Let there be darkness!

As energy cuts continue to plunge homes, reverse-osmosis plants, restaurants, hotels and other commercial establishments into darkness, we are being promised yet again that there is light at the end of the tunnel and that the problems will be solved by the end of this year.

We are being told that once the Mosta Distribution Centre comes on line, the North of Malta and Gozo will not suffer energy cuts any longer.

"Due to the sudden increase in winter peak this year, the continued envisaged rise in the summer peak demand together with the several major development projects which are in progress, the Mosta Distribution Centre cannot now be postponed any further."

This commitment was made five years ago, in 1999. Government knew that it had to strengthen the distribution system to satisfy the demand for more energy but five years have been allowed to go by. The energy cuts disrupting the life of thousands of families and causing painful financial losses to hotels and restaurants are now being presented as inevitable and natural and as if government has been taken by surprise that the present distribution system cannot cope with the increased demand.

As usual, the Nationalist government turns into a cabinet of invisible men and women when it comes to shouldering political responsibility when things go wrong. All the ministers turn up for photo opportunities but they are nowhere to be seen when they are held accountable for mismanagement and poor governance.

Deceit on a sound footing

"The Cabinet is currently discussing the state budget for 2004 and has announced that it has to cut funding for health care and other sensitive spheres so that the country can use EU structural funds. The country has been promised that up to g625 million will be available to it through these structural funds from 2004 to 2006, but around 25 per cent of the money for all projects must be provided domestically. The government has given the impression that its priority goal - joining the EU - is about to 'eat up' the budget."

This is not a news item about Malta. The Nationalist government, unlike its Latvian counterpart, is not frank and honest enough to share the real challenges facing the country when it joins the EU. In the run-up to last April's general election, EU membership was presented as a magical solution and as an easy option that guaranteed that in one stroke Malta would solve all its problems.

Both Dr Eddie Fenech Adami and John Dalli reassured us four months ago that Government was on track to contain the structural deficit and public debt. A Nationalist Party billboard proclaimed their message that the country's finances were on a sound footing. While Nationalist politicians gave the good news in campaign events organised by the party, government did not publish any official statistics about government finance.

But now with the elections well and truly over we are being told that the structural deficit is 8% - double the rate projected. Public debt has reached 73% of our gross domestic product.

Like the energy cuts, Government is presenting the bad news about the deficit and public debt, as "natural", "inevitable" and as if it has nothing to do with it. The Nationalist Party is politically responsible for the mismanagement of public finance. It is also politically responsible for carrying out a deceitful election campaign reassuring everybody that government finance was on a sound footing when it knew that this was not the case.

Brussels' autopilot

A few weeks ago, also after the general election, Finance Minister John Dalli said that the environment "will become a far greater problem in the future and any minister of finance will face a higher expenditure in this regard. Expenditure on the environment is rising at exponential rates."

Before the general election we were promised that we would get very generous EU funds to solve our environmental problems and improve our quality of life. The Labour Party had pointed out that "the total EU project allocation for the environment - were it all to materialise in due time... would amount to some €21.7 million (Lm10 million) between 2004 and 2006. The financial contribution that the EU will be expected to make to environmental rehabilitation is derisory." Between 2004 and 2006 the country has to spend many millions more to set up administrative structures and comply with EU environmental laws and procedures. Where are all these millions of liri going to come from?

Minister Dalli now has the answer: "The principle here is the same as was decided in the case of fuel prices: by making the consumer pay..." These words are a far cry from the days when the Nationalist Party projected EU membership as an enormous freebie.

Quite a number of people voted for EU membership as they had lost hope in the ability of local politicians to deliver the policies the country needs to thrive in the 21st century. But we'd better wake up to the reality that it is still up to the local political parties, civil service, enterprises, business organisations, trade unions and civil society of member states to make a success of EU membership. It is still up to us to make Malta and Gozo an attractive location for business, tourism and other services. It is still up to us to design and implement effective policies to create the necessary conditions that produce economic growth able to sustain a just and cohesive society.

The EU will not govern Malta and Gozo for us. It will not send foreign direct investment to us. It will not construct our roads and run our hospitals, schools and sustain our welfare state. Last November Minister Dalli promised us that it would guarantee us all these goodies. We were fed the dangerous illusion that once we become member states we can take things easy and the country would become one of the best countries in the world, simply run on autopilot from Brussels.

evaristbartolo@hotmail.com