The new spring is here

Alfred Sant keeps taunting the government (April 21) that the new spring "fervently promised" this time last year is not likely to happen soon. He has fallen into the trap which has ruined many a life by joining the modern trend "we want it all and we want it now".

It was this trend which according to some social analysts led to Labour's electoral victory in 1996. If we could get by, by not being accountable, by not paying taxes through VAT, by carrying on with our outmoded work practices, why should we change? The promises made in 1996 were indeed short-lived as history proved. The electorate realised that there is no gain without pain and meekly accepted that everything we receive from our benevolent state has to be paid for in one way or the other. We simply cannot have it all and certainly not instantly.

Dr Sant very crudely applies only one measure to justify the invisible nature of the promised new spring, namely the present situation affecting our parastatal organisations and some of our industries. Of course, unemployment is regrettable but you don't need to be an economist to discover that at times it is inevitable. Anyone who believed that restructuring could be achieved by keeping everyone in employment, irrespective of productivity or the lack of it, as was the case at the Drydocks, or that profitability played no part in the equation, must have lived in cuckoo land.

Not surprisingly, Dr Sant put all the blame in the lap of the government. No trade union is blamed for demanding excessive pay rises over the past years, no mention of work practices which have become outdated and counterproductive to the very future of particular industries. But most of all Dr Sant exonerates his party in opposition of any of the blame for Malta not being ready to join the EU "in good trim".

Can anyone imagine what would have happened if the reforms being put in practice now at Air Malta, the PBS, Gozo Channel and elsewhere were proposed during the last legislature? The MLP and the GWU would have been demonstrating against the government at every opportunity, blaming the situation no doubt on Malta's active application for membership of the EU and the negotiations then going on.

The government would have found it practically impossible to see its ultimate vision put into place. It was Labour that basically forced the government and some industries not to go into a full blown restructuring process well before Malta's appointment with the EU. Of course, as a political party, Labour had every right to oppose membership of the EU, but political choices carry with them direct and indirect consequences.

Dr Sant sincerely believes that "so many feel betrayed". Can he put his hand on his heart and claim no responsibility at all? During the referendum campaign he chose a win-win formula by mentioning firms being at risk for a myriad of reasons and not just due to EU membership. Not to forget the cynical way in which the message was delivered to the mass gatherings, when the faithful clapped at the mention of yet another work place at risk!

So what has happened to the new spring? It is here and it is happening now. A sense of realism has hit us and we are seeing the GWU accepting the situation if we want to be competitive and successful. We are tackling our environment seriously for the first time. Let us rejoice that in the island of Gozo there will be no scrap of garbage, collected everyday burning incessantly? It will be transported off the island every evening. The Maghtab, il-Qortin and Wied Fulija will be closing dawn and rehabilitated. Hundreds of our students and teachers are gaining new knowledge and new experiences by participating in EU educational programmes. Many of our schools are engaged in joint projects with schools in EU countries. More and more workers are being encouraged to take up offers of spending time abroad on exchange programmes.

Many of our local councils have twinning projects with towns, cities and villages in EU countries reaping social and economic benefits in the process. Our language has been given the greatest accolade by being recognised by the EU as an official language and it is already being spoken in the European parliament and elsewhere.

More and more Maltese citizens are representing all of us at very high levels in EU institutions. Labour itself is taking part in the Party of European Socialists. What a change! From a pariah party to participating in the presidency of the PES. Oh yes, the new spring is here, OK. It is the spring which Labour would have deprived us of were it not for the tenacity of Eddie Fenech Adami and others who stuck to their vision and guided the people to grab it.

Electors should reflect seriously on who to trust with representing our people in the European parliament when they vote on June 12.