Finance Minister Clyde Caruana caused quite a stir last week when he simply stated the sacrosanct truth, that Malta must change tack and opt for an economic model which deprioritises construction and which taps alternative ways of generating growth. Eureka!
The same sentiment has basically resonated with vast swathes of the local population and has been reiterated ad nauseam by numerous political exponents, environmental NGOs and even academics during the last two decades, at least.
Despite stating the obvious, however, the significance of the minister’s foray should still not be downplayed and, in fact it did ruffle a few feathers, notably those of the Malta Developers Association. The MDA, considered by both political parties as an instrumental ‘stakeholder’ to be consulted for those essential donations on the eve of an election, as revealed in Sandro Chetcuti’s latest interview, promptly chided the minister for attempting to “make an enemy of the industry” rather than revising the policies to safeguard the urban and rural environment.
The MDA should rest assured that the unsavoury perception that the public has of the industry was not borne out of Caruana’s latest missive but has been forged over years of unadulterated greed by the industry and has been perpetrated by the MDA’s favourite mantra that everyone on these islands is a developer and stands to win from construction.
As for the MDA’s claim that the policies need revision due to their permissive nature, this is downright disingenuous on their behalf given that the MDA contributed to the formulation of the same policies through the toxic closeness between politicians and the construction industry on these islands.
For instance, on every single occasion that the slightest hint of a policy revision surfaced, the MDA promptly reminded authorities that existing development boundaries should be respected lest one square inch of developable land was struck off their register.
How can the MDA aspire to sanitise the image of the industry it represents when, on the one hand, it’s a bedfellow of both parties (equated by Chetcuti in an interview in 2015 to two “large shops, from which MDA members can select the best policies” and reinforced by regular and widely-publicised meetings between the MDA’s top brass and both parties), twisting their arm lest they change tack and, on the other hand, claiming that the industry should not be demonised given that existing policies are to blame?
The construction sector’s addiction to sustained building on these islands has been echoed recently by Joseph Portelli during an insightful interview he conceded to this newspaper when he augured, in his trademark smug and patronising fashion, that the current development momentum would ensue on these islands for the next 100 years.
When sampling the public’s sentiment in the run-up to the next election, the Labour government has probably stumbled on the sheer outrage blighting the public view about the unbridled way that the construction industry has been left to run amok with the serenity of neighbourhoods through the current permissive policies.
Knowing full well that applying the brakes on the same industry is anathema on the eve of an election, the government has opted to sweeten the pill of construction by investing heavily in urban regeneration projects, with landscaping being peddled as a palliative to mask those concrete monoliths blighting our streetscapes.
Both political parties need to be weaned off private donations- Alan Deidun
The decoupling of future economic growth from the construction industry is a quantum leap this nation needs to achieve in the immediate future. It will definitely not be an easy target to achieve under the watchful gaze of the MDA, which simply cannot envisage an economic model that is not driven or even dominated by construction.
Chetcuti was once heard opining that one of the first indicators of economic activity he looks out for when he travels to another country is the number of cranes gracing the skyline. With an archaic mindset as this one, Caruana has his work cut out in trying to achieve the transition we all need from a construction-centric economy to one based on alternative activities which revolve on an education system that actually delivers a skilled workforce.
For this decoupling to materialise, another prior decoupling needs to be implemented... both political parties need to be weaned off private donations. One way to achieve this is through public subvention, which should not be objectionable given that political parties play an instrumental role within the democratic fabric and which is already in place within a number of European countries.
It might sound archaic to some to cite the Bible but Matthew’s Gospel, chapter 6 verse 24, nails it when stating that “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.”
Finance Minister Caruana, the country awaits with trepidation the unveiling of those budget measures you pledged will start off the transition from a construction-centred economy to a more diversified one. Such a transition could not start earlier.
Let the Budget 2022 be a watershed moment where you entrench your legacy as one of the few politicians to actually stand up to the construction lobby on these islands.
With the Labour government poised for another wide-margin electoral victory, the moment could not be more propitious for such a reversal of course. Pay heed to the Maltese public’s crie de coeur that construction needs to be reined in and quality of life considerations placed at least on an equal par with standard of living ones.