It’s the end of another year and, as normally happens when chapters are about to close, one assesses what has gone by to build on what is already strong and try to make up for any mistakes.
It has been an eventful year, and this can be seen in greater detail tomorrow when The Malta Independent publishes its end-of-year round-up.
Politically and socially, the most important event of all was Malta’s accession to the European Union. Years of negotiations, setbacks, recoveries and finally deals climaxed at midnight on 1 May when the colourful show in Grand Harbour heralded Malta’s official entry into the EU, along with another nine countries.
Many expected Malta to flourish from day one, but the more thoughtful know that this is not a short-term
matter. Malta’s membership in the EU is a long-term investment, and although we have already reaped some fruit from our decision, we must wait for more years to pass to see the full benefits.
At the other end of the scale, the Nationalist government’s concentration on EU membership meant that other important issues were neglected. As a result, the country’s economy is not doing well, the public deficit grew considerably and the government must now take drastic measures to put the country back on track.
EU membership brought with it the first election of Maltese MEPs last June. The people here showed their disenchantment with the way the country is being administered and, not surprisingly, three of the five MEPs elected came from the Labour camp which, for so many years, had been against Malta’s EU membership. Many Nationalists protest-voted Alternattiva Demokratika, which was itself close to obtaining a seat.
EU membership also meant that Malta could have its first EU Commissioner, with former Foreign Minister Joe Borg having the honour of taking up such a prestigious post. Later in the year, Malta signed the European Constitution which, however, still has to be ratified.
There were several other matters that characterised 2004. Dr Eddie Fenech Adami resigned as PN leader and later as Prime Minister, and was replaced by Dr Lawrence Gonzi in both seats. Dr Fenech Adami went on to replace Prof. Guido de Marco as President of the Republic, a decision that did not go down too well on either side of the political spectrum.
Dr Gonzi’s first weeks as Prime Minister were not easy, as he had to deal with the John Dalli issue. Mr Dalli, who had contended for the PN leadership against Dr Gonzi, was at the wrong end of media accusations that eventually led to his resignation as Foreign Minister, just two months after his appointment. He was replaced by Dr Michael Frendo.
Summer was hot – and not only in the meteorological sense. The purchase of the Malta House in Brussels took up many pages of local newspapers and air-time on television stations, with the opposition claiming that the Lm9 million expenditure on the premises was too much, and the government replying that it was a good investment.
Other political issues that occupied a lot of space in the media were the Mater Dei Hospital, which ended up with a new deal negotiated by government with the builders of the project, Skanska, who must now finish the complex by July 2007 unless they want to face financial penalties; the introduction of eco-tax as a means of safeguarding the environment; the government proposal to develop the site of the old opera house in Valletta as a new parliament building – an issue that has now been put on the back-burner following protests from practically all quarters; the application for a golf course in the Verdala area that was refused by the Malta Environment and Planning Authority – a decision that sparked the government into pushing Mepa to find alternative sites; and the development of Fort Chambray in Gozo, which was passed on to Gozitan entrepreneur Michael Caruana after the original developer, Roberto Memmo, failed to maintain promises made in 1993.
The latter part of the year was dominated by discussions on a social pact that, so far, have not come to a conclusion. This lack of agreement led the government to announce, for example, its decision not to have public holidays falling at weekends replaced by extra days leave – an issue that is still very much on the political agenda.
Another hot topic that has not subsided is the proposal made by Malta Labour Party leader Alfred Sant to
devalue the lira, a suggestion that was strongly rejected by the government.
The year that is about to end is also one that will be remembered for the heavy influx of illegal immigrants onto our shores. Some even died on their way to Malta (or to Italy) on makeshift boats. The almost daily arrivals during summer stretched police and army resources to the
maximum.
Again, we had too many deaths on the roads and too many deaths in the workplace, apart from the many more people who were injured. The collapse of a two-storey building in St Paul’s Bay in early June will also be a day that will be difficult to forget.
Like any year, 2004 was full of ups and downs – individually and collectively. As is normally said at such times: let us hope that 2005 will be better.