There have not been many times that we have been able to single out a member of government for individual praise over the past year or so.

Actually it has been quite the opposite; we have chided many government members over various gaffes, lack of sensitivity and a seeming unwillingness to tackle certain issues that are thorny and getting to people.

But out of the blue, one pops up and really takes the bull by the horns. We are talking about Mario de Marco and the noxious smells at Hexagon House in Marsa. The building ironically belongs to the Malta Environment and Planning Authority and workers there have been beset by a recurring stink that makes their working lives uncomfortable. Many employees there have complained of rashes, eye irritation, skin irritation and more. The authorities acknowledge that there is a problem, though it has not been identified. In fact, employees have been told to go home and work from there on occasion, so there is some form of a problem.

Mepa falls under the remit of Mario de Marco and he has suddenly decided to relocate his office to Hexagon House for the week, to find out for himself about the workers’ concerns. Dr de Marco will move into his ‘new’ office this coming Wednesday. Unions applauded his initiative, but raised concerns about safety. The OHSA, on the other hand, has declared the premises to be safe.

Whatever the final outcome may be, one can only applaud Dr de Marco for wanting to understand, first hand, what ‘his’ employees are complaining about. Rather than sit in his office and commission report after report on the issue (as many government ministers and junior ministers prefer to do), he has decided to go there, sit ‘with the smell’ for a week and make his own judgement of the situation.

We say again, bravo. We wonder how many other ministers would actually listen to the concerns of people and step into their shoes for a week. We could suggest for Austin Gatt to do the same, perhaps stay with a broken family for a week. We could suggest for Tonio Fenech to go and live in Paola (and sweep black dust off roofs for a week). We could suggest the same to Joe Cassar, in spending a week’s shift in the Emergency Department for a week. We could suggest for the Prime Minister to live on minimum wage for a week. But even if they did do it, it would have no significance.

It is only when someone stands up to be counted, as Mario de Marco has done, of his own volition, to understand just what these people who work at Hexagon House are so upset about.

He might find that it is an occasional bad whiff, and that mountains were made out of molehills. On the other hand, he might find that it is an abominable smell that makes concentrating impossible. We shall have to wait and see. But other Cabinet members should sit up and take notice. There is only one expression and there is no equivalent in English. Mario de Marco has shown irġulija. A good number of other government members ought to take a leaf out of his book. The only analogy one could really make would be to compare it to the Generals who fought in the frontline with their troops in years long gone. It inspires confidence and wins respect. We look forward to Dr de Marco’s conclusions. His father would be proud.