Just a few months after the referendum on European Union membership and the general election, the Maltese are faced with problems of previously unimaginable magnitude.

The people's perception before these two electoral consultations was that our country was in line with projections made, had a good and solid platform for further improvement in all areas of activity and was about to join a bloc that would certainly enhance the progress and achievements made so far.

Such a situation is conducive to reactions. On the one hand, Opposition supporters say that the country was led astray and fooled into thinking that we would enter a new period of consolidation and further improvement of our economy and institutions, a higher standard of living and a better quality of life.

On the other hand, Nationalist supporters attempt to minimise the problem. They will not accept that Government has misled the country by drawing a rosy picture before the referendum and general election when it knew otherwise. It is a fact, they maintain, that the majority of the people have a good standard of living and a better quality of life than ever before. This was confirmed by a survey held a few weeks ago.

But Government's natural reaction, particularly now that another general election is still nearly five years away, is to take the bull by the horns. An insight into Government's thinking indicates that it is prepared to introduce measures to overcome these problems and ensure continued progress in the country's everyday life.

It is doubtful whether these three natural reactions will lead to the mitigation of the country's present condition and the solution of all our problems. Firstly, both supporters' approaches are an impulsive reaction to the prevalent scenario; secondly, very little thought seems to have been devoted to prepare a holistic plan of action; and thirdly, apparently, no plan of action has been prepared to investigate whether there exists a common underlying factor that has helped to augment these problems.

Yes, there are many individual studies dealing with particular sensitive issues. These reports may have been studied, proposals may have been made but the final decisions for implementation have not materialised, either because of political exigencies or the administrative mechanism is not functioning as it should. The better bet seems to be the latter.

On paper, Malta boasts that it has the makings of a great nation, fully staffed with a civil service headed by different layers of administrative heavyweights and different boards of directors to man the many public corporations that actually enjoy, so far, a monopoly.

Spending some time pondering and delving into these sour points one is likely to discover that there is a more serious underlying common denominator to all the problem areas. Malta seriously lacks professional managerial expertise. Of course, it is inundated with high-profile employees calling themselves managers (or something like that) and being paid high salaries to equate their responsibilities with financial rewards and fringe benefits.

What is highly debatable is whether they are all actually managing the workers under their charge, monitoring progress, delineating future policies so that their operation centres are not taken unawares when circumstances change, and giving account of their responsibilities. Briefly put, one questions whether all the managers believe in the dictum "administration by results".

Unfortunately, facts show that not all the managers are carrying out their duties conscientiously because they are not shouldering their responsibilities efficiently. The country gets to know of the malaise after a number of years has passed.

Results are published when there is no way out as to how to take corrective measures in time so that problems do not escalate to such proportions with the consequence that Government appears in a bad light because drastic actions have to be taken. The lapses of a few highly paid employees have to be made good not only by Government but by the whole nation. And this is unfair.

A good manager is not only expected to take immediate remedial measures but also to have foresight and prepare himself for anything unusual that may crop up that precludes the implementation of the planned trend. Sometimes he has to take risks, test the ground to formulate policies that, in the end, are likely to pay dividends. In short, he has to be an innovator and an entrepreneur.

It is generally and broadly considered that being an innovator entails the introduction of new ideas, the deployment and development of human resources, and the management of the envisaged change to fall in line with the trend projected. If he is also endowed with an entrepreneurial spirit he should combine these factors to achieve positive results in the least costly way. But since innovation cannot occur continuously, the most enterprising and venturesome manager should create a favourable climate to ensure that whenever opportunities come his way, they are not frittered away.

A pertinent question springs to mind: why is it that Malta is not lucky enough to have such managerial expertise in abundance? Well, it's a long story. Our history shows that the people have been brought up in a dependency environment, licking foreign boots.

Political independence has hardly solved the problem. Both major political parties, to win votes, have created the atmosphere of paternalism, nepotism, cronyism and manipulations of institutions to ensure that people remain dependent on their whims. If this environment persists it is highly doubtful whether Malta will ever succeed in overcoming its serious problems.

Nevertheless, a pessimistic outlook will not help solve national problems. An attitude of resilience has to be adopted to meet and overcome the hurdles that lie before us. Admittedly, we need immediate solutions to solve prevalent problems. But the most important approach is to deal with immediate problems while, at the same time, we cater for long-term strategies. This requires us to create a more professional administrative mechanism to ensure that national problems do not accumulate to unimaginable proportions.

Education here plays a major role. With education I do not mean the study of sophisticated ideas, theories and passing of examinations. It is clear that the structure of education has intensified this culture of dependence. At university, the uppermost thought in final-year students' minds is to find the most highly paid job after graduation. It is rare to find students who seek to be independent and to find new areas that will make them financially independent and thus, instead of being a burden on the exchequer, will contribute to the expansion of the national economy through the exploitation of their personal initiatives.

To achieve such ends the education structure has to be changed radically. It has to cater less to conformism and more to the development of students' alertness and the search for different potential alternatives. Creativity comes about when students, at an early age, are taught to solve their own problems in the most practical way. Simulation exercises abroad have helped to create more logical reactions to made-up problems; a sense of personal independence is instilled at an early age. No wonder that many successful small states have increased their GDP per capita substantially!

Life is changing through modern technology and our young people are more concerned with TV, DVDs and the Internet. These are good in themselves but their contribution in creating a managerial class that is alert to everyday problems, instigating a spirit of resilience, anticipating problems, projecting future trends and taking remedial measures as soon as they are detected will not be forthcoming - and there should be a mechanism for early detection.

If Malta wants to control and limit the size of national problems and instead enjoy expansion of its national economy as well as enhance its past achievements, education should produce more innovators and entrepreneurs and fewer bookworms and people whose sight is limited to the many pages of a thick book.

These statements should not be interpreted to mean that books are not essential; they certainly help in the development of the mind. But it's not enough. Malta's managerial class should be better able to react, relate different ideas, rely on their own resources, be more resilient in all difficulties, and endeavour to find new ways to sort problems out in the shortest time possible and in the least costly way.

Dr Borda is an economist

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