Discourse about the rule of law is being devalued, at least when it is used with reference to Malta. To believe that this country is at par with one where somebody like Escobar is allowed to follow his business with protection from “up high”, or to encourage people to believe this, amounts to a total exagerration.

Some though, are finding in such an attitude consolation for political regrets that they do not know how to overcome.

Surely regrets will not fade away by undergoing this therapy. The antidote would be to project a longterm political strategy, but there do not seem to be people having the qualities to understand this and to set about devising and implementing it. Quite likely too, the calculation could be that whoever attempts to move in this direction, will end up piloting a project that will only be of benefit to his/her successor.

Meanwhile the ferment being promoted about the rule of law in Malta is undermining the country’s image abroad without changing in any way internal political realities. And so, the story continues...

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Spending on police and security

Compared to the rest of the EU, Malta spends less than the average on the police force and on internal security. It is curious that this point is rarely made.

Over the years, we have relied too heavily on the reputation we earned as an island where visitors face no problems of personal security and can go out day and night without any special protection. I will not comment about whether this perception was/is correct or not.

However during the last weeks of relentless criticism about governance in the area of security, little mention was made of the need for police services to be given greater financial attention that they have been accorded up to now. It is made to seem as if security concerns have only surfaced in the past few years and months. This  is far from being the truth.                    

Deficiencies have been allowed to cumulate and fester since the times of the Fenech Adami administrations. One only needs to recall the confusion that arose when the PM’s private secretary Cachia Caruana came close to being killed.

I do agree that a radical improvement in the management of police and security forces is required, but not for the reasons that are being put forward.

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Contractors classified

Justified and unjustified complaints arise all the time about how government contracts for public works get carried out. They’re subject to gross delays, are implemented carelessly, proper monitoring is absent during all phases of implementation, and so on and so forth.

How to counter such problems has long been wellknown. Yet reform has gotten shelved time after time.

A register of contractors interested in public works should be kept. This would classify contractors in different categories according to their size and the equipment they hold, the quality of personnel they have and their access to modern technologies...

Then any government tender being issued would be addressed to contractors in the category which fits best with the technical requirements of the tender.

All agree that such a system would be very useful. Yet everybody takes care to see that it is sidelined.

One problem that is raised: how can we ensure that whoever is in charge of running a register of contractors will be doing so fairly?