Background, preferably work and activities

My name may be more familiar in cultural, educational and environmental circles than in politics. I am 44 years old and share the same birthday as conservationist Cesar Manrique, who unwittingly inspired me to become who I am today. I was raised in Marsascala, where I still live. My maternal great-grandfather moved from Zejtun to Marsascala in 1902 to earn his living in the fishing industry, whereas my father’s family comes from Cospicua and Vittoriosa and were renowned educators. My great-grandfather, Wigi Borg, was Dom Mintoff’s teacher when the former prime minister attended primary school.

I have a distinction in Library and Information Studies from the University of Malta, a Master’s degree in Cultural Management from Northumbria University and am currently researching for a Doctorate in Social Sciences with a German university. I am married to Dr Mary Muscat, a lawyer and senior inspector with the Malta Police Force and we have a one-year-old daughter, Justyne. I am mostly known for my direct involvement with national non- government organisations, namely SOS Albania, Greenpeace, Fondazzjoni Wirt Artna, Nature Trust and the Friends of the National Archives.

My contribution to Maltese music is well known. It has always been my intention to raise the profile of our musical heritage. I co-founded Etnika in 2000, produced albums for Walter Micallef u l-Hbieb and am currently producing a very ambitious album for Doreen Galea. This is due to be released in the next few weeks.

People may also know me in broadcasting, as I have co-produced a series on TVM called Scan, another on Maltese literature and co-presented Kif Ghadda z-zmien with Jason Micallef. It would be correct to say that I have introduced world music to Malta and well over 200 of my programmes on FM Bronja have been archived by PBS. I considered it a personal insult when FM Bronja was closed down.

I am employed with the Education Ministry in the Public Libraries Department, where I catalogue books into a national electronic pathway that is part of the e-government process. Despite all my qualifications, credentials and earnest endeavours, I have been professionally sidelined and ignored and am still waiting for my first promotion since I joined the Civil Service in 1997. It is quite ironic that, six years ago, the same Ministry appointed me to the Experts Committee in Parliament to actively contribute towards formulating the Archives Bill together with two other experts.

My time with Greenpeace Mediterranean mainly concerned logistical support on board its vessels in an effort to raise awareness in what we called “the Revolution of the Consciousness”. The organisation forbids its campaigners to be simultaneously active in party politics and I always followed and respected its code of ethics during my time with them. There is obviously a difference between being a member and being a campaigner.

I recall being on the deck of MV Sirius and noticing officials from the bridge of a French warship that was monitoring us during the Moruroa nuclear experiments. Incidentally, some French sailors who came aboard enrolled as members and sympathised with our cause. In Malta, Greenpeace Mediterranean was campaigning against, among other things, waste incineration and waste mismanagement, raising awareness on urban air pollution and emission control and the need for a policy on clean and alternative energy. I am referring to 1995, not 2008.

With Nature Trust I was very active in the transformation of Wied Ghollieqa into a nature reserve, by the planting of hundreds of trees, including carob, oak, Judas, Aleppo pine and sandarac gum, some of which are not readily available from commercial nurseries. I helped with dry-stone walling, the consolidation of footpaths and the building of the traditional hut (ghorfa). This included identifying old hand-cut limestone slabs (xulliel) and transporting them in my own passenger vehicle. God willing, the Reserve will mature into a green lung for the people of Msida, San Gwann and Gzira. Over the years, I have donated well over 1,400 native trees to NT that have also been planted in other reserves as well, such as Xrobb l-Ghagin. I have grown these trees to help combat the high amount of vehicle-generated carbon dioxide. For obvious reasons, politicians take the credit instead of you, which leaves you deflated and disillusioned.

How long have you been a Labour militant?

In my case I wouldn’t use the word “militant”. It makes me sound as if I’ve been active with the Sandinistas in Nicaragua, with an AK-47 assault rifle strapped across my back! Mentioning Kalashnikovs, I vividly remember that, during my experience in the Malta CHOGM summit in 2005, I was “offered” (naturally by coincidence) the chance of being the liaison officer for the Mozambican President. Ironically, he represented the only non-English speaking country from the 53 member States and the country’s coat of arms includes an AK-47. I naturally refused this appointment, since a request I had made during the selection process was not to personally liase with questionable rulers. Eventually, I gave a valid contribution assisting the Prime Minister of Swaziland and many other dignitaries.

Back to your question. My roots are grounded in the Labour movement. Suffice it to say that my paternal grandfather’s brother, John Borg, was one of the founder members, together with Indri Cilia, Joe Attard Kingswell and Reggie Miller, of the General Workers’ Union in 1943. In the 1980s I was elected to the Labour Youth National Bureau, coming fourth in the election. Just after my election I took up employment as a night auditor at a leading hotel in Marsascala, and with the hours being so unsociable, I had to give up my political commitment. Nevertheless, I was involved in defending worker’s rights and formulating the collective agreement together with the shop steward, on behalf of the General Workers’ Union. After my Greenpeace years, I chose to contribute at policy level.

What made you become involved again with the Labour Party?

Some four Christmases ago I was invited to a small private reception. Several leading Labour Party officials were present and I was conversing with a much-respected senior Labour Party MP. He was aware that my line of thought didn’t necessarily concur with the party’s on certain topical issues, which I felt were crucial to its party policies. However, he encouraged me to re-approach the party’s inner circle and express my thoughts if I wanted my perspectives to be heard. He is someone I have always respected for his integrity and stature, and I appreciate his stance to remain active through thick and thin. As a result of this unexpected encounter, I started contributing my ideas to the party on several subjects without needing to debate them. It was then up to them to discuss and include in the party manifesto. Most of them were accepted and endorsed – which equates to acknowledgement.

I contacted Dr Muscat a few days after his election as party leader to offer my services, especially in the environmental field, which incidentally is one of the criticisms levelled at Labour as having a dearth of knowledge and experience. In fact, Dr Muscat told me he remembered me from my Greenpeace days and here I am, five months later, submitting my candidacy as a prospective candidate for the European Parliament. I like Dr Muscat’s style. He is fresh, direct, communicative and enthusiastic.

On 25 October, while attending the Marsaxlokk Labour Party general conference, I

listened carefully to the leader’s speech. It was impeccably shorn of political rhetoric and hype, with a content that wasn’t just emotional but pragmatic and factual. Here is a man who has voiced his country’s concerns and made them his, expressing a sincere commitment to addressing them. Maltese politics need more people who say what they mean and mean what they say. He wants to make the Labour Party the natural winning team and I hope that I can be part of that team.

It has come to my ears that with my nomination to run for Labour, Nationalist Party sympathisers are now saying that I am a former AD candidate. It is typical of their propaganda machine to character assassinate any new aspiring candidate. Of course I knew all the AD candidates, but then I also happen to know Dr Lawrence Gonzi, who lives a few streets away from me in Marsascala. The AD officials were naturally one of the first to board Greenpeace ships – together with Friends of the Earth activists – when they berthed in Malta It was quite natural to gravitate towards their policies since they were speaking my language – clean energy, sustainable development and urban pollution.

AD did ask me to run for them in the local and general elections but I have always refused, even though I have a deep respect for Dr Harry Vassallo. Nevertheless, I never agreed with how they looked upon Labour, as if all was doom and gloom, and thus could never agree in principle to run for them. Period. I feel very comfortable in the Labour Party and am obviously disappointed with the outcome of the last election, not for the party’s sake but for Malta’s. Look at people’s eyes and you can see that they are tired and many have lost any hope of achieving better living standards.

What contacts have you had with the EU?

As coordinator of seven local councils from Southern Malta, I represented the Marsascala recycling plant case in meetings with several MEPs from various political groups, including the Liberals, Greens, Independent Democrats and the European Socialists. The Labour Party never interfered with what I wrote or said on this issue. You are aware that, with the June 2009 elections, there may be changes in the MEPs currently serving. Suffice it to say that Caroline Jackson, a British Conserva-tive Party member affiliated to the EPP – who sought to grill me in Strasbourg – has decided not to run again, due to her failing stamina and endurance. Some may not return.

I did draft a Euro-Med heri-tage project on colonial heri-tage, which was accepted and brought into effect. Rest assured that the years I have dedicated to campaigning assiduously within several national NGOs, including FWA, were measures to arrest irreparable damage until our legal notices or acts were amended to safeguard our natural environment and urban village cores and to curb air pollution. I recall the obsolete Antiquities Act from the 1920s still in vigore until the Heritage Act was passed.

As a Maltese and European Union citizen, I expect our legislation to be, whenever possible, EU compliant. To give you an example, I did a forestry management course with an Irish conservation organisation in a wood near Westport in the Republic of Ireland and I had meetings with the directors of the Irish Heritage agency Duchas and the Irish Film Institute. These are experiences where you can see how things should really be done. I tried to arrange a twinning agreement between a media-eval city in Slovenia where I was staying, and a Maltese village, but sadly found no interest at this end. I am not someone who shies away from technocrats and senior politicians. I have travelled widely in the European Union and have always kept up my interest in how technocrats manage their cities.

Why do you hope to be elected as an MEP?

A close look at my curriculum vitae clearly indicates what I stand for. I do not pretend to be something I am not. My credentials are the result of pursuing goals that others may have thought as being unreachable or unimaginable. I embrace positive change. All my motivations have been fuelled by my earnest quest to help improve the standards of the Maltese Islands in whatever way possible. That was all done on my own initiative and without any financial remuneration. Imagine what I can do with a competent clerical staff and support team provided by the European Socialist Group. My dictum is to serve with competence and diligence.

What will you tell the

electorate?

I will be able to answer that after the January election. As you know, party procedures for selecting Labour candidates for the European Parliament elections differ totally from the Nationalist Party. All those who have submitted their nominations with Labour are, at this stage, prospective candidates and will have to go through a selection process determined by 900 party delegates. It is quite arduous, meeting all these delegates, but I guess that’s the price of democracy, as one is under their continuous appraisal and evaluation. Hopefully, come February we will have another chance for an interview where we can then discuss what I can, under a Labour party ticket, offer the Maltese electorate.