Too often in the conduct of public affairs, conflicts of interest arise which are allowed to happen as if they were nothing at all.
It is true that we should not exagerrate by converting every small incongruity into a conflict of interest. In an island the size of Malta, it is especially difficult to keep Peter and Paul completely apart, since everybody is related to everybody else and everybody knows everybody else.
Still, this does not mean we should continue to overlook the necessity of ensuring that decisions are taken with a total correctness. The time has come to undertake a radical review of the whole problem objectively and transparently.
We can hardly change the small size of the society where we live, or the complications for the society as a whole that would arise, if decisions in the public sector were subjected to rules that are too rigid.
On the other hand, a situation which lacks properly updated measures to guarantee that decisions concerning public funds are taken correctly, will fuel suspicions and allegations of corruption. It would be worthwhile to have an independent committee to devise new rules covering conflicts of interest.
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Transparency
On the same wavelength, considerations arise regarding how to also maintain transparency in public affairs.
When this month, the government published contracts it had signed in the energy sector, the criticism was that too much of them had beeninked out. Up to not so long ago, contracts of the sort would not have been published at all. Indeed, they would have contained clauses prohibiting their publication.
Moreover, there is a need to ensure that transparency does not undermine the confidentiality of government contracts having commercial sensitivity; this must remain a valid objective. Here too, we require a new evaluation, prepared in a serious, non-partisan manner, about how such aims could be achieved in current circumstances.
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JG
I first met JG Vassallo in the mid-sixties of the previous century, when as a University student, I spent six weeks in the TV and radio newsroom at G’Mangia, run (then) by Rediffusion. He was in charge there, along with Harold Scorey. Both were less than talkative people but what they said made sense. I learnt a lot from them.
Many years later, we met again; I was involved in politics, he was part of the management structure at the Chamber of Commerce. Frequently we disagreed. Even so, what he had to say merited a lot of respect.
Later still, there were times when it was a pleasure to listen to his opinions about what was happening – opinions that I considered as more in the nature of advice than anything else.
JG was a first class journalist, with a writing style that was direct and easy to follow. He was a distinguished member of the first generation of economists in our country which came to the fore at the end of the forties decade. He died this week and it will be difficult to find anybody to replace him. Few can compare with his lifetime achievement of balancing the demands of journalism with those of economic and political endeavour.