Choruses of disapproval

We all live on a tiny archipelago wherein we all are either related to or know everyone else. Because of our forced proximity to each other, criticism and its use, in Malta, is a very volatile, fragile and changeable animal that for many is doomed to defeat by the ruling clique and their formidable power of incumbency which is practically the only catch phrase with which we will remember the erstwhile Alfred Sant by.

Reaction of the man in the street is generally restricted to a shrug and a wry "chi commanda fire engine!", however there are those who will battle on, trying desperately to win over public opinion and who, at the risk of being branded as rabble-rousers and disturbers of the peace, will tilt at windmills in the hope of saving yet another bit of ground or yet another building from being sacrificed, like some Aztec victim, to the all-encompassing god Mammon!

Although the opinions and attitudes of the man in the street remain defeatist and negative, a freer press and higher education, not to mention the growing influence of the NGOs, have somewhat augmented the volume of the various choruses of disapproval. The protest march in Valletta to preserve Ramla il-Ħamra, for instance, would have been unthinkable a couple of decades ago. The sad thing is that one knows in one's heart of hearts that, eventually, after waiting patiently for the hue and cry to die down, the developer or whoever will get his way, opposition will wear itself out, the right loopholes identified and, hey presto, the 287 villas, hotel and yacht marinas will obliterate what once was Ħondoq ir-Rummien and, somehow, the Ta' Ċenċ development will happen, the Opera House will become Parliament and for the next 10 years the square in front of St John's will be a building site while Mistra... well... Mistra will spin!

We who are the public voices of caution and who actively oppose these projects are unceremoniously dubbed wayward and irresponsible fundamentalists.

It is therefore not at all surprising that many of us feel we are fighting a losing battle. Only six months ago Lawrence and Kate Gonzi worked the ecstatic crowd that gathered in the streets of Valletta like a pair of experienced royals. One could almost hear Handel's See The Conquering Hero Comes in one's mind's ear. All those promises - one for each day of the year - were still very much on our minds. The Utopia that was meant to happen with the re-elected PN government, despite the musical chairs, has not yet materialised and we are still in the doldrums and in a state of acute ennui. Instead of tax reductions and artists' villages, things that were listed in the Flimkien Kollox Possibli programme that sits among my desktop items like a superannuated dinosaur, we now have concerted unsubtle PR campaigns to maintain fuel and energy surcharges at an astronomical level despite the reduction in crude oil prices.

Since the March election we have seen no visible manifestation that things have improved as promised. All we know is that we are rid of Dr Sant and that we can expect more of the same ad nauseam and no more. How depressing!

The MLP is rightfully the party that should, in all truth, be identifying and opposing these abuses and hare-brained proposals for what they are. The MLP is still licking its wounds from its self-inflicted defeat. But it is we, the people, who have finally realised that our one-time idols have feet of clay and that we can, as long as we are united, cause more tremors here and now than Joseph Muscat's promise of earthquakes yet to come. One did indeed hope that with Dr Muscat's election as leader of the MLP it would change. Subsequent events have shown that leopards do not change their spots. Till the time when the MLP has shaken off the chaff, Joseph's brothers have bought him back and the party has renewed itself like a phoenix, it is up to us the people to ensure that our heritage is not tampered with and our countryside is not encroached upon. It is our solemn responsibility and civic duty to do so.

This lemming-like race to oblivion in the hope of making the odd fast buck has in the last four decades spelled the utter ruination of Malta and Gozo. Government, get your act together and concentrate on things that really count like the provision of alternative energy and stop upsetting the thinking classes with projects to dig up Valletta and place tourist complexes and discotheques in unspoilt beauty spots.

But no. I almost forgot. Divorce has been put on the public agenda; recognised as a grave social injustice at last. Malta (and his wife or her husband) has, like a slow boat to China, hit the 20th (not the 21st) century and is actually going to discuss a fundamental human right that is readily available everywhere else in the world apart from the Philippines. Well glory be!

kzt@onvol.net