A vision for Strait Street

I have a dream (acknowledgements, Martin Luther King). But more than a dream, I have a vision. I have a vision for Strait Street. I have worked out of this street (don't get me wrong) for 25 years. And I have seen it deteriorating day after day. Strait Street is unique. As we have read in contributions from scholars in the sister paper of The Times, this street, forming part of the Valletta grid, was built with a purpose. It is now dirty and derelict. Unfortunately, there are the unsightly Vincenti Buildings and the back of the law courts, which were built after World War II instead of buildings destroyed but, otherwise, the street is pristine.

Now that we have all sorts of plans for the capital city, why not Strait Street? I have read that there was a Strada Festival in Valletta last week, which included an exhibition of paintings and wine tables on the Strait Street stairs. This is exactly what the street needs. It needs repairing and realigning (not replacing!) the paving stones. It needs the reopening of the old bars and dance halls (some of them are enormous and belie the façade of the building - they used to host Nationalist Party congresses, for example) to be used as restaurants, wine bars, art galleries and, why not, small theatres. If only the original bar signs were still around; they were so original and inventive and even provocative.

Anyway, this is just an idea. It is something that does not cost much and it will revive the very artery of the city.

And now onto other things much more mundane in this increasingly hot summer. First, animals again. I am so happy to be an animal lover, unlike many human beasts in this country. I am so sick of reading of mistreatment of animals, especially last week when we had to see the fate of a husky and a German Shepherd (which, unfortunately, had to be put down). This also brings us (finally) to the fact that animal welfare has been recognised and is being supported, which is very commendable. I also read Alan Montanaro's pledge, in this paper, to the effect that he will be offering €100 towards the arrest of the "human animal" who tried to dispose of the husky. I would like to add a further €100 myself not only towards the husky but, now, towards the German Shepherd as well. I encourage others to contribute as well.

For goodness sake, let's continue to raise awareness of and caring towards our animal friends.

Time for politics. I will not enter the debate about election candidates' expenses for fear of being accused of having a conflict of interest of sorts except to say that the political parties have been laid back and negligent in not amending an archaic law that has been ignored for many decades anyway.

But I would like to address the method of voting in what is supposed to be a modern and democratic country. We had the debate on voting during the European Parliament and local council elections. This was the result of the Small Nations Games being held at the same time. The government provided a solution. But was this enough? It is time to legislate for a postal vote or, at least, voting in Maltese embassies. Why should we always remain backward in these affairs? We would then avoid controversies in terms of dedicated Air Malta flights, for example.

And, finally, another topic that caught my attention recently regarded the fate of newspapers vis-à-vis competition with other media, particularly the internet. I really do not agree that the printed media is under threat. Perhaps I am now becoming a bit ancient but there is nothing better than reading your daily paper and sipping your coffee in comfort rather than flipping through your computer, which, any way, I would put on as late as possible because e-mails would start streaming in and it would mean that the day's work has begun. I firmly believe that the printed word is the most effective means of communication and it is one that can be best comprehended and analysed.