It is natural that, through time, people and places change. Places change over time as both physical and human processes change and, thus, modify the characteristics of a place. Places vary in size and intricacy as a result of new knowledge, ideas, human migrations or political conflicts.

Usually, such changes take quite some time. Not in Malta. Malta was transformed so much in just 10 years I barely recognise my own country.

Take Valletta, described by Benjamin Disraeli as a city built by gentlemen for gentlemen. Today, our capital city looks more like a market with cheap plastic street furniture and umbrellas outside cafes and restaurants, delivery vans belching fumes and refuse trucks doing the rounds close to people, mostly tourists having lunch.

While having an overpriced macchiato take a look at the number of people searching for plastic bottles in rubbish bins. And if you happen to stay late at night you can also enjoy the deafening sounds from bars and wine bars till the early hours.

Renzo Piano’s masterpiece, aimed to give a sense of freedom, surrounded by police barriers, is the first glimpse tourists see upon entering our capital city, a UNESCO Heritage Site. Can you imagine Palazzo Montercitorio or the House of Commons barricaded? But, then, the speakers of parliaments in the UK and Italy are not Anġlu Farrugia.

The government and its trolls keep harping on the ever-increasing number of tourist arrivals but they never tell you that thousands of youths are coming to Malta not to visit museums or to admire our palaces and archaeological sites but for a couple of days to binge drink, have sex and smoke weed.

Never have I seen beggars in Malta’s streets before. But, now, even as we are told that we have a booming economy, beggars are a common sight even at the entrance to our capital city. Never have I seen homeless people sleeping outside on pavements and public gardens but, today, they can be seen everywhere from Valletta to Pietà and from Rabat to St Paul’s Bay.

Never have I seen beggars in Malta’s streets before

Never have I known people who could not afford a meal but, today, soup kitchens are providing thousands of meals to hungry people every week. And this while the chosen few keep on gluttonising at the country’s public coffers’ troughs, and Michelle Muscat is driven around by two ‘logistic managers’ in a top of the range Range Rover SUV, all funded by our taxes.

In a decade, Labour has managed to transform Malta’s skyline to one where cranes have become the main characteristic feature, taking the place of the flat buildings and imposing churches’ domes. Never has there been so much development in ODZ areas – the Planning Authority has become a joke because it does not plan but just speedily issues building permits by the score.

But the biggest change we are witnessing is that Malta has become a place where impunity reigns supreme with the consent of Castille, moving Malta towards a state of lawlessness. This impunity can be perceived in every criminal and civil activity because institutions like the attorney general, the police and the FIAU have been taken over by loyal Labour Party devotees.

Never did I ever think nobody would assume political responsibility after two independent public inquires found that the State was responsible for the deaths of an investigative journalist and a 20-year-old youth. Robert Abela, who is governing like a feudal lord, had vehemently resisted a public inquiry into the death of Jean Paul Sofia but Isabelle Bonnici, Sofia’s mother, persevered. She was joined by civil society and Abela had to make one of his famous U-turns. No wonder he kept refusing to hold an inquiry – the conclusions showed the state of Malta’s ‘working institutions’.

My Malta used to be a country to be proud of, small yet respected by all. Throughout its history it has been colonised by many nations and powers, from the Phoenicians to Byzantines, from Arabs to the Kingdom of Sicily, from the Order of St John to the British Crown.  Then, in 1964, the Maltese gained independence from foreign rule. Soon it became a thriving country. The transformation was completed when, in 2004, Malta became the smallest member State of the European Union, without doubt a success story.

But Malta has now been colonised again, this time not by a foreign power but by a bunch of crooks and criminals. The Labour government made sure institutions like the police, the armed forces and all government authorities and agencies are controlled and directed by Labour stooges.

Former Labour MPs, candidates and officials were appointed as magistrates and judges.

Corruption flourished and became the order of the day.

Labour sympathisers were appointed to boards and committees to sustain Labour’s reign of corruption and impunity. Impunity tainted every institution and all aspects of Maltese life. 

Alas, my Malta is now considered as a high-risk country, with corruption, a lack of democracy, reduced freedom of speech and, worst of all, where impunity reigns supreme.

Not my choice.

Joe Azzopardi

Joe Azzopardi is a former official at the ministries of the environment, justice and home affairs and foreign affairs.