Leading by example

An open letter to Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi.

Dear Prime Minister,

Don't we both live in a truly amazing country? At the same time as you and your ministers call on people to tighten their belts in a collective effort to rein in the massive public deficit and with the parliamentary secretary being quoted as saying that we are living beyond our means, you sanction the expenditure of Lm9 million on the purchase and refurbishment of a building in Brussels to house the country's embassy and some other offices.

Even if the advice that you received suggested that the site in question was worth this kind of money, surely you should have realised that such a purchase was going to be considered as completely out of proportion by the vast majority of the citizens you represent. Has your government become insensitive to the feelings of thousands of tax-paying families who struggle to make ends meet and wake up one morning to learn that Lm9 million of their money has been spent on one building? I think you will agree that one does not need to be a rocket scientist to deduce that this decision was going to solicit comments of a cynical and sinister nature.

Why can't we all forget about pomp and pretences and accept the fact that a country of 400,000 people just cannot afford this kind of extravagance? Putting it another way, this building has cost each member of the Maltese population the sum of Lm22. On this basis, the British or Italian governments would be justified in spending over Lm1 billion on their embassies! Would it have been too much of a "sacrifice" to spend half or less and purchase another building not so close to the European Commission which is undoubtedly the most expensive area in Brussels? Does Malta need to be on millionaires' row? Surely a short car ride to the European headquarters would not cause undue distress to our representatives.

I would also question the valuation of the property you propose or have in fact purchased. I do not know the size and other specifications of this building so it is virtually impossible to make a realistic valuation. I am, however, informed that a brand new nine storey (4,500m2) office block in the Leopold district of Brussels (the district that houses the EU Commission) is valued at about Lm5 million. A similar building in the adjacent Louise area is valued at Lm3.75 million. Taking the second option could have saved the country Lm4 - 5 million.

I hate to say it, but we seem to be emulating the so-called banana republics where people's taxes are squandered on unnecessary luxuries for their representatives. We must now be one of the highest taxed nations in the EU with new taxes being introduced on a regular basis (the latest being an eco-tax which will take yet another Lm4 million annually out of our pockets) and what do we have to show for it? To quote but few examples, we have yet to see the quantum leap in the quality of our road system that has been promised for longer than I care to remember; the trumpeted environmental clean up is barely beyond the embryonic stage and now there is also a rumour circulating that the grandest project of all, the Mater Dei Hospital, is to be mothballed due to lack of funds. In the meantime, most of the population has to make do with a totally inadequate general hospital that will soon be 100 years old!

Come on Mr Prime Minister, get the act together. In the short time you have occupied the top post in government, too many errors of judgment have been made. These go right across the political divide and are demotivating everyone including your most fervent supporters. If the contract of purchase for the Brussels building has been sealed then it will have to go down as yet another case of bad judgment of monumental proportions. If it has not, you should immediately assert your authority and cancel the deal. This would send the correct signal to all and sundry and also show that your government values the feelings of the nation.

You might be justifiably proud of our country but, for heaven's sake, let's stop trying to play in the same league as the big boys. Our financial capacity is minuscule in proportion and when taking such decisions you would be well advised to keep this reality in mind. Money for Malta is a big problem and the sooner your government accepts this the better for all of us.