It’s holiday mode for many of us so ideally we should all forget all ills and just enjoy the hot weather, the sea and the hobz biz-zejt. But, as all doctors will vouch, if you are on any medication you still have to take your prescribed pills even on holiday. And if your toe aches during your well-deserved break you still need to check it and not go on long walking trips which could make your condition worse.

I wish I could say let’s forget all that ails this country at the moment. Close our eyes, forget all about it and drift on regardless. But, like all ailments, if not seen to immediately this could turn into a major problem. So carry on with your holidaying but I have to let the doctor in me win and talk about some things that are worrying me about the state of the patient, Malta.

The PN left a healthy Malta with, yes I agree, some slight headaches, but hardly the worries we are going through regularly now. We have problems with the EU, ministers being changed and declarations of assets that are hardly believable. And, although our economy, especially our tourism, are still resilient, things are getting rather worrying about unemployment and nothing seems to be done by the Labour government. When Labour was in Opposition, they made a meal of all our little problems. If there was a problem with Arriva and public transport, they called it a shambles without pinpointing the problems. They said all was wrong and needed overhauling or worse. They promised they would solve the mess immediately they were in power.

I never thought the public transport change was done in the best way possible by the previous government. Many mistakes were made and many unfortunate supercilious remarks were passed. The change was needed, the change done was immense and the change overall was surely for the better. But the planning left something to be desired and too much was left unsaid and unexplained. Instead of asking for the cooperation of the public, some officials from the previous government were hardly cooperative and were even downright rude. We admit our faults and we know that this was one of the reasons we lost so heavily in the last election. But I still believe we were on a good track and had a track record to be extremely proud of. The present government promised so much but obviously they were all hollow promises.

Labour spokesmen shouted that they would change the ways of Arriva and make it work on time, and in complete synch with what the population needed. It sounded as if they had their plans all ready as part of their road map. So much was promised that I imagine most people who voted Labour expected all their new ministers to start using the shiny new buses on a daily basis. We did get a minister who used the bus to find out what the people go through. But the road map and the rides by ministers were in fact all part of the ride the whole population was taken on by the Labour movement. After all those months of criticism, ministers do not use the system and bendy buses, derided and shot down as terrors on the road, are now sanctioned by the Minister for Transport and here to stay.

This is one of Labour’s minor shortcomings but certainly symptomatic of the general situation. This government promised a lot and is not only not delivering but also contradicting what it said it would do.

I started my piece on a medical note. I end it on a similar one. I chose my profession after much thought when I was young. I knew it would entail many sacrifices and much patience. I never for a minute doubted my choice or path and I am sure that other professions have the same dedication. But when a nurse is asked to work as a whitewasher, something that happened recently in the Gozo hospital, my heart misses more than a beat. I have more than admiration for all whitewashers but I am sure even the kahhala of the world would not wish to see their nurse, their carer or their medical staff doing their own work. Not because their work is degrading – far from it– but I imagine that likewise no whitewasher would like to wake up one day and have to nurse patients just because a government functionary orders him to do so.

This is where this government is slowly but surely eroding all our old ways and good life. It is happening slowly through their utter disregard of their promises or what should be sacrosanct. They are turning our life upside down and if they feel the right to do this after a few months in power what will they do in a few years’ time?

All these problems and strange decisions are not just causing us headaches but starting to make us go round the bend. We need more than sunscreen and soon even headache pills will not be enough to solve our ills.