The endeavours of regulators in the different fields of economic and social activity are not sufficiently well known and appreciated. To be honest, one doubts whether they are being so effective and for two reasons, though some may claim that other factors also come into play.

In first instance it frequently is the case that regulators get transfixed between various pulls and pressures coming from the government, private business lobbies, the surveillance of NGOs, and the possibility that the EU will be dissatisfied with how they are keeping the sector for which they are responsible aligned with European directives and regulations.  Which is why perhaps they sound too timid or vague in the explanations they givepublicly, while (some at least) are too cautious when taking decisions.             

Then there is the persisting problem of how a balance is going to be found between the competences of the courts and those of regulators. That a regulator may seem to assume the roles of prosecution, jury and judge all at the same time by deciding issues in “administrative” mode is a problem that has still not been resolved. It is crucial to clear this matter, if only to maintain credibility in the management of vital economic and social areas.

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CORRUPTION

One of the most shocking statements I ever heard about corruption in Malta came many years ago from a foreign manager of the Bortex company. I never was in a country so corrupt as Malta, he told me. Before arriving here, he had served in a number of countries, both in Europe and in the so-called “developing” world.

I tried to understand exactly what he was referring to, although he chose his words with caution and seemed to be regretting having spoken out of hand. From his explanations, it was clear he was not referring only to the government system but generally, including the private sector, and covering the way by which business is done in this country as a whole: how estimates are made, how bills are issued and how payments are effected. In a society where everybody knows everybody else, the codes of silence and loyalty plus shared behaviour that is defined by how you’ll rub your back and I’ll rub yours, constitute an opaque and enduring culture that is automatically renewable.

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TOO HOT FOR TOURISM?

Are we reaching the stage when the threat to Mediterranean tourism, Malta’s included, could be climate change? For it seems as if the weather is fast becoming like in a desert as hot temperatures continue to spread.

It is true that the tourists who migrate to the south in the summer months are seeking the sun... but only so long as its heat does not become excessive. There is also the fact that to combat that kind of hot weather, energy usage would have to increase. Not all destinations have access to the same resources as the Arab Gulf countries with their reserves of “cheap” energy.

Eventually, for tourists to feel comfortable, the spend for a holiday would have to increase. One also needs to take into account that similar measures would need to be adopted for local residents, which can only result in a rise in the cost of living.

Climate warming is not such an abstract and distant threat as some people would have us believe.