Allegedly the first time the phrase “the silly season” was used was in 1861, in an article in the English newspaper The Saturday Review of Politics, Literature, Science, and Art. This newspaper was referring to the reduction in the quality of editorial content in The Times newspaper during the summer months when the UK Parliament was not sitting and their law courts were closed. From then on, the summer season has been called the ‘silly season’, during which silly things happen.
Unfortunately, we cannot say the same thing about this summer. The things happening around us are certainly not silly. This week’s contribution will be about such matters, which may appear trivial but are not trivial at all.
Contamination of bays
The contamination of bays around the island has prompted someone to put on social media this message: “from blue flag beaches to bays contaminated by overflowing sewage”.
During a year when we are likely to be boasting about a record year for tourist arrivals, we cannot offer a good product of one of our main assets, the sea.
Tourism has been facing sustainability challenges for years. We have been hearing for years that we want quality and not numbers. Are we, as a country, offering quality? This is certainly not a silly matter.
Transparency
It has now become customary to read about media houses complaining that they are not being given information by entities in the public sector (government-controlled) they would have asked for.
Very often they would need to resort to the Data Protection Commissioner under the Freedom of Information Act.
Members of Parliament also complain they are not given the information they ask for.
The reason given is most often that the information that is asked for is commercially sensitive. When it is not commercially sensitive, we are given information that is irrelevant or we are promised that the information will be provided at a later date (using cricket jargon, the typical case of throwing the ball into the long field).
Are we, as a country, offering quality?
Anything but transparency. The public at large and those entrusted with managing taxpayers’ money for the common good and not for the good of the few, need to be reminded that listed companies must have by law a number of disclosures in their annual report. For example, the remuneration of each director is to be listed by name and on an individual basis.
This same level of transparency and more must be provided by government-controlled entities. It cannot be any other way. Just as listed companies are accountable to their shareholders, government-controlled entities are accountable to their stakeholders, which include the general public. Nothing silly about this.
Non-EU workers in Malta
The issue of overpopulation is no longer a minor one in this country. Research has shown that it has become one of the top three issues this country is facing. We are now told that only workers needed for the economy will be allowed into the Maltese labour market. There is a lesson to be learned here and a comment to be made.
The influx of non-EU workers was a result of a deliberate economic policy. We need to learn that any economic policy will have an impact not just on the economy but also on society. We need to look ahead and understand fully the impact of such a policy.
The comment to be made is that we first need to decide what economic model we want to have. With our current economic model, we will need more workers. So changing our economic model is a must and not an option if we wish to address the overpopulation issue. This is certainly not a silly problem.
Our challenge
We can sit back and wait for the government of the day to resolve these not-so-silly matters. However, these are matters that affect everyone as the collateral damage being done by delaying appropriate decisions is being felt.
We can no longer allow the few to burden society with costs that the taxpayer has to make good for, while they get all the benefits. It is indeed our challenge.