Immediately following the final rout and total liquidation of the Libyan regime, had I to be in Libyan shoes or sandals depending on the season, my first and foremost preference and priority would undoubtedly be cleaning and disinfecting the stables of state in which beasts had been previously fattened on rich fodder purchased through monies stolen from the mouths of simple, ordinary, poor folk.
When this healthy sanitization and revitalising exercise is over, the next efforts would be all directed at hiking education standards at every level, so that every citizen can develop and have real intellectual freedom immaterial of age, gender and the quasi-insurmountable hurdles of illiteracy and advanced age.
In essence, this fundamental outlook will constitute the solid durable foundations for an emergent, democratic society with its eyes set firmly on general advancement and future prosperity of the state.
The third place in the long queue of expectations will be the imperative religious obligation of the new state to build and provide an all-inclusive free health service as well as adequate and decent living accommodation for every family and individual in consonance with advanced standards of living, which were previously either the monopoly of the ruling few and their loyal cohorts or of the fortunate ones spending part of their life overseas.
The most highly beneficial step forward will be the improvement or exploitation of the varied and endless natural assets Allah (alias God Almighty) has so generously bestowed on the nation, not excluding the huge swathes of what are popularly considered worthless and unproductive sandy territory.
This desert area now enjoys the tremendous potential of becoming the leading powerhouse generating sufficient supplies of renewable energy to meet the needs of the entire European continent and possibly even beyond.
This, along with other fabulous assets, should open up the undreamt of possibility that Libya could become, in the long term, one of the healthiest and most prosperous countries bordering the blue sea with a lifestyle close to that of the advanced countries lining the cold unattractive dark north seas.
Apart from the acknowledged super-extensive rich oil and gas reserves Libya is blessed with, the other still almost untouched and untapped but equally huge natural resource, still awaiting full exploitation is its endless, delightful sandy beaches that straddle the country from end to end. Properly organised, developed and looked after, there emerges the remarkable possibility and potential for some stretches to qualify easily as equal and even eclipse the popular, established beaches in the French Riviera and elsewhere along the Mediterranean littoral.
In addition, these beaches, combined with the surrounding territories, also offer the potential of high quality building projects suitable for accommodating rich foreigners desirous of spending the dreary and cold winter months in an altogether different sunny and balmy environment with some, possibly, even attracted to settling there for good.
A relatively recent discovered natural resource has been the massive freshwater reserves stored under the desert sands now being partly channelled to the rich agricultural areas.
This life-giving and sustaining resource could be fully exploited for the production of all year round high-value crops so much in demand and eagerly sought after throughout Europe and elsewhere where consumers can easily afford these luxuries on their dining tables day in day out.
Surprisingly, Libya also has so much to offer to the historically orientated visitors. This can be practically achievable through the development and proper conservation of sites famously renowned for the ferocious Panzer tank battles that frequently shook the desert during WWII, as well as strategic key localities where life and death struggles took place such as Tobruk, Derma, Agheia and most famous of all the area close to and around Alamein, besides other battle grounds contributing to Hitler’s defeat and downfall.
From the local viewpoint, it should be inevitable that this widespread and massive development erupting just a stone’s throw away from our shores would providentially open up splendid and unlimited opportunities virtually for every enterprising individual or company to participate and flourish via contacts or association with our friends and neighbours.
Hopefully, too, these unfathomable riches should convince the new Libyan democracy to give up the old claims relating to oil exploration and extraction in the seas claimed by Malta as part of its territorial property.
This for us is indispensably necessary in the light of our incomparably modest, not to say, quasi non-existent natural resources, compared to the overwhelming affluence and enormous resources of the Libyan territory.
At the end of the day, may we also hopefully expect that after attaining the targeted stupendous level of development leading to an unending flow of foreign currency into state coffers, Libya would feel honoured and privileged to contribute its fair share towards the general upgrading and social restructuring for the benefit of their unfortunate brethren running into millions in the poor underdeveloped world, seemingly eternally abandoned to struggle and survive on the crumbs and morsels picked from under the tables, of the rich and well-off, loaded heavily with every imaginable, desirable delicacy that can shorten life !
Ultimately, it should also behove the new administration to erect the most stupendous cenotaph in central Tripoli to the eternal, unfading memory of the brave and heroic freedom fighters, males and females, who patriotically and disinterestedly paid the highest possible price to make all the above picture of their beloved country take shape.
But above everything else, the state must guarantee present and future generations a life spent in total freedom and complete harmony apart from the fair distribution and sharing of the common plenty.
Edwin Calleja
BALZAN