The stink in Marsascala

Josie Muscat (Promises on Marsascala, July 30) has finally woken up to smell the "morning coffee".

Residents have had to put up with various aromas for the last decade, although this odour is only partly generated by the Sant' Antnin monument donated to Marsascala.

According to Dr Muscat, "that is why they say a nation gets the government it deserves". I hope he does not apply his credo to local government, because I would wonder where the people of Marsascala have got it so drastically wrong to deserve such a lethargic local council.

Dr Muscat was elected to the council after an encouraging, visionary campaign. But with time, Dr Muscat became busier planning refugee airlifts to Brussels and other surrealistic promises. For years, we have been witnessing the slow decay of this tranquil seaside village. It's all taken for granted.

For example, roads to Marsascala are in shambles. The bypass leading from Żabbar, built by some engineering guru in the 1980s, is comparable to a desert track in Mali. What happened to government funds allotted to the renovation of this primary artery? The ADT billboard on the roadside has stood there for more than a year, and the colour of the print has faded from white into a sickly yellow. The billboard itself is bent forwards, unable to bear the weight of that forgotten promise.

From Marsascala to Tal-Barrani, all passages are one lane roads with a host of craters. Overtaking is unthinkable and there are no suitable alternative routes. This, Dr Muscat, is how we go to work every single morning.

Talking of morning coffees and the Waste Treatment Plant, some arguments presented by authorities to us residents simply defy logic. In an interview with a local newspaper in 2005, Wasteserv CEO Vince Magri stated that with "only 71,000 tonnes" being transferred to Marsascala the impact of traffic is expected to be negligible.

Mr Magri conveniently forgot that traffic volume and congestion are not the same issue. From Tal-Barrani to Marsascala via Bulebel and Żabbar, a single truck takes more time than a Sherman tank through this magnificent network of one-lane roads. Try getting caught in the processional for 15 minutes for a clearer picture.

In all of this, local councils and political parties seem to be hand in glove. Perhaps our mayor, Mario Calleja, can take time off glorifying himself on One News for mediating petty squabbles between the parish priest and the restaurant association on some outdoor concert, and concentrate on the serious issues.

Neither Mr Calleja, nor Dr Muscat, nor the MLP were present at St Antnin when Carmel Cacopardo published the Mepa auditor's report on the plant. Mr Cacopardo was later chastised for unethical behaviour, but few remember that a number of impact assessment tests were waived. I wonder why.

In typical fashion, now that the elections are a memory, they all disappeared up north, leaving us residents with a bag of skittles and an eyesore.

Sant'Antnin is not the only scourge. The closing down of Jerma spelt the death knell not just to a hotel, but to a landmark of Marsascala.

Mayor Calleja's pre-election mailshot spelt out his vision to transform Marsascala in a Portofino of sorts. All I can find is a dry county adorned with potholes, cranes, trucks and a general shabbiness all round.

I much welcomed the initiative to reform local councils by 2015, and the invitation to suggest changes. Maybe we'll do away with political parties contesting the elections, in favour of resident associations and NGOs. Party dominance at a national level creates enough polarisation for it to interfere in local governance and daily issues.

Like most others I feel better about the Fondazzjoni Wirt Artna taking over at Fort St Thomas. That said, Marsascala desperately needs a facelift.

Yes Dr Muscat, it stinks indeed, and not just for the tourists. Apart from the odours from St Antnin, there's a smell of complacency, incompetence and political opportunism that irks us all.