It is mystifyng how over all these years, we remain without an administrative method by which road works are carried out according to a well regulated plan that ensures they are completed in a reasonable time.
Previously, such public works would be done by the government. At that time too, delays would occur in finishing what had been begun, though not as much as today. Admittedly, traffic congestion was less than today's. A claim that used to be advanced to justify why works had better be done by the private sector, was that implementation would cost less and be done with less delay.
That certainly did not happen. It might have been that the problem was considered by one and all as being political, when actually, it was/is organizational. No matter who does the job (and no matter how small it is as a job), whether it is the government or the private sector, public works need to be planned. It is not so clear that this is being done, or done with sufficient care. Apart from that, a full oversight must be kep regarding how public works contracts are accorded to private firms, to ensure that they possess the necessary equipment to carry out the work and the knowhow to manage ongoing projects.
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SYSTEMIC
It's interesting to note how in the complaints that are frequently expressed about the rapid economic development of the last years, with its problematic economic and social consequences, what gets rarely (never) mentioned is their systemic linkage to Malta's membership of the EU. No one mentions this - not politicians, not economists (academic, or employed by government or the private sector), not journalists, not private citizens. All ignore it.
Yet EU membership had a systemic impact on the country which led among others to the following effects:
--With the implementation of EU rules, competitivity in economic outturn for both the internal and external markets was lost;
--To compensate for this, the emphasis on the delivery of services grew, such as for financial services and gaming, apart from tourism, for all of which there were no Europe wide rules;
--And meanwhile, internal and external competitivity was sustained by the importation of cheap labour.
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LANGUAGES, SCIENCES
In languages and sciences, the education given locally to children and young people must be of the best quality if in future, we'll have citizens who are able to produce, compete and provide the services that others need.
From the outside, one cannot comment about whether the education now being provided is of sufficient quality. I am one of those who hope and are prepared to believe that it is.
However there is a problem. Languages and the sciences are not attracting sufficient interest among students themselves. Not enough young people are being attracted to specialise in their study. No matter how much we claim to have progressed in digital education, it is difficult to understand how such progress could be sustained if less and less young citizens end up well instructed in the sciences and in languages. The latter are needed to keep us aligned with other communities which do not use English; and scientists are needed to help us understand how their discipline is continuing to transform our world