Private initiatives

Martin Scicluna, executive president of Din l-Art Helwa, has responded to my Talking Point by entitling his article "Business initiatives in the heritage field". I prefer "Private initiatives in the environmental field" because the environment embraces not only the heritage which we can be justly proud of but also the general cleanliness of the place, the embellishment certain areas are given, such as landscaping, the provision of open public places, such as gardens, and the equipment provided therein.

Mr Scicluna is clearly right in praising the initiatives taken by private enterprise in sponsoring heritage projects and one has to give credit, for example to Bank of Valletta for its sponsorship of Ramla Bay, Gozo, to ensure everyone`s enjoyment of it.

I apologise if somehow my comments were not clear as to their intent for, quite clearly, a lot more than a generous cheque is needed to fully exploit Malta`s potential for tourism and just as important for its inhabitants to enjoy their birthright.

What has always been a puzzle is the answer to the question: Why, in spite of the many trips abroad by our leaders and those who can take initiatives, have they not brought back any ideas they can utilise over here? Some of these are so obvious that one wonders why many are not implemented here.

To take a few examples, public park benches are donated or sponsored in many countries abroad; statues or works of art are erected in public squares sponsored by individuals or institutions; plaques depicting panoramic vistas with explanatory notes (why leave it to the state to provide?); directional signs both for places of interest and or simply to lead you to a village placed not on roundabouts or right on top of a junction but well in an advance warning position and these should benefit the business communities of the relevant places by attracting tourists and others to their town and villages.

I do not want to appear churlish by introducing a note of criticism of what Mr Scicluna had to say despite his words of encouragement, but it would appear that Mr Scicluna is walking a precarious tightrope between obtaining much needed funds for his good works and biting the hand that feeds his very worthy organisation, and thus refraining from urging more initiatives to be taken by them.

Dare I suggest that Mr Scicluna`s terms of reference extend beyond stretching existing resources to wider concepts of participation from both individuals and organisations, which may greatly contribute to ameliorating worsening conditions in the environmental sector and by achieving that one can then safely leave a more pleasant place for future generations to inherit?