Nonsense and sensibleness

Angry disenchantment with the government has rarely been deeper than it is now. It seems like its members' reaction to this mood is to provide us grumbling, ungrateful lot with some entertainment.

I found the contrasting reactions of government MPs Jesmond Mugliett and Edwin Vassallo, when questioned on work from the previous administration, rather amusing. They were being interviewed about plans and projects they worked on - as minister and parliamentary secretary respectively - and which had been changed drastically or outrightly blocked by the ministers who took over from them. This, after the Prime Minister informed Messrs Mugliett and Vassallo by SMS that they will not be given a ministerial post.

When asked for his views on the new plans for the Ta' Qali crafts village project, Mr Vassallo - who spent years working on the project as parliamentary secretary - flippantly declared that "this is a new Administration and they have every right to scrap the plans and start from scratch". Of course "they" do; it doesn't matter that the cost for the wasted time, human and financial resources is borne by you and me. The report then goes on to say that Mr Vassallo's plans "took years to be completed and approved by the planning authority and the Cabinet." Nevertheless, Mr Vassallo says that he is "comfortable with the fact" that his plans were being scrapped. He says this with total disregard for us who are footing the bill, not to mention the shop and factory owners at Ta' Qali crafts village who have to organise their businesses according to the government's plans, which keep changing. It is beyond me to understand how Mr Vassallo can be "comfortable" with this fact.

Mr Vassallo even went on to say that he is not interested in the project at this stage. Oh really? I thought that he was elected on the PN ticket which is the party in government which plans to implement this project, thus it is his duty to be, to say the least, interested in it.

Mr Mugliett had the opposite reaction and sensibly pointed out the fault: "The government is giving the wrong signals regarding continuity and wasting precious time in exploiting EU funding". But not only that. All this governmental dithering, apart from costing money, hints that things will not get done. It's the message transmitted with regard to the Valletta project, for instance. Two decades have passed and we are still going backwards and forwards to the drawing board. Another example is the upgrading of the aforementioned crafts village which has been appearing in the PN's electoral manifesto for the last quarter of a century. Plans were finally drawn up by the previous Administration. In spite of this, and contrary to what was promised in the 2008 electoral manifesto, the Ta' Qali entrepreneurs, to their dismay, were told after the election that the government had decided to move the set-up to the No. 1 Dock in Cospicua. Now we learn that all plans were scrapped and new ones drawn. In the meantime the place continues to deteriorate to the detriment of the business community there, while the promised investment remains just another electoral pledge.

When all this is taken in the context of the many ills afflicting this administration, it is evident that the government is gripped by lethargy. But it is not just the indolence which is damaging the country; there is also the rot which has continued to set in over the years and which has now reached such a high level that nothing seems to matter anymore and nobody seems to care. The power station contract and the alleged promotion of the interests of one of the bidders with the in-help of political connections... alleged abuse and corruption within the VAT department... files disappearing from Mepa. These are but a few indicators of the on-going decay.

The government tries to detract attention from all this by talking of reorganisation, such as with the current Mepa reform, which in itself is further proof of the government's mismanagement. When this authority was set up 17 years ago we were told of how accountable, transparent and efficient this area of policy and implementation was to become. Seventeen years on, the general opinion is that this is the worst authority when it comes to accountability, transparency and efficiency. So much for the promises made at its inception. In spite of all the rhetoric back then, the average citizens were, to put it mildly, given a hard time by Mepa, while the well-connected availed themselves of the patronage and clientelism on offer. Come election time, this authority has been serving the Nationalist government very well, and now they want us to take them seriously when they discuss who will wield the power: whether it's the technocrat or the politician. Nonsense. Did the power ever elude the politicians' grip? In theory yes; in practice no.

In these bleak times, maybe we should be grateful for the government's willingness to provide levity and entertainment. Expecting some sensibleness would be asking too much, it seems.

Dr Dalli is a Labour member of Parliament.