Why are we losing jobs?

The situation in Malta with regard to employment is becoming dramatic. The news of people being laid off is becoming the order of the day. A good number of companies in the manufacturing industry are downsizing their factories and, sometimes, even closing down. The major reason behind all this is global competitiveness.

On the other hand, the Maltese government cannot continue being irresponsible and itself be the cause of job losses, as in the case of the electric car factory that had seriously considered closing down before even opening... because of government red tape!

Getting back to cheap labour, in the past Malta managed to attract to our shores a number of labour intensive oriented companies on the basis of cheap labour and tax incentives. This is no longer possible today. Malta cannot compete with countries from North Africa (Tunisia, for example); the former Soviet block (Romania) or Asia (China) when it comes to cheap labour. So much so that even certain Maltese owned factories have relocated from our own country to Romania, for example. Malta is no longer a cheap labour country... and luckily so, since we all want the Maltese workers to enjoy a high quality of life.

Apart from the issue of cheap labour which is now a thing of the past in our country, there is a great need for Malta to attract higher value added. In order to do this, Malta Enterprise has to improve the education and training possibilities for its workforce; it has to provide opportunities for women and strongly improve its image beyond our shores.

The economic crisis, in fact, is also hitting our tourist industry. Cruise liner passengers will be much fewer in 2004. No day passes without reading in the paper that the number of tourists visiting our country is on the decline and that Maltese hotels are closing down at quite regular intervals. All this is leading to layoffs even in the tourist and leisure industry.

It is very sad for me to witness that we Greens are being proven right. Ten to 15 years ago, when the building of five-star hotels became the craze of the day, we Greens used to warn: "Please do not continue with this building spree. Our country cannot take all these hotel beds". Our proposal was to upgrade the existing three-star hotels into five-star ones, without taking up any new precious virgin land. Our plea fell on deaf ears and new hotels were built all over the country, most of them on prime sites, including the precious Maltese coastline.

The end result was turning the whole of Malta into a virtual building site, eating up a lot of virgin land in the process. Natural coastal scenes, the attraction of many a tourist, ended up being supplanted by concrete buildings (actually, aesthetic monsters, in some cases!) which, in turn, flooded the country with an over-supply of beds. As a consequence, the undercutting of prices had become common practice, with five-star hotels offering three star prices. The three-star hotels started closing down and now it is the turn of some four-star ones... with people being laid off.

Of course, there are other reasons behind the slowdown in our tourist industry; general shabbiness, excessive greed (some white taxi drivers first come to mind), blatant arrogance and crass ignorance (here, some Maltese bus drivers excel) are but some of the major culprits.

But there is another factor which is day by day keeping precious tourists (and much needed income!) away from our shores. The savage killing of birds which happen to be flying over or even resting in our country is doing the rounds of a number of internet sites all over the world, giving our country a terrible name and, thus, depriving it of a very rich source of tourist income in the process.

All this is not the fruit of imagination. Kestrels injured; honey buzzards killed; swans wiped out; spoonbills exterminated. These killings make regular news in Maltese newspapers. The killers are very seldomly brought to book because the ALE officers, despite all their goodwill, are too few to counter the myriad infringements. What we need is stiffer punishment and real enforcement. But for this you need a strong political will. And how can we expect to get it if George Vella (MLP) and Lawrence Gonzi (PN) have been competing with each other on who could give more concessions to the hunting lobby?

A Canadian tourist wrote recently to The Times: "I am concerned as well about the conflict between the Maltese hunters and those who cherish and wish to visit the temples, two groups with very different interests. I understand that the shooting of migrating birds has been legislated against but that the practice continues nonetheless. I am aware of an instance in which hunters are alleged to have threatened visitors to the temples, believing them to be interfering with successful hunting. For the sake of the temples and the long view of what is valuable to humankind, I ask that the government of Malta also addresses and resolves this very difficult matter".

A German visitor reiterated: "Walking in the countryside during my recent stay on the islands in December/January in the area of Mizieb, Wardija, San Martin, Mellieha and Bingemma or when visiting the Phoenician tombs on the hilltops in the vicinity of Xemxija, I repeatedly witnessed groups of hunters shooting randomly and in a wild frenzy at anything that flies in areas frequented by tourists who are sent to Malta by tour operators to explore the cultural heritage of the country".

An Englishman commented: "On the afternoon of November 28, my Maltese girlfriend and I planned to enjoy the sunshine and spectacular views on the coastal walk from Ghar Lapsi to the Blue Grotto. However, a hunter and his helper soon approached us near the start of the walk. As we stood aside to let them pass, my girlfriend clearly heard the hunter make a rude comment in Maltese. I have only a basic understanding of Maltese and my limited knowledge prevented me from understanding such disgusting language".

Should I go on with the list? There is no need to. The moral of the story is that in a recent survey 13 per cent of incoming tourists declared that hunting had a negative impact on their holiday. And then we ask why tourists are not coming, why hotels are not being filled, why jobs are being lost!

For me, the writing is clearly on the wall: We either abolish hunting completely in spring and ensure proper enforcement the whole year round... or else tourist figures will continue to diminish and jobs will continue to be lost.

Prof. Cassola is Alternattiva Demokratika's candidate for the forthcoming European parliament elections.