Too much talk and reports, but little action - Din l-Art Helwa

Din l-Art Helwa's annual general meeting yesterday highlighted the delays in implementing legislation and action on Malta's cultural heritage and the environment.

Its executive president Martin Scicluna, who announced his intention to step down from the post he has held for four years, stressed the lack of a National Strategic Plan for Cultural Heritage, which was first presented to the government by the Committee of Guarantee over two years ago.

"Today, a discussion on the issue has just been initiated," Mr Scicluna pointed out.

In his keynote address, entitled 'Flash to Bang - Analysis and Action', Mr Scicluna analysed what had been done in the last four years since the Cultural Heritage Act and the Environment Protection Act were passed.

"Flash to bang" is the expression used to describe the 'flash' of a bright idea and the 'bang' of its implementation, he explained, adding that, in Malta, "that gap between the two remains stubbornly long".

He said there was "much talk and many reports, but not enough action; passage of legislation and no enforcement of the law." The classic example was the opera house site saga, which, after several flashes of promised action over the last 60 years, remains unbuilt.

To further exacerbate the delay between flash and bang, a consultation period of several more months has been proposed on the implementation of the National Strategic Plan, Mr Scicluna said.

"All this when the government had already been given a perfectly workable and sensible five-year strategic plan - with clear targets and a clear vision and with the agreement of all the principal stake-holders - over two years ago."

In his wide-ranging and scathing analysis on the state of the cultural heritage and the environment, Mr Scicluna described the latter as "dire".

The paramount environmental challenge is to control building development and the way the island is used and shared, he continued.

"Sooner or later, there must be a government with the courage to acknowledge that further large-scale building development, urban sprawl, filth and litter are not tolerable, or sustainable if Malta is to remain a civilised and attractive place to live."

Education and enforcement were the keys to improvement and the government should embark on a sustained, focused and concerted public education campaign, he recommended.

Improvements in the structure and machinery of government were also required. The prime deficiencies lay in public service leadership, organisation and co-ordination, Mr Scicluna said, adding that a commission into improving the ethos and culture of the public service, which was "in need of severe electric-shock treatment" was long over-due.

"What is remarkable is that in both the cultural heritage and environmental fields there were, during the same 30-month period, three different ministers responsible for following up the legislation, while culture and the environment were moved to three different ministries in the same time frame."

Referring to the National Commiss-ion for Sustainable Development, which was established four years ago to draw up a National Plan for Sustainable Development, he stressed that "again, the flash to bang is precariously long. Four years after the Act was passed, we are as far away from its creation as it is possible to be."

The difficulty of creating a National Sustainability Plan was compounded by its scale and ambition and he felt the task was beyond the commission's competence, capacity and reach.

While congratulating Heritage Malta on the progress it has achieved in exhibitions, public lectures and other areas over the last couple of years, as well as the new mood for change it has stimulated, he said the state of the majority of historic and archaeological sites left much to be desired.

"The bottom line is that visitors to our historic sites on which our vital cultural tourism product will be built are not getting value for money.

"To turn this around is going to require a much greater investment in human and financial resources than the government is prepared to give."

Mr Scicluna said the Superintendent - the regulator and guardian of Malta's cultural heritage - was also grossly under-resourced, both in funding and manpower.

"If the government were serious about safeguarding our cultural heritage, the Superintendent would be strengthened, not weakened," he said.

The Maltese seemed to shy away from drawing up meaningful action plans, Mr Scicluna concluded. "While the analysis of our problems is, on the whole, first class, action to deal effectively with the problems is notable by its absence."

A motion urging the government to take steps to restore access to public land for the public and tourists was also passed by acclamation during the AGM.

DLH deplored the closing of country footpaths and lanes, restricted access to the foreshore and the illegal occupation of public land by private persons.

A new council was also unanimously elected by the AGM.