Some days ago, I had the opportunity to meet representatives of students from Gozo, as well as of business concerns and tourism entrepreneurs in Gozo. Most discussions related to the future of Gozo’s economy.
At present, the situation in various sectors is quite good. Still the problem remains that not enough jobs for young people are being created, and they are leaving to live in Malta or beyond, instead of staying there. This is causing substantial disquiet.
Top of the agenda in our discussions featured the Gozo-Malta tunnel that is being proposed: whether it should be built or not; and if yes, how it should be done and how soon it could be finished. I doubt whether a decision on the matter can be taken swiftly, and in case the decision is positive, whether it can be implemented swiftly.
Even so, there’s another project that gets mentioned less often and which should be given more attention that it has been receiving.Here, the proposal is to lay a new fibre optic cable that would reinforce rapid telecommunications between Gozo and the rest of the world. It would surely cost less than the tunnel and can be implemented much more rapidly. I cannot understand why it has been kept pending.
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Food for the poor
In Brussels, I agreed with those who endorsed the continuation of the EU’s programme to distribute food to poor families.
Yet I was not too happy to learn that in Malta as of January 2016, the programme will also run for the benefit of some 4,000 people.
This is not because I disagree that these people should be helped. However, what creates dissatisfaction is the fact that today we have so many in our midst who are so financially stricken, that to eat well, they need to get foodfor free.
When I was akid, we knew there were quite anumber of men and women who were in this situation. However, over the years, “extreme” poverty seemed to have been eliminated. Or was this an illusion?
What’s true today is that poverty is again with us.
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Bad weather in the south
In the south of Europe, these are stormy times for parties of the centre-right and the centre-left.
In Greece, the leftists won two elections – even if they then succumbed to pressure and had to implement austerity policies dictated by Germany.
In Portugal, the centre-left lost ground in elections, as did the centre-right. The former is now running theshow with leftist backing, while promising to follow the financial guidelines set by the euro zone, in line with the centre-right government it has replaced.
In Spain, the centre-right government has gotten a good electoral battering and will not govern. But the same happened to the centre-left, who might take over the government, with the backing of leftists and others.
Moreover, should France be considered as part of the south, there too, the governing centre-left has experienced successive defeats. The centre-right is meanwhile making scant progress against the “extreme” right.
No wonder then that Italian Prime Minister Renzi who is also caught in internal tensions that resemble those of other southern countries, has publicly and strongly took position against Europe’s austerity policies.
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Happy Xmas to one and all.