To err is human

To err is human but to persist is truly diabolical.

So soon after the saga surrounding the purchase of Dar Malta in Brussels, our government is now asking the Maltese people to support the expenditure of an additional Lm20 million or thereabouts to basically provide our 65 parliamentarians with a meeting chamber and ancillary facilities.

Is this some kind of wry humour that I don't understand? Are we being serious? Have we truly lost our sense of priorities? How can a country that is already in debt to the tune of some Lm1,200 million liri spend Lm30 million on two buildings? The mind boggles.

This latest incident also put paid to any doubts I might have had about the government's insensitivity to the feelings of the people. Are we commoners truly expected to have faith in a so-called cost-cutting exercise that is being supposedly undertaken to address the country's deficit when at the same time our elected representatives seem prepared to dispense with Lm30 million without so much as batting an eyelid?

As if to rub salt into the wound, we have also just been informed that the architect who, a few years ago, prepared plans for an opera house that never got off the drawing board was paid Lm400,000 for his efforts! With all due respect to this gentleman, his defence of his fee was, at very best, rather weak. Surely he should make some moral distinction between applying the tariff that at the time it was made was intended to primarily cover residential construction and a fee for multi-million liri projects.

This revelation also provided proof of the nonchalant attitude of the minister concerned who should have negotiated a reduced tariff for a project of this magnitude. In fact, when interviewed recently, Jesmond Mugliett said he was unable to say what the architect's fees for the proposed Parliament building will be as the fee structure has not yet been negotiated!

So where do we go to from here? I have already expressed my opinion about what should be done with Dar Malta in Brussels. It should be sold immediately. Alternative premises that cater for our actual requirements and that are ready to move into should be purchased instead.

As far as the opera house site is concerned, this gaping hole has been there for 60 odd years so a few more years will not make much difference. When, hopefully, our country will, in the not too distant future, be in a position to make this sort of investment, it can revisit the project.

In the meantime, I would recommend the immediate expenditure of Lm2 - 3 million to remove the eyesore of the opera house ruins, artistically repave all the area (including Freedom Square) and perhaps create a small park. The entrance to Valletta (City Gate) must also be cleaned up and embellished. Whatever is done, however, must not compromise the possibility of having an arts centre, an opera house or whatever at some point in the future.

Our parliamentarians can also make a "sacrifice" and make do with a refurbishment of the existing chamber or else move to an existing government building. After all the government is the largest property owner in the country and owns countless buildings in Valletta. How about a ministry moving out of one of the grand auberges dotted around Valletta to make way for Parliament? That would be a truly commendable gesture that could earn the minister concerned a mention in our honours list or even perhaps a Gieh ir-Repubblika medal!

My personal preference, however, is for the Parliament chamber to stay where it is at the Palace. The government can reclaim possession of the old Valletta food market and convert this building into parliamentary offices.

If the general consensus is that something must be done immediately with the opera house site, I could also offer a suggestion. Why doesn't the government ask the private sector to tender for the purchase of Freedom Square for conversion into a multi-storey underground car park (and we can perhaps finally make Valletta a pedestrian paradise like Venice!) and a commercial retail centre? Included in this deal would be an obligation to construct, at no charge to the state, a multi-purpose arts/cultural centre in the space once occupied by the opera house.

The millions of liri thus saved could then be diverted into job creation. This is what future generations of Maltese need and want above all else. They are much more concerned about jobs than about glitzy embassies and grand Parliament buildings. Will our politicians ever understand this basic fact?