Every year, this country goes through its silly season. The hot and lazy months of July and August create an attitude of apathy and slowness which creeps into every sphere of life... or does it?

We like to think that everything stops in Malta during the summer, but the public transport strike shows that it is not the case. Incidentally, the summer months were rudely interrupted by striking bus drivers some years back and virtually every summer, some dispute or another crops up.

Following the March election, the government seemed to fall in deep slumber, allowing the Malta Labour Party leadership races to run their course. Aside from a few token events here and there, the whole government seemed to have switched off. But looking back, it is clear that this period was merely a breather before a long process (which is bound to see some frayed tempers) to restructure the island – in terms of infrastructure, privatisation and legislation.

Before the election, many people thought that Malta was well on the way to having a modern and revamped infrastructure. We must all wake up and smell the coffee. All we have taken so far is baby steps and there is still so much more to do – we have not even scratched the surface.

The move to break the monopoly of the undertaking business was merely a precursor to what we now know is a whole revamp of the public transport sector (and long overdue too). It is clear that a lot needs to be done in this regard and Minister Austin Gatt, in his usual style, seems to have negotiated his way round the issue. Many argued that he bought off the undertakers – but before doing so, the move precipitated the premature strike by the bus, minivan and taxi owners. Their actions during the strike have severely damaged the already sketchy opinion of the general public and they simply do not have a leg to stand on. One waits to see what will ensue once the reform process starts in earnest.

But this is not all. We have yet to see the privatisation of the yacht marinas and the shipyards – the latter of which is bound to be a bumpy ride.

We also have the small matter of rent reform. The issue is not at all simple and the government must resist the temptation to rush into things headlong. Minister John Dalli has shown prudence in this regard and has said that it must be done slowly and gradually. Meanwhile, the people are baying for redress for tens (and in some cases over a hundred) years’ worth of lost euros. There are still cases where people receive rent in the form of rabbits and chickens – yes we have much to do.

Minister Dalli is also going to have the mammoth task of introducing the divorce debate. This is another thorny issue which, however, cannot be put off any longer – especially after the first hints of at least opening debate were dropped.

There are many other issues which need attention, but we can be sure that it’s going to be a long five years. None of these matters are simple to address and some are more delicate than others. While we can never expect a total end to political party sniping (yes it’s still happening albeit at a lesser rate), we can hopefully expect Labour leader Joseph Muscat to allow sense to prevail and work with the government to create a better Malta. However, for this to happen, the government must also show some goodwill to the MLP – it has happened at times, and not at others. It’s definitely going to be interesting to watch it pan out.