The worries of private garage owners who find themselves hemmed in by cars that are parked at the entrance to their garages were given media prominence recently. Their complaints are justified. It's just not right that one finds oneself blockaded at one's private garage exit.
In the same way, neither should the owners of private garages commit abuses to the detriment of pedestrians walking along pavements lined with the exits from private garages. Pavements are being sloped, changed, made uneven, dug up to allow for an easy car exit from garages to the street across the pavement. Walking on certain pavements has become a continuous problematic challenge to clamber up and down these obstacles... And it's this way not just for the elderly, as some pretend, but also for mothers driving push chairs and even "normal" pedestrians. Not to mention the owners of some private garages who park their car outside their garage in and out "its" drive across the pavement, blocking the latter.
In a country where we all decry the abuses committed by others while indulging in our own pet ones, safeguarding the "rights" of pedestrians, not just drivers, should not be ignored either as an issue.
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VERSUS COVID
No matter what US secretary for health Robert F. Kennedy might be saying, it is a matter of grave concern that the year-on-year vaccination rates for protection against Covid and influenza have been declining. The Maltese health authorities are doing well to push more and more people towards the idea of going to get the required vaccinations. The impact of the Covid pandemic has been forgotten too fast. Too many are opting out of getting vaccinated.
In a country like ours which welcomes so many foreign visitors, it is crucial for citizens to understand the importance of adopting precautions that have been scientifically tested against the epidemic diseases that could reach us... in addition to those that are triggered locally.
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THE IMF JUDGEMENT
In the statement published by the International Monetary Fund staff following their visit to Malta this month, a favourable assessment was presented of the island's economic and financial situation. This showed how the momentum of economic growth in recent years, although it would abate, still has great potential to roll on in those sectors, like tourism and financial services, where performance has been excellent.
The IMF team were hardly breaking new ground with their comments. Even so, that they are in agreement with the conclusions reached by other economic analysts (not just those of the Malta government) should be seen as an encouraging sign for the managers of the Maltese economy.
Meanwhile though, it would be a mistake to ignore some indications also put into the IMF staff report. Top of which were the diplomtically phrased critiques about how the fiscal space made available by economic progress is being utilised. Fiscal space refers to the funding resources available to the government to utilise without incurring added financial burdens.
Malta had and still has quite some fiscal space available these past years. The IMF team does not appear to be satisfied it has been tapped wisely enough from a long term perspective, especially in how investment is being framed. Likely, they have a valid point.