Last week, terrified at the prospect of further construction closer to home, I organised something small, simple, and possibly effective – a pleasant Sunday walk, advertised mainly through Facebook.
The latest efforts by the construction lobby in its endless pursuit of money can be treated as ‘yet another one of those’ moments we have, as a nation, grown accustomed to. We all know those moments when we read with shock and dismay as yet another area we have grown to love and appreciate for its natural beauty and silence is threatened by those with the power to change it irrevocably and irreversibly.
I believe, however, that we should also point our fingers at someone else who is to blame – ourselves. The sad reality is that this issue is not a political issue, or an economical one. It transcends politics and economics. It is a cultural and philosophical one that our society needs to face, contemplate and act upon.
It is no great secret that we Maltese excel in complaining, in grumbling about our dissatisfactions, and to criticise the ‘state of the country’, with its traffic, air pollution, overcrowding and declining environmental state. Isn’t it time, perhaps, to stop pointing our fingers at others and realise that silence on matters that affect us is a disguise of apathetic complacency? How have we allowed, for example, the construction of illegal estates, complete with illegal zoos, and taken this activity for granted? Isn’t this a sign of disgruntled acceptance that blights our culture? Don’t we deserve better?
Yet here we are today – actively discussing on how to turn our country into yet another emulation of city states such as Dubai, with its artificial islands, or Singapore, with its artificial canyons. Places that, until the 1960s were backwaters, of little note, and are now symbols not just of economic power, but of excess. Meanwhile, the many historical gems of our island have suffered tremendously from the practices of the past few decades.
Our dismal environmental record cannot be an excuse for further inaction
Are we, as a nation, so unimaginative that we do not dream a unique vision for our country? Are we so unappreciative of the remarkable natural heritage all over these little islands of ours, that we do not see them as jewels to promote and enhance but rather as yet another tract of land buckling with monetary potential?
Are we indeed so short-sighted, ancient and obsolete that our ideas of ‘modernisation’ and ‘development’ entail the construction of yet more concrete Babylonian Ziggurats, without any thought of introducing an aesthetic guideline in our building code?
Many reading this article would say that “construction creates employment”, and are ready to stop there. Well, can’t the government take the initiative to retrain construction workers into restorers of the thousands of decaying buildings falling to pieces in our country? We have enough of this type of work to last us decades.
Or do we choose to remain in the pockets of the powerful developers on our island who seek to reap the benefits of having a nation that is used to remain complacent in its comfort zone? Do we have the audacity to say “Enough!” and do something about it?
There are those who would call me idealistic, or naïve; they would say that Malta is beyond saving, both aesthetically and morally. However, I have grown up seeing things I never thought I’d see – Vittoriosa transformed into an exemplary gem, a newly restored Fort Manoel, Strada Stretta restored, and cleaned city walls gleaming brightly in the sun.
Yes, there are Buġibbas, Tignés and other architectural carbuncles all over our islands. However, I also see Malta’s potential in leaving the pattern of the past and look forward to a future of greater appreciation of our heritage, to a renaissance of truly Maltese architecture and environmental respect.
This is the question we have to face as a nation, now and in the coming years. Will we allow the mistakes of the past to be repeated unabated? Shouldn’t we at least give ecological and architectural restoration a try, starting with something as simple as a proper clean-up instead of a build-up?
Our dismal environmental record cannot be an excuse for further inaction. Can we allow our sickening anthropocentric attitude to dissipate and develop a healthy respect to the natural world around us? Must we succumb ourselves to environmental poverty, while developers expand their financial wealth?
Shall we keep on deluding ourselves with the fantasy of money being the source of fulfilment in our lives, or shall we recognise that indeed enjoyment of the countryside, our heritage, and simple, quiet spaces, is of great public benefit both to health and to the soul?
Our future is ours to decide. Let us take a stand and speak out. Our country, our heritage and our uniqueness as a culture demands it. Otherwise we shall become slaves to complacency and masters of complaint, a state I fear we have allowed to go on for too long.