Yes, it has been three years since Malta joined the European Union, but I think that so far what we have seen does not live up to the expectations preceding membership.

I was one of those who voted yes in the referendum, thinking that Malta would have become a better place to live in once we joined the union.

But, three years into membership, I am rather disappointed that the effects are still to be seen. I thought that by now Malta should have started to reap the fruit of its decision.

I did not expect Malta to become a different place from day one. I knew that it would have taken some time before matters improved. But I think that this progress has been slow, too slow for a country in desperate need of an uplift.

The government continues to say that membership is a long-term agreement and the benefits of such will be seen in the years to come. But three years have already passed, and by now we should have started seeing something.

Ok, some roads have been done up. But what else has taken place? Where is the money that the EU is giving the country going? It cannot be that it is only being spent on roads and, if this is so, then why are so many of our roads still full of potholes and why are road projects such as the one at St Paul’s Bay taking so long to complete?

I wonder.

Simon Cassar

Paola