Following a weekend thunderstorm, October 7 dawned with broken trees, overflowing sewers and rivulets engulfing sensitive traffic areas. This is just a harbinger of things to come every time it rains, let alone when it rains cats and dogs.

I drove by a tree which had succumbed to the wind. Half of a fully mature, 50-year-old, three-storey high ficus tree, on the periphery of a small grove, lay on its side. Unprofessional pruning contributed to its downfall. The size of its crown was too heavy for its long, thin bare stalk.

The remaining half of the tree displayed a top-heavy crown on a similar long, thin stalk, possibly saved by the support of surrounding trees.

If the country had a minister responsible for landscaping who had a vision, backed up by experts to advise him on professional pruning and landscaping, such loss of trees would not occur. But there is no such minister, and there never was any, except on paper.

I was hindered from approaching the tree by two rivulets, one on each side of the road, running towards Valley Road, Birkirkara. A couple of metres up the road, a manhole tried to outdo the dancing fountains at St George’s Square, Valletta. Except that the water was coloured and it did not rely on electricity. I craved for a clothes peg to withstand the stench.

If only the country had a minister with a vision of how to manage and store the scarce natural resource that is water. But there is not, and there never was any such minister. Indeed, there was a day in the political life of this country when one incumbent found it difficult to distinguish between a water culvert and a sewer!

The damage done by the storm is the price of the lack of political vision, verging on laissez faire, and short-term decisions and mismanagement. Structures which allow the harvesting of rain water are not made use of. Age-old legislation is hardly ever enforced to the extent that following amendments to the law, it became the rule of thumb to channel collected rain water into the street. Compliance certificates are still being issued for buildings that allow rainwater to pour into the sewers.

But political ‘wisdom’ has come to the rescue. In a €52 million project, subsidised by EU funds, an underground tunnel has been excavated to channel ‘flood water’ from the streets to the sea – sewage and all.

This ‘flood’ relief tunnel, if, that is, it works as planned, will take away the pure rainwater and prevent it from replenishing the water table. It is not harvested either, but with political blessing is channelled to the streets, or to the sewers, from where it will burst out in fountains.

If only the country had a minister with a vision of how to manage and store the scarce natural resource that is water

Mingled with the sewage, it will then flow again and run through the streets, hopefully directed to this ‘flood’ relief tunnel to be eventually channelled to the sea. Problem solved? Not exactly. It will be pumped up again by energy-consuming distillers to be channelled back to our taps.

After taking a photo or two of the broken tree and the spontaneous manhole- fountain, I returned home. I still needed the clothes peg.

Driving through such rivulets was Hobson’s choice, as other drivers were constrained to do, washed and sprayed with sewage water in the process.

Back home I had to wash the wheels and mudguards of the car to take away the stench.

If only we had a minister responsible for health. We do not. We never did, because up to a decade or so ago, there was no need to see to such street health hazards.

The lack of political will, vision and professional management of natural resources, all with consequences paid for by society and biodiversity, are being passed from one political incumbent to his successor. The present vision is like one expounded by a blindfold politician walking through a tunnel in pitch dark accompanied by his tail-wagging environmental watchdog trusted with planning and management. And during this long walk in the dark, in their efforts to manage natural resources, man and watchdog are happily engulfed by a concoction of rain water and sewage.

This picture will get worse before it dawns. In the meantime, children are sponsored to catch a drop, while the EU provides politicians with millions to throw gallons into the sea!

aebaldacchino@gmail.com

http://alfredbaldacchino.wordpress.com

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