It is extremely rare that I find myself in full agreement with anything that comes out of Mepa. In one of my Maltese language newspaper columns a few years back, I once likened the authority to Frankenstein, the original monster creation that one could find some virtues in but is still terrified of. You somehow appreciate the need for its existence, yet you are hardly ever impressed by what it manages to achieve.

The recent announcement that Mepa will no longer issue permits for the construction of new cemeteries was something I had always hoped to hear. Funny the NGOs did not utter a single word of support. It is an issue I have previously written about and was actually the topic – along with a proposal for the authorities to consider the introduction of cremation – of my first ever contribution to this Sunday newspaper, in its initial phase of publication way back in the early 90s.

With available land for development becoming rarer by the day, the last thing we need is losing more precious territory to new cemeteries. We have more than enough of them, really. I can understand that the ideal set-up would be for every village and town to have its own “local” cemetery, maybe even painted in the traditional colours of the patron saint or band club, but the reality is that we just do not have enough space.

Over the years, what used to be remote villages have gradually stretched out to neighbouring towns and cities, turning into one growing urban mass that must have given developers a perennial orgasm in their dreams. Time has now caught up with us. There just isn’t anywhere else we can sacrifice for the undoubted economic impetus that a booming construction industry naturally provides to the nation.

It is why the new government’s policy of giving the green light to high-rise buildings in carefully selected areas (wisely overlooking Gozo) makes so much sense in this day and age. Developers can still have their fun, people can still find places where to live and to shop, and hoteliers can still expand to meet demand.

The other sensible option is divided in two: 1. Restoring old buildings in built-up areas and putting them to good use as part of newly-conceived housing and industrial projects. Where a whole monotonous network of tree-less streets with worthless, tasteless and non-historical old buildings are rotting away unused and unwanted, the bulldozers can do their job to pave the way for the construction of huge chunks of all kinds of new buildings that are better planned, better inhabited and much more attractive to the eye and the urban environment itself.

2. Introducing fully-fledged, environmental-impact-tested land-reclamation projects that would provide the space that we no longer have for development can be a major breakthrough, as was the case in other, much bigger countries. Yes, the shape of the islands on the map may have to change a little bit, but that can hardly be a cause of concern. There are old maps of Malta showing it upside down!

That way, the little countryside we have left will remain untouched and protected for many decades to come. But back to cemeteries, consideration should also be given to the possibility of actually removing some of them and respectfully reburying the remains of those buried in them in a collective one. There are too many ex-British Services cemeteries, for example, on such a small island. Can’t we just have one, say the sprawling Ta’ Braxia cemetery, and then use for development what precious land is vacated by their dead? Of course what uniquely historical cemeteries we have need to remain untouched.

Mepa has got it right on this one. The silence of cemeteries is not golden when the overwhelming spread of urban development is rushing towards their doors.

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Eurovision madness

While we rightly fete Gaia for her success in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest, it must be admitted we tend to go off on a tangent with this Eurovision madness that we have to put up with. A talented little girl wins a singing competition and everyone, from the Prime Minister down, goes gaga. I heard that even the PBS brass heads were crying tears of joy. Perhaps they anticipate adding more debts to their cart.

In the meantime, as regards the real Eurovision Song Contest, things are not looking as rosy. Bulgaria and Serbia have pulled out of the 2014 Eurovision Song Contest because they cannot afford it, joining a list of former contestants who have withdrawn from the contest in Copenhagen due to economic hardship. Croatia, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Luxembourg, Andorra have also decided not to participate. Bulgarian National Television was reported to have said that the cost of taking part in the contest – including the entry fee and special effects – has grown steadily since 2005.

Don’t all these people need the “exposure to millions of viewers” that we often cite for this annual madness?

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Come on you Scots

The way the UK government is treating the Scottish Independence issue reminds one of the desperate antics that were often resorted to during the period when most British colonies were clamouring, some of them rightly fighting, for freedom and sovereignty. The documented examples are too many to mention, but suffice to say how freedom-fighters who later became national heroes, such as Yomo Kenyatta, Archbishop Makarios and so many others all over Africa and the Middle East, were often portrayed by the Imperial Government and its often servile media as villains who “wanted to stop the march of progress and civilisation”.

Fast-forward to 2013 and the same thing is happening with the process of the Scottish Independence referendum scheduled for next year. First Minister of Scotland Alex Salmond and his deputy Nicola Sturgeon are being vilified and projected as chasing a pipe dream. This is being done mainly by instilling fear in those Scots people who are still hesitating over the issue.

The UK government propaganda sounds so familiar to us ex-colonies. You cannot cope on your own. You don’t have the resources and the know-how. You isolate yourselves. There would be economic ruin and industrial turmoil. Your economy would implode. Unemployment would soar. The European Union would disown you. Don’t listen to militant extremists. North Korea (in our case it was the Soviet Union and Cuba, let alone Simon’s finger-on-the-switch China of today!) would attack you in case of a nuclear flare-up and so on and so forth.

Now compare this to the recently published Scottish government white paper, a 670-page document described as a “blueprint” for independence. No panic, no melodrama, no fuss, just a landmark document which has economic growth, jobs and fairness “at its heart”, brave heart, no doubt.

Few actually believe the “yes” vote will triumph on 24 March 2016, and the day chosen for Scotland to become an independent country will probably have to be shelved for some time. But the white paper will certainly drive the independence debate and, according to its authors, in so doing provide a positive case for a vote in favour.

Next time, perhaps. Very much like the ex-colonies. They got it in the end and their “villains and revolutionaries” instantly became heroes.

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The Maltese Falcon

During a recent New York auction, the Maltese Falcon statuette used in the classic Humphrey Bogart film The Maltese Falcon was sold for about two and a half million euro. Not a sum beyond our small nation had we had someone with the guts and the vision to invest in it by way of turning it into the huge tourist attraction it could be.

But no, we’d rather go singing silly love songs somewhere in Europe than exploit the benefit of such a bit of shrewd business. The statuette was purchased privately by its previous owner in the 1980s and was exhibited prominently in the Warner Brothers museum.