Past Labour governments have often been accused of throwing the country into turmoil, of being completely incapable of taking the right decisions and of generally being hopeless at governing.
There are countless examples that can be mentioned to prove that these accusations were often valid.
My question is: have the Nationalists proved to be any better at steering the country in the right direction? Do you get the feeling that the boys in charge know what the heck they’re doing? – Because I don’t. The country seems to be falling apart at the seams. I wonder if this is what people who voted in the Nationalists were expecting.
Decisions are taken, and then reversed. Permits are issued, and then revoked. Laws are passed but not enforced. New schemes are announced but are soon abandoned or never get off the ground.
Even when firm governmental action is taken which, on the surface, seems commendable, you soon realise that there is more to it than meets the eye.
When illegal betting shops sprouted up next to schools and in village cores, aggravating an already serious gambling problem, the public voiced its concern. After months of inertia, the government closed them down in one fell swoop last week, with the minister telling us that it couldn’t be done before because of loopholes in the law. We were not told what these loopholes were and whether the betting shops will re-open once they have “regularised” their position.
It hasn’t escaped some people’s notice either, that with the betting shops closed, the value of the Dragonara Casino which is up for sale, is bound to be higher. If this is true then this administration is even more cynical than I thought, because that means the whole clampdown really had nothing to do with any official concern over the growing widespread addiction to gambling.
Meanwhile, the Super Five lottery, which hasn’t been won since 3 June, has reached the one million euro mark, so next week Malta will be in the grip of a national gambling frenzy.
I have heard stories of people spending their grocery money on lottery tickets, of women dropping off their kids at school and heading straight for the betting shops where they are served breakfast, and of men who can spend hours playing the machines in the vain hope of striking it rich.
Then there’s the spiral effect. With shops and businesses feeling the pinch of consumers with less spending power, the last thing the economy needs is people not spending because they have frittered their pay cheque on a slot machine.
As money gets tighter and people fall more into debt, they will do anything to lay their hands on more cash. They will take enormous risks, jeopardise their careers, their family life and even their homes. Eventually they become so desperate that they lose all sense of rationality.
Where is the money?
Those involved in the VAT scam have now been charged, named and shamed. But what we are all wondering is how on earth did they all get away with it for so long? Rather than patting himself on the back because he carried out a thorough investigation after being tipped off, the minister should be asking some serious questions about how the department is run. How can e10 million be siphoned off like that to a handful of businessman with no one becoming suspicious? Someone needs to be held accountable for all this (I will not be so silly as to suggest that someone at the top should resign, because of course, no one will).
And, of course, there is the most important question: will that money (taxpayers’ money) ever be retrieved?
Show me the money…
The Mediterranean Music Academy, which was supposed to have Riccardo Muti at its helm, is not going to happen because of lack of funds.
The Pharmacy of your Choice scheme was another idea that was good on paper, but has not worked quite so well in practice, again because of insufficient funds and poor management.
The initiative encouraging us to report vehicles belching fumes by sending an SMS started off well, but then the system broke down because they were unable to cope with the large number of cars that needed to be tested.
After spending all those millions on Mater Dei we are told that the new cancer centre will require a further e40 million (double the projected figure).
Adequate sports facilities and mandatory P E programmes in schools, which would go a long way towards curbing obesity in our children, are continuously neglected because of lack of funds.
And there never seems to be any money for the financial and human resources required to cope with our escalating social problems such as domestic violence, children in care and juvenile delinquents.
And it’s not just the money
Speeding cameras all over the island are “working” if by working we mean that they are generating funds, but they are definitely not slowing anybody down as the list of accidents continues to grow.
The warden system is “working” if by working we mean plenty of tickets on windscreens for illegal parking – but whatever happened to the much publicised environmental warden scheme? Instead of enforcing litter laws we get a complete ban on BBQs in Ghadira. OK, I guess that will work, but the police are presumably checking that no one holds a BBQ, so why couldn’t the same police or wardens ensure that the place is left clean?
Enforcement across the board, as I wrote last week, is completely missing. Malta feels like a rudderless ship with no captain, so it just drifts along, aimless and with no direction. We shrug and smile sheepishly in front of our foreign visitors at the shambles the country is in: “heqq, this is Malta after all.”
As if that explains away everything; as if that will make them think this is all part of the tourist package deal which makes Malta appealing, quaint and charming.
Except it’s not so cute when you live here.
Let’s just get on with it
Residential parking in Sliema has been greeted with relief by residents, and with dismay by those who work, shop or simply visit there. What is needed is not more car parks, which will only mean more cars, but for a viable solution to getting in and out of Sliema with the least amount of hassle possible. Preferably a shuttle service, with special rates for those who work in this town.
I know the call for expressions of interest for the new public transport system has been issued but I sincerely hope this will not be another saga embroiled in controversy. The entire country is suffering from a traffic and parking crisis.
I wonder if the new system will be put into place in my lifetime.
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