The Maltese archipelago in unquestionably one of the most attractive if not the most attractive spot in the blue Mediterranean

It is blessed with world-renowned man-made art masterpieces like Hagar-Qim and other Neolithic remains, as well as superb and elegant Baroque architectural examples, creations by the Order of the Knights of St John, almost everywhere one visits.

Similarly, it is also blessed by nature with striking and impressive panoramas of land and sea and unique and fabulous weather during all the seasons attracting numerous tourists to visit the place and partake of the clemency of the weather.

On the other side of the scale however the place is plagued by an inefficient and ineffective administration sorely detracting from the potential abundant positive factors that abound everywhere.

Considering the limited size of the islands, the relative short distances from place to place and the size of a population equivalent to that of a small city anywhere in the EU, it is shameful that successive administrations have failed to create an efficient, workable, and economic civil machinery capable of looking after and indeed transforming the islands into one of the best and most efficient places in the EU.

Political bragging via empty rhetoric is hardly ever absent, substituting stark facts with gibberish that impresses nobody and confuses the minds of society, especially the intellectual section that follows daily local events and news on the media.

Is it not also shameful that in this day and age when all the necessary equipment for road building is readily available we are still unable to produce a hardy road-surface free of potholes for the duration of its life span.

What is even worse is that the potholes awaiting proper filling abound virtually everywhere, waiting to be repaired by the maintenance team.

What is needed here is a competent and dedicated civil service capable of integrating and organising all departments as efficient interdependent machines providing full services and not expecting to be oiled most of the time.

Egoism and arrogance in this respect leads nowhere except to the degradation of the nation.

It appears highly desirable that government employees in responsible positions should take a leaf out of the book and emulate the local army’s organisational abilities – commended on many occasion for its smartness, dedication, discipline and orderly appearance.

Edwin Calleja

BALZAN