If only our policymakers who hold the majority in parliament today were to listen to the proverbial John Citizen, they would change their policies and their arrogant ways.
Kieku waqa’ u kiser siequ, says the Maltese idiom. If only the government would fall and give way either to a new leadership within the Labour Party or to a new election that would lead to change, we would breathe a sigh of relief.
Had the present government invested cleverly in the energy sector, instead of listening to the Azerbaijanis, Gasans, Apap Bolognas and Fenechs and building an unnecessary and costly power station, things would be different.
The cost to Malta of the new power station was not only financial – apart from being allegedly criminal – it was not having money or an interest in upgrading the electricity distribution system.
Once the population boom struck, it should have been obvious to engineers, probably silenced by the powers above them, that the system would crash when placed under stress. Today, we have had the stress of overheating and extreme population numbers. Yet, the arrogant ministers pretend that all is in order.
What is going to happen to the sewerage system and its carrying capacity? Just like the failure to invest in electricity distribution, the government has failed to invest in the sewerage transmission, purification and reuse systems. We can only wait a few more weeks or months before that system breaks down too.
Let the cowboy contractors go bankrupt if need be
If it should break down this summer, I just cannot imagine what our streets, beaches and sea quality would look and smell like. The tourist industry will get such a big hit that the effects on the political landscape would be like an earthquake.
Forest fires are burning all around us in the Mediterranean but, here in Malta, our contractors and greedy developers, who control our prime minister and the purses of the Labour Party with their contributions, have eliminated most trees and open landscape that could catch fire.
Yet, when I hear about the fires on the Greek islands, I realise they are better off than us because, once the fires die down and forests regenerate, people will continue to live as before on islands that have proportionate numbers of population and infrastructure capable of bearing those numbers.
Listening to the government in parliament defend the fact that the Fortina Group illegally reclaimed territory from the sea to extend a Sliema lido was very frustrating. Sliema residents have lost access to part of their shore, causing more frustration within the locality. People are angry all over Malta. Yet, ministers try to ignore this pent-up anger.
The day will come when the system collapses partially or entirely, when our Maltese way of life is lost and cannot be retrieved.
Do not cry over the situation then; we must take our destiny in our hands and show the government that there is still time to change policies, reduce a low-cost labour force, reduce tourism and stop cruise ships carrying more than 150 passengers and using heavy oil and diesel when entering harbour.
We need to place a charge on all incoming tourists to pay for the mess they are leaving behind and the damage to our environment. Place a moratorium on all building permits for a five-year period and let the cowboy contractors shed their slave labour and go bankrupt, if need be, I am sure they have siphoned off much of their undeclared profits to offshore bank accounts in Switzerland, Dubai, Panama or elsewhere already.
They will cry and shout but they do not have to be pitied. We, the public, have to be pitied.