Beyond any shadow of doubt, Covid-19 has, and is still having, a terrible effect on all aspects of our lives. And this impact is truly global and universal. Apart from the medical challenge, which has claimed millions of lives, infected even more millions and stretched well-established health systems to breaking point and even beyond, the pandemic has brought to their knees entire economies and totally destroyed such industries as tourism, catering and services.

All governments were faced by a crucial dilemma: should they impose total lockdown and risk economic catastrophe or take a more prudent and rational strategy, that of trying to find the golden mean, that is a balance of policy to find a middle way; by one hand fighting the Covid-19 pandemic with all the medical means at their disposal to protect their citizens while with the other keeping the   economy alive by massive financial assistance to industry?

We chose the latter and thank God for it. As regards my brief, as Minister responsible for Transport and Infrastructure, the Covid-19 impact was particularly hard with potential deadly effects on the entire community. If we begin with maritime transport, and here we do well to remember that we are an island and it is very easy for any enemy to blockade us and destroy us by denying our food supplies, we had to be sure that our maritime transport system remains functional. And Covid-19 proved to be a determined enemy.

All foreign ports were closed down, as ours were also. But, we organised ourselves to set up effective logistics by sending local drivers to foreign ports to handle and transport all necessary supplies to nearby ports so that life continues as usual.

Airports were closed down too as was ours. Here again, we took the initiative to see that urgent air supplies like medicines and other specialised merchandize could reach our islands. 

The Covid-19’s terrible impact was not only restricted to have the necessary logistics to force the blockade of foodstuffs and other necessary material for industry to import and export, for without exports the economy would have collapsed, but also to challenge Transport Malta on the internal front. Public transport continued functioning without a hitch, as it is still doing today, both on land and at sea. The maritime traffic between the Grand Harbour cities continued running smoothly, as did that between Sliema and the Grand Harbour area.

Another potential danger, which we were forced to face, and then to decide how we could tackle, was the continuation of the grand projects which Infrastructure Malta was doing. Some were of the opinion that we should just freeze the projects and wait for Covid-19 to disappear. However, others, and I was one of them, argued that, at least we could exploit the fact that the pandemic was keeping vehicles off the roads to redouble our efforts to work even harder to finish the job.

Furthermore, works on the grand projects, at the height of the pandemic was not only a morale booster to the people but a welcome sign, showing the resilience, the courage and the spirit of the Maltese enterprise, even when faced with almost impossible odds.

Infrastructure Malta, during those crucial months, when other sectors of the economy were reeling, kept the wheels of the national economy turning by pumping millions of euros into it; a clear signal that Covid-19 could give us a bloody nose, but in the end, we will be back in business.

I entered politics at an early age and I always kept in my mind Aristotle’s advice that “Politics is the highest form of human activity”. And what the Greek philosopher meant was that it is the highest because it is the most demanding. You never know what’s going to hit you. You have to be prepared for the worst and for the best. While taking the long view and preparing for the future, when faced by a crisis, you must have the intellectual stamina of focusing all your attention upon the smallest number of clear-cut objectives, obstacles and bugbears and also the aptitude for bold experimentation, rapid improvisation and living from hand to mouth in a landscape of short horizons.

 Dr Ian Borg, Minister for Transport, Infrastructure and Capital Projects