Recent events have put Malta at the crossroads.  They did not occur sporadically or without context but are rather like a virus that progressed as it went unchecked.

On the one hand we have EU politicians now airing their concerns about the alarming situation in Malta concerning money laundering and anti-fraud legislation which can no longer be ignored or excused without meriting further examination and repercussions.  The main concern in their mind is that if the Government of Malta has avoided to pursue the allegations of misconduct by its own Chief of Staff and a government minister and if the investigation by the Director of the FIAU, understood to have been passed on to the then Commissioner of Police remained pending in the in-tray and may have been the reason behind both their resignations, then how could the same government head the new EU Council tasked into exposing these very same issues?  How can they be serious about applying any new measures and legislation, if by doing so, the very same enquiries that are now under wraps, would have to be brought to light?

The financial services industry was created for prosperity and jobs.  It was formed through legislation and various institutions were created to see that it functions properly and can grow by fostering good standards and enjoying a first class reputation.  Respect for office and institutions is integral to it.

Along comes the new government and as in other economic sectors, it wilfully begins from day one to work the system so that what we are facing today is the threat of ruin of it all. 

No economic activity has been left to work independently and regularly.  Every sector is exploited for gain by the few or to exert control where there should not be any interference.  It is like a scientist who had been given a laboratory to discover ways to enhance health and fight disease, who is then forced to use his/her findings to make an anti-dote for the privileged few against the same disease they inflicted with their abuse.

The whole system is failing around us.  The contagion is now imminent and many are wondering how we can save ourselves from this inevitable anarchy?

Ironically, fingers are pointed at the PN for having initiated the trend and infrastructure that brought about the rapid rise in the standard of living or for not having done enough to prevent a rampant greed and disaffected society.

In the case of Sliema’s property boom, definitely, had the PN done something concrete to address the rent laws and look at ways to keep owners happy with the income from the rent, schedule buildings whilst even compensating the proprietors for protecting them and assisting with maintenance costs and educating the community about the importance of preservation, maybe many beautiful houses could still be standing today and others now facing demolition could be saved.

The Townsquare project had been forecast many years ago, practically ever since the Union Club was evicted from the premises.  It was possibly the core and centre of the ancillary apartment constructions in the area of Qui-Si-Sana. 

On March 4, 2007 the Times reported “The first phase of the Townsquare Sliema project, Townsquare Seafront, has been completed. All apartments have been handed over to clients and residents are moving into these seafront apartments.” 

“According to a spokesman for the developers, "the size and central location of this site imposed a considerable responsibility on the developers, but this was the main driver behind the overall design concept and approach - to give Sliema what it really lacks - a central open and green space for the public to enjoy and experience, to create a series of pedestrian tree-lined avenues and lanes with shops, beautiful public squares with open-air cafes and restaurants, sunken gardens around a restored Villa Drago, create Sliema's 'heart', Sliema's Townsquare."  

Instead we now will have a 38 storey high-rise casting shadows on the neighbourhood and causing congestion in infrastructure.  Other tall buildings have since been constructed in the area and others are planned.

Was anything ever done at the time to list the area of the Union Club as graded heritage?  In fact, why not the whole of Qui-Si-Sana as a little borough of Sliema full of historical buildings and an important residential area for Sliema? 

But today the Planning Authority is responsible for decisions that will have irreversible effects not just on Sliema but also St Julian’s, Valletta, Ta’ Xbiex, Gzira, Mriehel and who knows how many other places.  The Environment Resource Authority is missing in action as high-rises sprout like alien monsters on a sci-fi planet.

As for those who elected this government to reap some benefits and who envisage that they can afford another five years of this ambivalent support before switching back to the PN to consolidate their gains and rub off the tarnish, who are they to speculate with our patrimony in this way? 

A similar case is playing out in an American upmarket town of 27,000 residents called Bernards, an hour west of New York City.  The town has been wrecked by controversy since 2011 when the Planning Board took up a proposal for a 4,250-square-foot mosque in a residential neighbourhood known as Liberty Corner.  The current mayor, Carol Bianchi, told FoxNews.com “This is a land use matter. It was never about religion.”  The Planning Board and many residents say they were concerned about traffic and other zoning issues.  In this case the Planning Board rejected the project.

The seeds of the controversy were planted in November of 2011, when the Islamic Society of Basking Ridge purchased nearly 4 acres in the quiet neighborhood and then applied five months later to build the mosque, complete with a prayer hall and, ultimately, 107 parking spaces. The proposed mosque was denied by the Planning Board last December following numerous public hearings over the course of more than three years.  This has led a former Bernards mayor, the first Pakistani Muslim mayor in the nation, elected after 9/11 to file a federal civil rights suit accusing members of the board of religious discrimination in ultimately rejecting the project.

We should even be prepared for such applications to be brought in Sliema, which now has a very considerable Muslim population at Tigne Point.   In 2014, Sliema had a population of 16,854 in an area of 130 ha.

All of this puts Malta and Gozo at the crossroads.  Do we allow things to take their course without protest or recrimination, having actually been instrumental in the change in 2013 and possibly endorsing another five years on top of that? 

Or do we take stock and this time have a more long-term view about where we are heading, our values and the way we live and ensure a prosperous life not just financially but also culturally, socially and environmentally, calling a stop to greed and ruin for the sake of ignorance?  The harm that is being inflicted on our tourism industry and also on the retirement of foreigners in Malta, is working its way through the system as we speak.

Ultimately, this idea that granting another five years to Joseph Muscat is like letting the meter run, is false reasoning.   Intervention is needed now not when it’s too late for a cure – as it may, sadly, already be.