It is symptomatic of the difficult times our families are going through that the government expects us all to be eternally grateful for reversing its previous environmentally insane decision to build a golf course in Xaghra l-Hamra. Of course, it is better late than never to resort to policy U-turns that save our shrinking countryside from being raped for speculative purposes.
Once this government sees nothing wrong in resorting to U-turns, as long as it is itself that resorts to this rather than the Opposition, let me make some further suggestions on possible U-turns the Gonzi administration should consider for the benefit of the majority of Maltese families.
How about scrapping a large chunk of the surcharge on water and electricity bills that is being charged to Maltese households? The Labour Party will be the first to applaud the government for this change in policy because ultimately it will be good for our people. Our families, especially those living on a single wage, are finding it increasingly difficult to sustain the quality of life they were used to up to some years ago.
Another area where a policy U-turn would be more than welcome is that of health services. Why do our families have to put up with such shabby service when it comes to securing medical attention they are entitled to by right? In a few weeks time this patronising government will once again expect us to be eternally grateful for giving us the most valuable “gift” we have ever received in the form of the Mater Dei Hospital.
They will try to dazzle us with the pomp and glitter that will no doubt characterise the official inauguration on the Prime Minister’s birthday. But the stark reality will remain: the money spent on this hospital has not all gone to adding value to the health service for our families. And it is not just the Labour Party that is saying this. The Nationalist media spin machine has very conveniently ignored what a former Nationalist stalwart has recently stated regarding the unjustified escalation of costs in the building of Mater Dei.
Yet another policy U-turn that will be most welcome and applauded by the vast majority of people will be that of gauging our success in education by the quality of education our youngsters attain after leaving school. The Gonzi government keeps insisting on how successful we are in education because of the ever increasing per capital expenditure in this sector.
But the stark reality we are facing is that we have the lowest level of educational achievement in the EU when measured in terms of the qualifications of those who leave our secondary schools. Let me remind our government once again that, according to Eurostat, 42 per cent of our young people leave our educational system without adequate qualifications.
This is one of the major challenges that a future Labour government will face to address the structural social and economic problems that will be handed over by this moribund administration. But we will face this challenge with determination because unless we do so we will not be able to deliver a better quality of life to our people.
My final appeal to this government is to stop being patronising and treating us like schoolchildren. The little mercies you are bestowing on Maltese families are just miserable attempts to mend the bond of trust with the electorate that you have broken so often in the last few years. You did not even have the courage to change the non-performing members in your team because of some unknown constraint you may have.
But our families deserve better than this. They will of course savour the benefits of your attempts to create a feel good factor very conveniently a few months before the electoral test. But when the day comes they will opt for change. This is what the country needs after almost 20 years of Nationalist governments, and this is what the Labour Party will deliver.
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Dr Mangion is deputy leader of the Opposition