Imagine a normal Maltese family, of average income, who has lived peacefully in their house for years, surrounded by similar buildings, all enjoying sunlight and air. Suddenly, the neighbours’ pretty houses start disappearing, only to be replaced by ugly multi-storey buildings which not only remove the family’s sunlight but also deprive each other of proper natural light. The buildings are so close to each other that people can almost touch fingers across their back balconies.

Imagine this family taking their children or elderly parents in their pushchairs or wheelchairs for a walk down the street. The pavements are often too narrow for the wheelchairs to fit and are made even narrower with plant pots or signposts blocking the way. Besides, they are too broken to be able to push the young or elderly and, most of the time, there is no slight ramp to facilitate crossing from one pavement to the other because even when the workers have remembered to put one in on one pavement they have often forgotten to put it on the other.

The family may then resort to pushing the chairs in the road but there, they, like the passing cars, have to avoid all the potholes, unless of course, the road itself is dug up. In that case, they have to resign themselves to the fact that the roadworks will take months, if not years, due to the lack of proper planning (or the prospect of more kickbacks). Besides, the works will not comprehensively deal with water, electricity, drainage and telecommunications, so once finished, the road will soon be dug up again (with more kickbacks pouring in).

Imagine this family deciding to go for a walk in the countryside. Wherever they try to go, they either come up against signs saying RTO or others saying that the countryside should be enjoyed from the road. Once again, they are not free to roam in the little countryside that has been left and that is under constant threat of being transformed into yet more tower blocks.

The family may wish to go by the seaside. There, their first obstacle are those caravan owners who take up all the parking space and block the view to the sea. Then there are the illegal boat-house owners, with no boats. When the average family finally makes it to the sea, they are once again hemmed in by the floating buoys, which every year seem to come closer and closer to the shore and limit drastically how far they can swim out.

Why? Because the non-average rich parvenus have to be free to parade their boats up and down, not too far from the shoreline, while whole beaches, packed with people who do not have, cannot afford or do not want a boat, are obliged to swim in small restricted spaces. So come summer, instead of enjoying some freedom in and being given free space to swim, thousands of normal average people are conditioned by these boats, which could be pushed out much further; instead, they and their moorings almost reach the shoreline itself in certain cases. We cannot even enjoy the sea freely!

Our president has finally realised what many of us have been putting up with for years- Vicki Ann Cremona

Now that we have been told, time and time again, that we should practise social distancing, are we going to experience, once again, the arrogance of the wealthy who have free rein over land and sea while we normal average human beings see our spaces more and more limited, even at the seaside?

Is our government going to think, for once, about the normal average family that can only afford to go to the beach and that should not be hampered from full enjoyment by what we shall term ‘the bullying classes’?

Who are these bullies? They are the developers who take away our private and public spaces, with the blessing of a shameful Planning Authority that gives them free rein, while creating a million problems for the average Maltese who might want to make some simple alterations to their homes.

They are the caravan owners (often also part of the category of developers) who have decided they can impede anyone else from enjoying nice spots.

They are the hunters, who have not only taken over, with the government’s blessing, a whole chunk of our depleted woodland but claim land all over Malta and Gozo.

They are the illegal boathouse owners, who have appropriated public land.

They are boat owners, who are given priority over beachloads of people trying to enjoy some space in the sea, given that all land is being taken from them.

Why are they allowed to bully? Because our government (and I fear, much of our opposition) are too scared to stop them, either for fear of losing votes or financial contributions (licit and illicit) or both. So, the average Maltese citizen with a normal or low income has to put up with all these impositions in all seasons, everywhere, including the only space that was left to us, our beaches.

Our president, who has only made polite noises in the face of the rape of our towns, countryside, beaches and natural and built heritage, has finally realised what many of us have been putting up with for years – some among us, even seeing their dear ones sacrificed to these bullies.

When are our politicians going to muster some moral strength and stand up to these bullies? But are they not too much part of the bullying classes themselves?

Vicki Ann Cremona, member, Repubblika