around a near-enough impossible obstacle course.
Obstacles vary from poles in the middle of pavements, holes for festoons, holes left gaping, sudden slopes, advertising boards, tables and chairs of eateries and garbage bags left for hours, if not days on end.
Then there are always a few scooters, cars parked badly and the ubiquitous builders’ cranes, trucks, skips, concrete platforms, and sundry other hurdles.
If you are young, energetic, and nimble you can just make it. Otherwise, you must hope that some divine force can save you in your quest to get to your destination.
This might sound exaggerated to some readers. But try to walk for long stretches and see how many times you end up having to walk in the road where traffic looms in all its glory. And if Aaron is listening and he is out and about on his walkathon, perhaps he will tell us if this is all imaginary.
On top of all this mayhem, you then have vehicles of all types and sizes which have decided – or been led to believe by Aaron’s ilk – that the car is the real king of the road. In built-up areas they zoom around like maniacs, stop where they feel like and always think they have the right of way over all pedestrians wherever and whatever the context.
After his long, relaxing, energising walk, let our most wonderful and capable Aaron decide to now consider this problem too. Ideally, while trying to devise some mad-hatter scheme to give all bikers a free, uninterrupted ride, maybe he can include a few good methods to get pedestrians to walk in uninterrupted peace.
Life, someone must have said once, is all about planning properly. It’s definitely not just about fancy words and totally senseless, unfulfillable plans.
Victor Calleja is a former publisher.
vc@victorcalleja.com