This leader is not an immediate reaction to the short debate in Parliament’s question time on Monday and to any developments and/or announcements made on what is to happen to the Renzo Piano project for City Gate etc. It is a bit of lateral thinking, and does go off on a tangent, yet it is an argument in itself.
While there are some government projects that span over the lifetime of a legislature (about which later), it is, in our opinion, unacceptable for a government to leave so many unfinished projects when it comes to the end of its term.
We may look around and list the many unfinished projects left behind by the PN government and which this PL government is having to complete: the Cirkewwa terminal, the new roads such as the Mellieha Bypass, the new road from the Cruise Liner Terminal to 13 December Road in Marsa, the upgradings in Gozo such as the Zewwieqa project at Mgarr, the Dock One project and many others one can think about.
The previous administration had enough time to plan and execute these projects in its own time. It did complete its five years, although with some difficulty, and its work was thus in no way curtailed.
Like the discipline which is instilled by the commitment to keep spending within strict limits, so too there should be a self-imposed discipline so that projects are begun and completed, unless they are of a special nature, within the timeframe of a legislature.
When the country changes government, it is inevitable that no new government likes to spend the first months of its existence just finishing off the projects begun by its predecessor.
As to bigger projects with a more national bearing, instead of one government taking off and deciding things on its own and then lumping its successor with the project, there should be dialogue and consultation so that, at the end, the big project is not the baby of one administration and the bane of the next one, but is owned jointly by both administrations.
With regards to the current works, for instance, the rehabilitation of Maghtab clearly is a long-term project which goes beyond one legislature and should be tackled on a national level.
With regards to the Renzo Piano project for City Gate and the new Parliament building as well as the old Royal Opera House site, the previous PN government was wrong to forge ahead with its project and disregard the disagreement not just by the (then) Opposition but also by a large part of civil society. PN is equally wrong today to raise alarm anytime that someone suggests touching this or that detail of the Piano project.
As it is, at least as seen on Monday evening, this offers all sorts of possibilities of mischief and it will only be the determination of the two sides to avoid a confrontation that may well plague us for years and years to come.
If projects are not finished within the lifetime of the legislature that brings them to birth and to consult the Opposition on projects of a national stature or which go beyond the lifetime of a legislature, we find ourselves immersed in a tit-for-tat polemic that degrades society and politics as well.