I recently visited Egypt and was nothing short of awestruck by everything I saw. The pyramids, the Great Sphinx of Giza, Tutankhamun’s death mask: it felt like I had touched a little bit of immortality with my fingertips.
Even in a country where so much of the population lives below the poverty line, all the Egyptians I came into contact with were so very proud and protective of their heritage.
They understood the significance of what their ancestors had left them and knew it was their job to protect it and honour it as best they could. They loved their country while being acutely aware that the bulk of outsiders were visiting them to experience their legacy and not just to stay in another new, anonymous, high-rise hotel.
I hadn’t even been back a week when news broke that the Planning Authority had approved plans to demolish the British Barracks at Fort Chambray and replace them with, you’ll never guess what, yet another “luxury” hotel. Yes, folks, the “luxury” hotel excuse has reared its ugly head yet again.
Only this time, they’ve graciously added more apartment blocks to the mix, too. Oh, and if you think that all that wasn’t ghastly enough, they’re apparently proposing to use the façade of the barracks still but build it elsewhere in the fort like it’s some circus sidepiece. The absurd vulgarity in this land of watered-down milk and money never seems to take a day off.
I am incandescent with rage but even that doesn’t stop me from seeing what an apt metaphor this future redevelopment is for this country. A hollowed-out, soulless, devoid-of-meaning shell with fake-real window dressing. The façade a grotesque homage to a history we are viciously intent on erasing in the name of shameless, boundless greed.
Our history is nothing more than a bargaining chip in the hands of the ignorant, of which we have in vast abundance. I was so glad when someone published the faces of the people who put the final nail in the Fort Chambray coffin: it’s always nice to know which direction the knife is coming from.
Our history is nothing more than a bargaining chip in the hands of the ignorant, of which we have in vast abundance- Anna Marie Galea
Can you imagine working in Gozo’s cultural sector and voting against the preservation of Gozo’s heritage? I mean, I didn’t expect developers to give a toss about our culture but when you can’t even get architects, superintendents and people working in the cultural sector to care, there’s not much else to say, is there?
What a disgusting, long, drawn-out farce this time in our history has turned out to be. We have no pride, understanding or respect for what has come before us. We are proving ourselves unworthy custodians of all that we have undeservedly been given. A madness has taken hold of us that I find impossible to explain.
The lack of education portrayed by all the degree-wielding, unthinking beneficiaries of the free education system is unbearable. Who will speak for our country when those meant to be defending it don’t understand the value of what we have?
We haven’t just lost the plot; we sold it to the highest bidder. And that blood on your hands looks a lot like money.